Forms of cooperation and quality assurance
The Saxion Sustainable Building Technology Research Group focuses its activities on the provision of methods and resources, such as digital tools. We facilitate the reduction of construction-related greenhouse gas emissions during the construction and operational phase, combat climate change and strengthen the market position of our project partners.
Collaboration?
The insights and developments we gain help local market players to apply new products and services. We focus on the interaction between the building envelope (materials), users and installations with a healthy indoor climate as a prerequisite.
We have experience in:
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Measurement of thermal conductivity and thermal resistance of materials under lab conditions (guarded hot plate).
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Measurement of building and installation components in the in-house Saxion Smart TinyLab (thermal, energy, indoor climate).
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In-situ measurement of the thermal resistance of building components, the air permeability of buildings (blower door test), and the overall heat loss coefficient of buildings (co-heating test).
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Energy monitoring of buildings and installations (performance tracking).
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Dynamic energy simulations of buildings with IDA-ICE.
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Neighbourhood-level energy simulations.
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Quantification of building circularity.
Parties we work with can use our expertise, among other things, to support product design, to evaluate products in preparation for certification, scale-up and market launch, to verify the performance of renovation concepts.
In the Smart TinyLab, we work with construction partners and companies in the construction industry. We work together in the laboratory to develop, evaluate and validate products and to demonstrate them in the field.
The quality of a building's thermal envelope has a major impact on energy use for heating (and cooling). It is therefore important that the insulation and air permeability quality specified in advance is achieved in practice. We use the co-heating test (EN 17887) to determine the actual quality of the thermal envelope of a building in situ.
For a period of 10 -15 days, we heat the building to a homogeneous and constant temperature of around 25 °C. We measure heating energy use, indoor and outdoor temperatures, global solar radiation and heat flows to adjacent spaces. We then calculate the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of the building. The extent to which the quality of the thermal envelope has been achieved can be determined by comparison with the design value.
We conduct co-heating tests mainly when evaluating concepts for new buildings or renovation projects. The co-heating test requires a building to be unoccupied/unused for two weeks. It can only be conducted at low outside temperatures (< 15°C) (October - April).
To limit a building's heat loss and for the mechanical (balance) ventilation system to function properly, it is important to limit the building's air permeability. We use the blower door test to detect leaks in the thermal envelope and determine the air permeability of buildings.
We conduct blower door tests as part of the co-heating test.
Grant opportunities
There are a number of grants available for the kind of applied research we do.
Our research group has extensive experience in writing and (co-)applying for grants for larger consortia.
Not every question lends itself directly to a large research project. Sometimes a small exploratory study is more appropriate. Explore the options with us.
If a research question fits a theme where the government wants more research done, there may be opportunities for a tailor-made grant.
Interested in collaborating or do you have questions?
Please contact us.
dr. ir. Christian Struck
Lector Sustainable Building Technology
06 - 1323 1884 [email protected] LinkedIn