A NONCALORIMETRIC METHOD FOR HEAT-TRANSFER COEFFICIENT MEASUREMENT OFBUILDING THERMAL ENVELOPES

A noncalorimetric method for measuring the heat-transfer coefficient ( UA) of building thermal envelopes is proposed and applied in an indoor test cell. The UA value measured by this method agrees closely with t hat measured by a calorimetric method. This method creates a Single in put and a Single output data Pair (SSP) from the measured data sets by using digital filters. The filter output and physical criteria are us ed to determine the correct transfer function, which yields the measur ed UA value. This method seems to have the following advantages over c alorimetric methods: it uses shorter measurement times, uses simpler t est equipment, and has minimum thermal intrusion on normal operating c onditions.