Evaluation of a building’s cooling performance under the walls’ dynamic thermal resistance

Abstract

ABSTRACT The energy consumption mitigation of the building sector, one of the most energy-consuming, is a major target of the European policy. Recent studies indicate that increased thermal protection may burden the energy performance of a building in warm and hot regions by increasing the overheating risk during the warm season. In this study, a building is studied in the four climatic zones of Greece in southern Europe, and the overheating risk, for a high, a low U-value, as well as for a dynamic thermal insulation system is investigated. The investigation is conducted under the influence of two thermostat types, i.e., a template and an operative temperature one, and two wall configurations, i.e., with perforated clay bricks and with thermally insulated blocks. The results demonstrate a significant reduction of the annual energy demands with the envelope of the lower U-value, even if increased cooling loads up to 12% are detected in some regions, mainly due to a cold season penalty. However, the switching insulation system leads to an important improvement on the building’s overall performance, reaching up to 68% reduced cooling needs for the office building, while at the same time, ensuring the required thermal protection during the cold season.