Thermal performance of two envelope systems: Measurements in non air-conditioned outdoor test cells and simulations

Measurements obtained from two non-air-conditioned outdoor full-scale test cells during a year in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico, are used to compare the thermal performance of two envelope constructive systems for walls and roofs of monolithic concrete buildings. The two constructive systems have the same thickness, one is mono-layered and other is two-layered. The two-layered constructive system has a better thermal performance due to its larger thermal resistances and thermal capacity, and the more-layers effect. The experimental data were compared with numerical simulation results obtained with EnergyPlus using the time-dependent heat transfer model. The numerical results are, in general, in good agreement with the experiments. The surface lag time is the variable with the largest differences.