Marco Bortoloni

Summer Thermal Performance of Ventilated Roofs with Tiled Coverings

The thermal performance of a ventilated pitched roof with tiled coverings is analysed and compared with unventilated roofs. The analysis is carried out by means of a finite element numerical code, by solving both the fluid and thermal problems in steady-state. A whole one-floor building with a pitched roof is schematized as a 2D computational domain including the air-permeability of tiled covering. Realistic data sets for wind, temperature and solar radiation are used to simulate summer conditions at different times of the day. The results demonstrate that the batten space in pitched roofs is an effective solution for reducing the solar heat gain in summer and thus for achieving better indoor comfort conditions. The efficiency of the ventilation is strictly linked to the external wind conditions and to buoyancy forces occurring due to the heating of the tiles.

The ground surface energy balance in modelling horizontal ground heat exchangers

The performance of horizontal ground heat exchangers (HGHEs) is strongly dependent on climatic conditions, due to the low installation depth. In numerical modelling of HGHEs, the estimation of shallow soil temperature distribution is a key issue, therefore the boundary condition (BC) at the ground surface should be assigned carefully. With this in mind, a model of the energy balance at the ground surface (GSEB), based on weather variables, was developed. The model was tested as the 3rd kind BC at ground surface in modelling HGHEs by means of the FEM code Comsol Multiphysics, solving the unsteady heat transfer problem in a 2D domain. The GSEB model was calibrated and validated with the observed soil temperature at different depths. In addition, the effect on numerical solutions of different BCs, when assigned at the ground surface, was analysed. Three different simulations were carried out applying the GSEB model, the equivalent surface heat flux and temperature as boundary conditions of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd kind, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the use of the GSEB model is a preferable approach to the problem and that the use of the equivalent surface temperature can be considered as a reasonable simplification.