- Author
- Gujral, P. S. | Clark, R. J. | Burch, D. M.
- Title
- Transient Thermal Response of an Intermittently Cooled Massive Building. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC.
- Journal
- ASHRAE SP, Vol. 28, 751-756, 1981
- Book or Conf
- American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers/Dept. of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Conference on Thermal Performance Exterior Envelopes of Buildings. Proceedings. December 3-5, 1979, Orlando, FL, 1981
- Keywords
- air conditioning; buildings; cooling; diurnal variations; performance tests
- Identifiers
- energy conservation
- Abstract
- A single-room externally insulated masonry test house was built within the environmental chamber at the National Bureau of Standards. The structure was subjected to diurnal summer sol-air temperature cycles while two energy conservation schemes were monitored. Both schemes utilized the building thermal mass to store nighttime cooling energy; the first, through night mechanical cooling, and the second through the use of ambient air. The results indicate that mechanical cooling is effectively stored in the building mass during the night so that no additional daytime cooling is needed for even the most extreme summer conditions. The tests further indicate that circulation of night anbient air effectively cools the structure so that no mechanical cooling is needed for summer cycles typical of many regions in the United States.