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In recent years the use of wood based products in building industry has expanded. Although lightweight timber constructions essentially decrease environmental impact of a building, their consequential low thermal mass can lead to overheating during summer. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to investigate various examples of enhanced lightweight constructions from the thermal response point of view. Several improvements were investigated (e.g. clay boards, wood wool thermal insulation, Phase Change Materials, etc.) and compared with the performance of a conventional thermally insulated high mass wall. Finite element model was created and dynamic thermal performance of enhanced lightweight external walls was analysed in three different European locations: Helsinki (Finland), Vienna (Austria) and Madrid (Spain). Certain enhancements resulted in lower internal surface temperature of constructions up to 1 °C, depending on location. In addition, it was shown that in order to further improve thermal performance, application of high intensity ventilation is necessary, which additionally lowered the internal surface temperature up to 8 °C. It was shown that enhanced and naturally cooled lightweight constructions are more suitable for locations with milder summer temperatures (Northern, Central Europe), rather than for hot climates (Mediterranean). It was concluded that the application of lightweight constructions should be thoughtful in order to achieve adequate thermal response of buildings. However, in lightweight buildings the integration of materials characterised by high thermal mass, high thermal effusivity and low environmental impact should be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the construction industry has been comprehensively focusing on energy performance of buildings and on achieving higher standards of living comfort. One of the most sophisticated ways to attain both at the same time is (re)achieving building’s climate balance by using bioclimatic design. Therefore, the main goal of this paper was to present a bioclimatic potential prognosis and to show its application on an example of the Alpine-Adriatic region. The bioclimatic potential prognosis was made for 21 characteristic locations. For this purpose, bioclimatic chart plots were made using elementary weather data and additionally, the actually received solar irradiance was precisely considered at every location. The latter was shown to have a large influence on the analysis results. Furthermore, an evaluation of performed bioclimatic potential prognosis was made with simulations of a generic building model using Energy Plus. The generic building model was tested in five selected locations and the heating and cooling demand results were compared with the bioclimatic potential analysis. The results showed that the application of the presented method can indicate which passive solutions should be applied in building design at a specific location in order to facilitate smaller energy usage and consequential higher indoor comfort. In addition, the presented approach can be used in order to incorporate the latest or predicted climate data into bioclimatic potential analysis. The latter has a significant influence on the design of buildings of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]