Thermal Behaviour of Mediterranean Buildings: Experimental Study
Abstract
This work presents an experimental and theoretical study to compare the thermal behaviour of different constructive solutions. The experimental set-up consists of several house-like cubicles (with inner dimensions of 2.4x2.4x2.4 m) located in Puigverd de Lleida (Lleida, Spain). Their thermal performance throughout the time was measured and presented for two different types of experiments: free floating and fixed controlled temperature conditions. In order to control the inner temperature an electric radiator and a heat pump were used for heating and cooling, respectively, and the energy consumption was registered. This work is focused on the thermal behaviour of four cubicles: a reference cubicle without insulation, a cubicle insulated with 5 cm of polyurethane foam, a cubicle insulated with 5 cm of mineral wool, and a cubicle with a constructive solution based on alveolar bricks without insulation. The thermal transmittance in steady state, also known as U-value, is theoretically calculated for each cubicle. Dynamic thermal characteristics, such as decrement factor, thermal lag, and dynamic thermal transmittance are also evaluated using the heat transfer matrix to analyze the thermal inertia. The experimental results extracted from the monitored cubicles show that the energy consumption for the insulated cubicles and the alveolar brick one is similar, achieving a reduction in comparison to the reference cubicle of about 38% and 45% during summer and winter, respectively.