Development of a Novel Experimental Facility to Assess Heating Systems’ Behaviour in Buildings

The building sector represents approximately 40% of the global energy consumption, of which 18 to 73% is represented by heating and ventilation. One focus of research for reducing energy consumption is to study the interaction between the heating system, the occupant’s behaviour, and the building’s thermal mass. For this purpose, a new experimental facility was developed. It consists of a real accommodation in which the thermal performance of the envelope, the heating system, the room’s layout, the weather conditions, and the occupant’s activity are variable parameters. A simulation model of the experimental facility, built in TRNSYS, was used to characterise the experimental facility. This article details the development of the experimental facility and then compares results for two different types of building inertia (low and high thermal masses). Results show the accuracy of the thermal inertia reproduction in the experimental facility and highlight the possibilities of improvements in the interaction between heating systems and building envelope efficiency