Methodology for the calculation of response factors through experimental tests and validation with simulation

One of the most simple and intuitive methods employed to characterise a building solution in transient regime is based on the use of response factors. Its acquisition by calculation is an appropriate approach when the thermo-physical properties of the materials are known. However, in a great number of building products these data are not available and thus large errors in the calculation may be incurred, which cannot be quantified.In this work, a dynamic testing method is presented inside a guarded hot-box unit, where the response factors of a wall can be obtained without requiring the corresponding material properties.This method has been validated by means of a finite volumes simulation code for a wall which thermal characteristics are perfectly defined. Although the errors committed when adding the response factors and comparing them with the transmittance values are higher in the experiment than in the numerical analysis, there is a good agreement between the heat flows obtained experimentally and with the simulation.