Incorporation of thermal inertia in the aim of installing a natural nighttime ventilation system in buildings

The objective of this study is to propose a simplified characterization of thermal inertia, as part of the installation of a system of summer refreshment by means of nighttime cooling ventilation. On the basis of a previous study, conducted by relying upon a modal analysis, the interactions between the thermal inertia of a building and the variation of the air exchange rate have been explained. It can then be shown that the notion of useful thermal mass has herein been altered in order to take the thermal inertia of the building into account; it would then be suitable to substitute this notion for an approximated calculation of the building's main time constant. Moreover, the necessity of adding a parameter that characterizes the rapid dynamics of a particular zone's air temperature can be justified. Lastly, a characterization of the thermal inertia based upon the three-criteria calculation is proposed. An approximated value of the time constant both during the period of nighttime cooling and beyond this period, as well as an approximated value of the height of the line associated with the rapid dynamics, can be computed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.