Modelling Of The Thermal Behavior Of Walls And Floors In Contact With The Ground

One of the most complex configuration to model in detail, both in the dynamic simulation of buildings and in the analytical quasi steady-state calculations, is the thermal dispersion through the walls and the floor in contact with the ground. The problem consists in determining the boundary conditions of the external wall surface directly exposed to the soil, whose temperature cannot be considered undisturbed. Different studies, both experimental and numerical, have been carried out in the last decades in order to determine the ground boundary conditions, some of which have been used to elaborate the technical standard EN ISO 13370. This standard gives some indications about the conditions to be considered in the use of quasi steady-state methods and within the dynamic simulation. The evaluation of the simulation software in the specific context of the ground heat transmission, has also driven the IEA to define a specific series of validation cases, the BESTEST In-depth ground coupled heat transfer tests. The present research aim is to test implement reliable calculation procedures for the thermal dispersion through the building envelope towards the ground, in dynamic simulation modelling systems. In this work, a test case of the EN ISO 13370 standard has been modelled with FEM codes, both in steady-state conditions and also in periodic external conditions. Different types of floor have been considered, with different thickness and position of the insulation layer. The results have been compared with those calculated following the prescriptions of the standard EN ISO 13370