Unsteady simulation of energy performance and thermal comfort in non-residential buildings

Glazing systems have an important role in buildings. Many studies show that health, comfort and productivity are improved thanks to the contribution of natural light. The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the thermal comfort indexes and the energetic performance of a lecture room in unsteady-state conditions. The research is addressed to non-residential buildings and it consists of two parts: experimental investigation and numerical analysis. Experimental campaigns were carried out in a lecture room of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Perugia. Several parameters were measured: indoor and outdoor air temperature, solar radiation, surface temperature of external walls, glasses and frames, etc. The thermal comfort indexes (such as Predicted Mean Vote, PMV, and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied, PPD) were calculated. The simulations of the thermal behaviour of the tested room were performed using both ENERGYPLUS and TRNSYS softwares. Simulation models were tested and validated with experimental data; a new weather database was compiled for Perugia, by using the measured hourly data for air temperature, solar radiation and relative humidity. The analysis allowed to compare some different scenarios (glazing types and building orientation) in terms of thermal comfort indexes and energy demand.