16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

2 Dynamic Behaviour of Buildings

Handouts: Building for Energy Conservation by Burberry P (section 3.3)
Cibse Guide Section A: Admittance Technique
Steady-State Analysis
This traditional analysis was undertaken for plant sizing assuming typical indoor and
design external conditions. For buildings which have high levels of thermal mass, low
solar gains, and constant internal temperatures (e.g. old hospitals), the steady state
method can give an indication of energy consumption. For this analysis, fabric heat
losses are controlled by conductivity and thickness of the external construction and
surface resistances.

U= 1/Rtot

(W/m2K)

Rtot = Rsi +(t/k) + Rso

(m2K/W)

Dynamic Behaviour
For calculation of dynamic behaviour, it is necessary to take heat storage (thermal
capacity) into account:

specific heat capacity: C

density:

(J/kgK)

(kg/m3)

volumetric heat capacity = C

(J/m3K)

Steady state analysis is often not sufficient because:

Thermal properties of newer buildings tend towards a lightweight constructions
which have lower thermal capacity, faster response to heat inputs and therefore
much greater temperature swings.
Even heavyweight buildings will act as lightweight buildings if the walls are lined
with some insulation.
Improved heating systems have faster response (e.g. gas-fired boilers) and better
controllers, which enable heat to be input when required.
Intermittent occupancy patterns are more common in the domestic sector: this
requires rapid warming up of the building in the morning and again in the evening.

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Table IV in the handout shows the thermal capacity of different materials having the
same U-value. Clearly, surface temperatures of constructions with high thermal mass
would take a long time to increase after a period of no heating (e.g. in an office after a
weekend) and would contribute to poor thermal comfort conditions in a room until the
heating had been on for several hours.
Figures 3.11 to 3.13 in the handout show how different wall constructions react to
intermittent heating. As can be seen, a wall with high thermal mass can have large
differences between internal air temperature and wall surface temperature: this can
lead to condensation problems as well as poor thermal comfort.
Transient Conduction
This is controlled by the Fourier Equation, which for 1 dimensional conduction is:

2
=k 2
t
x

An important property is the ratio of thermal conductivity to volumetric heat capacity,

known as the diffusivity:

= k / C
This has units of m2/s and it indicative of the rate at which a heat pulse will propagate
through a solid.
The time constant (tc) is related to the response of a construction to a step change:
T

0.63

tc

Heavyweight constructions have long time constants, lightweight constructions have

short time constants.

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Response of Heavyweight and Lightweight Buildings

The building response will differ according to whether the building is lightweight or
heavyweight. The following figure illustrates this.

Heating curves for heavyweight and lightweight buildings

Fabric Performance and Fuel Consumption
Figure 3.14 in the handout shows how thermal capacity affects fuel consumption in
lightweight and heavyweight buildings. For intermittent heating, lightweight
buildings offer significant potential fuel savings, unlike heavyweight buildings. For
example, the following table shows the heat required to raise fabric temperature.
Material

Drop in

Heat required to return to

temperature (oC) ambient temperature (kJ/m2)

100mm brick

880

100mm

20

600

fibreboard

Although a fibreboard-lined room will show a greater drop in temperature when

heating is off, less heat is required to get back to temperature. Also less time is
required (see Figure above). During the heating off period, the fibreboard-lined room
would be colder and in practice it may be necessary to have a lower limit, below
which heating is switched on, to prevent condensation risk.

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Figure 3.15 in the handout shows how the use of steady state analysis and design
temperatures instead of more realistic boundary conditions can lead to incorrect
conclusions on potential for fuel saving.
Summer conditions
In hot climates with intermittent active cooling, lightweight buildings offer the same
advantages for heating as discussed above. However, for buildings that are not
actively cooled, heavyweight constructions are best because they reduce peak daily
temperatures. Additional cooling of the thermal mass at night (night purging) can
assist in reducing peak daytime temperatures.

Effect of solar gains on heavyweight and lightweight buildings

Prediction Techniques

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Figure 3.16 shows more realistic variation in internal and external conditions. Three
methods of predicting such dynamic variations in temperature are:
Analogue method: superseded by numerical techniques.
Admittance technique: developed by CIBSE, used in particular for calculating
peak summertime temperatures.
Solution of Fourier Equation: computer programs based on a variety of numerical
methods are used; some examples are covered later in the course.
Analogue Method
There exist a clear analogy between electrical flow and heat flow. Formerly, this
analogy was the basis for constructing electrical analogue devices (sometimes
incorporated in analogue computers) which were used in the study of complex heat
flow phenomena.
Thermal

Electrical

Resistance

Resistance

Capacity

Capacitance

Temperature

Voltage

Heat flow

Current
Thermal/electrical analogy

The following figure shows the electrical network used to generate Figure 3.16 in the
handout.

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Electrical representation of thermal properties

Different heating options and insulation levels can be tested by altering current and
resistance values in the analogue model. Figure 3.19 and Tables VI and VII in the
handout show how energy consumption varies. Such analyses were very time
consuming to set up and only used for research.
Admittance Procedure
This was developed by CIBSE to give a prediction method for dynamic thermal
performance. It takes into account:
both air and radiant temperature for achievement of thermal comfort conditions;
the modifying effect on temperature fluctuations of the materials used for internal
room surfaces;
solar heat gain;
cyclic variations in ventilation, internal gains and external temperature: steady
state and cyclic variations (and any associated time lag) are treated separately and
then combined.

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Temperatures
Inside air temperature (tai):
this is the volume averaged air temperature in the room.
Mean surface temperature (tm):
The mean surface temperature is the area-weighted average temperature of the
internal surfaces of the room.

tm =

( At s )
(A)

Mean radiant temperature (tr)

This is a function of areas, shapes and surface temperatures as viewed from a
specific point in the room; it varies according to view factors between the object
and room surfaces.
It is equal to the mean surface temperature at the centre of a cubical room in which
all surfaces have the same emissivity. It is often used as a good approximation for
other room shapes.
Inside environmental temperature (tei)
This is used to calculate the heat exchange between a surface and an enclosed
space. It is a combination of the mean surface temperature and air temperature.
The combination will depend on the relative magnitudes of the radiant and
convective heat transfer coefficients, but typically the following equation is used:

tei= 1/3 tai + 2/3 tm

Dry resultant temperature (tc)
In cases where air movement is low, the dry resultant temperature is used as an
index of thermal comfort. In such cases:

tc= 1/2 tai + 1/2 tm

where tm is used as an approximation for tr at the centre of the room.

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Outside air temperature (tao)

This is the bulk air temperature of the air surrounding the building
Sol-air temperature (teo) and sol-air excess temperature difference
Sol-air temperature is that temperature which, in the absence of solar radiation,
would give the same rate of heat transfer through the wall or roof as exists with the
actual outdoor air temperature and incident solar radiation. It is effectively the
outside environmental temperature.
It is given by:

teo= tao + Rso ( It + Il )

where It is the total intensity of solar radiation on the outside surface and Il is
the net longwave radiation exchange between a black body at outside air
temperature and the outside environment.
The sol-air temperature is approximately equal to the external air temperature
under overcast conditions.
The sol-air excess temperature difference is the quantity that must be added to or
subtracted from the outside air temperature in order to calculate the heat transfer
through opaque external surfaces resulting from the radiation exchange between
those surfaces and the sun and the sky.

teo= Rso ( It + Il )
Non-Steady State Thermal Characteristics
The admittance, decrement factor and surface factor are functions of the thickness,
thermal conductivity, density and specific heat capacity of each of the materials used
within a construction, as well as the relative positions of those materials. Energy
inputs are assumed to be cyclic, usually with a 24 hour period.

Admittance

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

The admittance of a construction is the rate of heat flow between its internal
surface and the space temperature, for each degree swing in space temperature
about its mean value. It determines the storage of energy in the room surfaces
following fluctuations in internal temperature. It is related to the diffusivity and
thickness of materials.
It has the same units as U-value (W/m2K) and can be considered as a cyclic Uvalue.

~
~
Q y = (AY) ( t ei t ei )+ = (AY) ( tei )+
where the tilde indicates the cyclic component and the bar indicates the mean
value. Y is the admittance.
For thin constructions, the admittance equals the U-value. Admittance is greater
for higher thermal mass.
Examples are given in Table A3.16 in the handout (from the CIBSE guide).
Decrement Factor
Decrement Factor is the ratio of the rate of heat flow through the structure to the
internal space temperature for each degree of swing in external temperature about
its mean value, to the steady state rate of heat flow or U-value. It is the attenuation
of a wave travelling through an element of the building structure.
For thin structures of low thermal capacity, the decrement factor =1; it decreases
with increasing thickness and capacity.
For fabric transfer due to external fluctuations:

~
~
Qf = (fAU) ( t eo t eo ) = (fAU) ( teo )
where f is the decrement factor and is the time lag.
Surface Factor
Surface Factor is the ratio of the variation of heat flow about its mean value
readmitted to a space from the surface, to the variation of heat flow about its mean
value absorbed in the surface. The surface factor decreases and its time lag
increases with increasing thermal capacity and they are almost constant with
thickness. It is used when allowing for solar radiation and the radiative component
of internal gains on internal surfaces.

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Calculation of Peak Summertime Temperatures

Application of the admittance technique requires the following calculations:
(a) Mean heat gains from all sources.
(b) Mean internal environmental temperature.
(c) Swing (deviation), from mean-to-peak, in heat gains from all sources.
(d) Swing (deviation), from mean-to-peak, in internal environmental temperature.
(e) From (b) and (d), the peak internal environmental temperature.
Intermittent Heating
For intermittent heating, additional plant capacity (above steady state requirements) is
required to bring the building up to temperature after overnight or weekend cooling.
In such cases it is recommended by CIBSE that the total output under boosted
intermittent operating conditions, Qpb, is calculated by

Qpb = F3 Qp
where Qp is the design load for continuous heating and F3 is the plant size ratio (the
factor for intermittent heating). F3 can be calculated from

F3 =

24f r
Hf r + (24 H)

where H is the total hours of heating including pre-heat, and fr is the thermal response
factor (the thermal weight of the building). The thermal response factor is given by

fr =

(AY) + 1 3NV
(AU) + 1 3NV

The thermal response factor is less than 4 for a lightweight (fast-response) building,
and greater than 4 for a heavyweight (slow-response) building. If the calculated value
of F3 is <1.2, a value of 1.2 is taken (to give a safety margin of 20%).

16387: Environmental Engineering Science 2

Example:

15m

Surface

Small factory building

Height=5m
12 windows, each 4m2
Doors 6m2
Volume = 562.5m3
Air infiltration = 0.5 ac/h

7.5m

Area

U-value

AxU

Y-value

AxY

(m2)

(W/m2K

(W/K)

(W/m2K

(W/K)

Ext wall

171.0

0.5

85.5

3.5

598.5

Doors

6.0

2.9

17.4

2.9

17.4

Floor

112.5

0.45

50.6

5.2

585.0

Roof

112.5

0.3

33.8

0.7

78.8

Windows

48

3.3

158.4

3.3

158.4

Sum

450

345.7

1438.1

(AU) is calculated over surfaces through which heat flow occurs.

Assume the heating plant operates for 8 hours with a pre-heat time of 3 hours, and
that the total heat loss = 8.72kW for continuous heating (for an internal dry bulb
temperature of 19C and an external design temperature of -1C). Calculate the plant
capacity for intermittent operation.
Ventilation conductance = 1/3 N V = (0.5 x 562.5)/3 = 93.75 W/K.
The thermal response factor fr = (1438.1+93.75) / (345.7+93.75) = 3.49
Therefore the correction factor for intermittent heating

F3 = (24 x 3.49) / ((11 x 3.49) + (24 11)) = 1.63

Therefore the calculated plant capacity for intermittent operation is
Qpb = 8.72 x 1.63 = 14.21 kW