A measurement system for the long-term diagnostics of the thermal and technical properties of wooden houses

Abstract

To reduce construction costs and to increase energy savings and indoor environmental quality in a wooden house, an energy consumption measuring system for the diagnostics of the thermal and technical properties of building envelopes has been developed. At present, the vast majority of calculations for the thermal and technical characteristics of buildings are based on simple mathematical models of building envelope behavior, and these are derived primarily from the thermal transmission of individual materials. However, thermal transmission is measured in a stable laboratory environment. Therefore, the measured values may not match the real behavior of materials in continually changing climatic conditions. The energy consumption measuring system was installed in seven wooden houses in different climatic areas to diagnose the thermal and technical properties of a building envelope. The power consumption, temperature, and humidity of the air as well as of the wood; CO₂ concentration; the temperature of the individual layers of the envelope sandwich structure; and wind speed and direction were measured. Thanks to the sets of real measurements of the measured thermal and technical behavior, the actual dependence of the indoor environment quality on the outdoor climatic conditions can be ascertained. The presented system can reveal imperfections in the heat capacity and hygroscopicity of materials used for the construction of a wooden house. Based on this measurement, the materials can be revised to save construction costs and energy; to increase the indoor environment quality; and to reduce the impact on the environment by decreasing the amount of used materials.