Abstract
The radiant floor system market is growing rapidly because Europe is moving toward a low-carbon economy and increased awareness about environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, stimulated by the ambitious EU Energy Efficient Directive and nZEB challenge. The high growth rate of the market share is due to the involvement of homeowners in the specifications of their living commodities, so they are thus willing to invest more at the initial stage to obtain long-term benefits and lower energy exploration costs. We performed an experimental campaign over three slabs with a hydronic radiant floor system of equal dimensions, shape, and pipe pitch with different screed mortar formulations to assess their performance throughout a heating/cooling cycle. The temperature at different heights within the interior of the screed mortars and at the surface were monitored. The results revealed that an improved screed mortar has a relevant impact on the efficiency of the system. Moreover, a three-dimensional transient heat transfer model was validated using the experimental data. The model was used to evaluate the impact of different finishing materials, namely wood, cork, ceramic, and linoleum, on the floor surface temperatures. The results showed differences of 15% in the surface temperature when using different floor finishing solutions.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilThe ambitious energy efficiency standards driven by European Union (EU) EnergyEfficient Directive have impacted the national regulations leading to the challenge of nearly zero energy buildings [1,2,3,4,5]
As indoor heating and cooling are the major sources of buildings’ energy consumption [6], when it comes to indoor heating and cooling, radiant floor systems (RFSs) comprise specific characteristics that play a key role in attaining the EU energy efficiency goals
The results revealed that the use of finishing materials with lower thermal conductivity contributes to a reduction of 40% in the energy efficiency of the RFS
Summary
This work was developed following a methodology divided into two approaches:. (i) experimental work and (ii) numerical simulation. The results attained from the experimental campaign were used to calibrate a numerical model developed to perform a sensitivity analysis regarding the effect of different finishing materials applied in a hydronic RFS. The reference mortar (M_03: traditional screed mortar) properties were used to assess the impact of applying different finishing layer materials over the screed mortar in terms of the surface temperatures’ distribution. Four common materials selected to surface be numerically evaluated: ceramic,Four linoleum, wood, materials over the screed mortarwere in terms of the temperatures’. Common materials were selected to be numerically evaluated: ceramic, linoleum, wood, Our workflow for assessing the RFS performance followed the methodology deand cork.
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