Temperature and humidity transient simulation and validation in a measured house without a HVAC system

Abstract

Although old houses are found in the housing stock which are affected by infiltration and condensation, resulting in humid walls, software generally consider properly maintained buildings, assuming dry walls. This study aims to simulate the effect of these pathologies under dwelling indoor conditions. The objective is to assess the reliability and accuracy of different solutions through the mass and heat transfer analogy in air and water vapour mixtures. Two different modelling settings are analysed using TRNSYS thermal simulation software, evaluating the condensation and evaporation effect of temperature and humidity in a house. Simulation results are compared with four months’ worth of monitored data, and a validation procedure is presented. The method proved to be a valid assessment tool to test results reliability in aboveground building modelling. The analogy approach accuracy of the mass and heat transfer in mixtures of air and water vapour was also tested. Results can be used to help designers to optimize the humidity transfer simulation in building energy modelling.