Thermal activation of solid timber elements for indoor climate control

Currently, building construction using cross-laminated timber elements (CLT) is rapidly evolving throughout Europe. The integration of heating and cooling applications in timber buildings requires special solutions with focus on time and cost efficient organization of the building process, constructive requirements of the utilized materials, and in particular the wood-specific hygro-thermal properties for energy efficient indoor climate conditioning. The main object of this work is an air-operated system for thermally activated CLT elements. The final goal is the development of a CLT wall panel including indoor heating and cooling applications. During the project, the thermal properties of CLT elements were measured, which provides an improved physical database. The thermal performance of the thermally activated CLT elements and their robustness against moisture and air leakage were investigated using numerical system simulations and laboratory long-term experiments.