Abstract
Buildings are seeking renewable energy sources (e.g., solar) and passive devices, such as Trombe walls. However, the thermal performance of Trombe walls depends on many factors. In this work, the thermal behavior and energy efficiency of a Trombe wall in a lightweight steel frame compartment were evaluated, making use of in situ measurements and numerical simulations. Measurements were performed inside two real scale experimental identical cubic modules, exposed to natural exterior weather conditions. Simulations were made using validated advanced dynamic models. The winter Trombe wall benefits were evaluated regarding indoor air temperature increase and heating energy reduction. Moreover, a thermal behavior parametric study was performed. Several comparisons were made: (1) Sunny and cloudy winter week thermal behavior; (2) Office and residential space use heating energy; (3) Two heating set-points (20 °C and 18 °C); (4) Thickness of the Trombe wall air cavity; (5) Thickness of the thermal storage wall; (6) Dimensions of the interior upper/lower vents; (7) Material of the thermal storage wall. It was found that a Trombe wall device could significantly improve the thermal behavior and reduce heating energy consumption. However, if not well designed and controlled (e.g., to mitigate nocturnal heat losses), the Trombe wall thermal and energy benefits could be insignificant and even disadvantageous.
Highlights
Energy is one of the main concerns when addressing sustainable development, especially since the world’s energy matrix is still very dependent on fossil fuels, as oil and coal
Aiming to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, the European Union (EU) has established the energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD) [2], in which two key concepts are defined: (1) the cost-optimal energy, regarding cost-efficiency of strategies [3], and (2) the nearly zero-energy buildings—buildings with very high energy efficiency—that cover their energy needs with energy produced by renewable sources, on-site or nearby [4]
In this work, the influence of a passive solar water Trombe wall (TW) device on the thermal behavior and energy efficiency of a lightweight steel frame (LSF) compartment, located in Coimbra (Portugal), was studied, being this evaluation based in numerical simulations and in situ measurements
Summary
Energy is one of the main concerns when addressing sustainable development, especially since the world’s energy matrix is still very dependent on fossil fuels, as oil and coal. The thermal behavior and energy efficiency of a Trombe wall depend on many factors, such as geometric (e.g., area, height, thickness, and orientation of the TW; existence and dimension of overhangs), materials’ properties (e.g., storage wall thermal properties; glazed pane optical and thermal properties; shutter thermal properties; thermal insulation), fluid dynamics (e.g., dimensions and control of inner/outer and upper/lower vents; thickness of the air channel; natural or forced airflow), location (e.g., latitude; north or south hemisphere), and weather (e.g., solar radiation level and incidence angle; nocturnal cloudy or clear sky; temperature; wind speed, and direction) [6]. In this work, the influence of a passive solar water Trombe wall (TW) device on the thermal behavior and energy efficiency of a lightweight steel frame (LSF) compartment, located in Coimbra (Portugal), was studied, being this evaluation based in numerical simulations and in situ measurements. Some concluding remarks about this research work have been highlighted
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