Thermal behavior and energy saving analysis of a flat with different energy efficiency measures in six climates

This article aims at studying the impact of many construction parameters of a flat on its energy performance and thermal comfort. The studied parameters are: the envelope thermal insulation, the orientation, the floor level, the ground coupling, the roof and the external walls absorption coefficient and the controlled mechanical ventilation. The TRNSYS based numerical study is performed in six different climates ranging from cold to desert one. The numerical model has been validated against experimental results obtained from summer and winter long term monitoring campaigns of the flat located in the Marrakech city, Morocco. The apartment's heating and cooling loads as well as thermal discomfort indexes are calculated for the possible eleven configurations combining the studied parameters. The results show that high thermal insulation of the walls leads to an apparent summer overheating with an increase in the flat's total thermal load by up to 18% in all the considered climates, except for the cold one. It was found that the walls' light thermal insulation resulting from the cavity wall technique is sufficient to reach an acceptable level of thermal comfort thus preventing summer overheating. Similarly, thermal insulation of the slab-on-grade floor was found to perform an increase in thermal load for hot and moderate climates by at least 67%. The best combination of all the studied energy efficiency measures for each climate conditions was evaluated via comparison to a reference case that represents the actual apartment.