In this master's thesis, we utilized the EnergyPlus software tool to analyse the thermal response of a single-family residential building with different thermal mass in the building envelope across three characteristic climates of Slovenia. The results of the thermal response analyses of building models with four variants of the building envelope were evaluated based on the adaptive thermal comfort model according to the standard SIST EN 16798-1 and the internal temperature profiles. In the second part of the thesis, we conducted a sensitivity analysis of key influencing parameters related to the design of the building envelope and the interior of the building. We examined the influence of massive internal walls, the intensity of night-time ventilation, the thermal mass of thermal insulation, the solar absorptivity factor of internal surfaces, and the thermal mass of floor coverings. The analysis showed a significant impact of thermal mass on the thermal response of buildings. We found that thermal mass is crucial for both the duration of thermal comfort and the internal temperature profiles, which are directly interconnected. The importance of using a massive building envelope is particularly pronounced during the warmer part of the year and in warmer climates, where differences between massive and lightweight variants become more apparent. The variant of the building envelope that combines high thermal mass and low thermal transmittance achieved the best results. It was better than the lightweight variant with low thermal transmittance, which had the poorest thermal response by 20 percentage points in two out of three analysed climates. From the results of the sensitivity analysis of key parameters influencing the thermal mass or its operation, we concluded that a lightweight building envelope is much more sensitive to changes in the building design. For lightweight building envelopes, measures that increase thermal mass positively impact thermal response. The influence of adjustments, except for nighttime ventilation, is negligible for more massive building envelopes.
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