Investigating the control strategies for Breathing Walls during summer: a dynamic simulation study

The paper aims at studying different strategies for the optimal operation of Breathing Walls during summer. The investigation is carried out by performing dynamic simulations on a case study. To this purpose, a transient Finite-Difference numerical model for Breathing Wall components, previously developed in Matlab and validated by the Authors, is coupled with TRNSYS. The case study consists of an office room located in Milan, Italy, provided with Air Conditioning and Mechanical Ventilation and with an air permeable wall. Forcing exhaust air from the indoor environment across the Breathing Wall has better performances compared to forcing supply air from the outside across the wall. Yet modest energy savings are found compared to the traditional impermeable use of the wall, as the high level of insulation already minimises the heat gains through the opaque envelope.