Experimental validation of simulation and measurement-based overheating assessment approaches for residential buildings

As a part of the building design process, Estonian building code requires standardized dynamic hourly simulations to verify the building’s compliance to the summer thermal comfort requirements. In this study, we analysed this overheating assessment method for free-running residential buildings, by comparing the simulation results with measured data. Simulation models with different thermal zoning levels were studied: single-zone models, multi-zone apartment models and multi-zone whole building models. We analysed and quantified the effects of modelling detail and thermal zoning on indoor temperature and overheating estimation on the basis of five apartment buildings. Based on the results, a method, using indoor temperature measurements and outdoor climate data, to assess overheating risk has been proposed, as a relatively simple and inexpensive method for pre-defining the need for dynamic simulations.