Experimental measurements

As it has been mentioned in previous chapters, one of the main purposes of a passive timber construction is a long-term monitoring and evaluation of physical-technical properties of building structures and the internal environment of the entire building under real external conditions. The following variables have been continuously recorded since August 2012, when the whole system of measurements was launched :

• surface temperature of the peripheral structures,
• temperature and relative humidity inside the peripheral structures,
• air temperature and relative humidity inside and outside the building,
• temperatures in the soil under the foundation slab,
• changes in total tension in the soil at the level of the foundation base and under the foundation slab,
• mechanical tension in the reinforced concrete slab obtained by indirect measurements using deformation of resistance strain gauges.

Heat flux density on the internal surface of the peripheral structures, globetemperature of the interior air (measured by ball thermometer), acoustic properties of the building construction, air tightness of the building shell, and thermovision measurements belong to other physical quantities that are measured only in certain periods or as one-off. Data from the measuring sensors that are part of the measurement and control system – for example, the concentration of CO2 in individual rooms, lighting in individual rooms, data from the weather station located on the roof of the building, the air temperature in the ground heat exchanger, etc. are also used for research purposes.