BUILDING ENVELOPE LAB

Lab description

The laboratory consists of 3 rooms, each of about 20 m2 in plan, decoupled and independently controlled for the execution of thermal and acoustic tests. The ceiling between Room B and C is mobile and therefore allows you to adjust the height and volume of Room B.

Internal view of the Building Envelope Lab: room A and B (left) and control room (right).

Main activities

  • Thermal and / or acoustic tests on specimens of wall / window elements / nodes and thermal bridges made between Chamber A and Chamber B
  • Thermal and / or acoustic tests on samples of floor samples made between Chamber B and Chamber C
  • Thermal and / or acoustic performance and environmental comfort tests on air conditioning system terminals (radiators, fan-coils, radiant systems, air inlets)
  • Thermo-hygrometric comfort test for the occupant
Section of the Building Envelope Lab: rooms A, B and C.

Lab equipment

  • The hygro-thermal conditions of the chambers can be controlled to reproduce typical indoor and outdoor conditions for semi-continental or tropical climates.
  • Roll-bond radiant panels are installed on the vertical walls and ceilings of each room which, together with the radiant floor, allow to assure uniformity of the surface temperature. Each surface is independently controlled.
  • The double system of mobile plates allows a precision adjustment of the surface temperature of the specimen between Rooms A and B.
  • In addition to the tests on the specimens of the opaque/glazed element, the movable plates allow to recreate cold/hot surfaces for hygro-thermal comfort tests for specific tests on the system terminals.

Instrumental equipment

THERMAL TESTS

  • Instrumentation for the characterization of the thermophysical properties of building materials.
  • System for measuring the thermal resistance of hotbox wall specimens with heat flow meter according to UNI EN 1934, which can be modified to measure the dynamic parameters according to EN ISO 13786.
  • Thermal imaging camera

ACOUSTIC TESTS

  • Dodecahedron
  • Sound level meter
  • Intensity probe
  • Tapping machine & impact ball
  • Acoustic camera

THERMO-HYGROMETRIC COMFORT TEST

  • Thermal Manikin NEWTON
  • DeltaOHM HD32.1
  • TCOMSYS01 Hot Cube

Lab activities

Test on thermal bridges of timber frame walls.
Thermal manikin Newton.
SENSHome project: Setting up a living environment within the laboratory to test furniture and sensor solutions that allow an increase in the quality of life in the home environment of people on the autism spectrum.
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