EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR MAINTAINING THERMAL COMFORT: STUDY CASE FOR HISTORICAL BUILDING.

One of the most important stages of the rehabilitation process, in the case of historical buildings, is to find the best solutions that can ensure, in the most efficient and nonaggressive way, the thermal comfort inside the building. In the study of this case, the authors identified several essential aspects in determining the best practices for assuring the heat consumption in buildings declared as historical monuments dating back to the 18th century. Among these we can mention: the destination of the building (tourist purpose), the dimensions and areas with the most significant heat loss, its location in a geographic area rich in geothermal water sources, as well as the thermal level of the thermal springs. It is obvious that taking into account the location of the analyzed building, the most convenient solution to occur is the use of heat from the thermal waters that feed the baths from the tourist premises. This method, taken by itself, in the climatic conditions in Romania, fails to cope with the peak demand for thermal energy during cold winter periods. For this reason, we must also call on additional sources such as electric radiant panels, hot water pipe panels (heated water or coming from renewable sources - source temperature is approximately 55 °C) or heat pumps. From calculations resulted that in the cold periods, of the maximum thermal load required, with the best solution for using the heat from the geothermal source, can cover about 35 %. The remaining 65 % requiring the installation of additional heating systems. It has also been studied the possibility of introducing a micro-cogeneration source, to ensure not only optimal thermal parameters but also a high degree of energy autonomy. In this sense, it will be interesting to analyze, in a future paper, solutions not only from a technical point of view but also from an economic point of view. One of the most important stages of the rehabilitation process, in the case of historical buildings, is to find the best solutions that can ensure, in the most efficient and nonaggressive way, the thermal comfort inside the building. In the study of this case, the authors identified several essential aspects in determining the best practices for assuring the heat consumption in buildings declared as historical monuments dating back to the 18th century. Among these we can mention: the destination of the building (tourist purpose), the dimensions and areas with the most significant heat loss, its location in a geographic area rich in geothermal water sources, as well as the thermal level of the thermal springs. It is obvious that taking into account the location of the analyzed building, the most convenient solution to occur is the use of heat from the thermal waters that feed the baths from the tourist premises. This method, taken by itself, in the climatic conditions in Romania, fails to cope with the peak demand for thermal energy during cold winter periods. For this reason, we must also call on additional sources such as electric radiant panels, hot water pipe panels (heated water or coming from renewable sources - source temperature is approximately 55 °C) or heat pumps. From calculations resulted that in the cold periods, of the maximum thermal load required, with the best solution for using the heat from the geothermal source, can cover about 35 %. The remaining 65 % requiring the installation of additional heating systems. It has also been studied the possibility of introducing a micro-cogeneration source, to ensure not only optimal thermal parameters but also a high degree of energy autonomy. In this sense, it will be interesting to analyze, in a future paper, solutions not only from a technical point of view but also from an economic point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]