Thermal Lag Calculation

[gc.198950]

I find it quite surprising how such an incredible software as Ecotect has not solved an issue as the often requested "Thermal Lag Calculation".
With my limited skills in programming I have made a little application which implements the ISO 13786 standard for the calculation of material parameters. All you have to do is "Copy all layers" in ecotect dialog and press "Calculate" in my program.
It has took me one day of work so I really do not understand how this is not still implemented in Ecotect.

[drajmarsh]

I have about 30 different variants of thermal lag calculations and algorithms which I have collected over time - from multi-page spreadhseets to all sorts of fourier and response factor methods. In the last 10 years I must have spent at least 500 hours trawling through every aspect of the CIBSE Guide A method. I have even had CIBSE engineers and researchers at one of the Universities I worked at try to help out. But to no avail - I can still enter certain combinations of material layers that give me a negative thermal lag (desirabe, but not physically possible).

There are some things that make sense to you and some that just don't - I obviously have some sort of blockage here.

If you do have working code, I would be very interested if you were willing to discuss this further ...

[gc.198950]

If you do have working code, I would be very interested if you were willing to discuss this further ...

I have working code, if you need to test any combination of layers so you can check my results (although I have already verified them), just tell me.
I am open to discuss this...

[t.gado]

Hi Germán

Are you willing to share your thermal lag tool with others?

Tamer Gado
University of Dundee.

[gc.198950]

Hi Tamer,
We will be releasing a commercial version in a couple of weeks for Spain (it has the additional functionality of importing the material properties from the database of our official Energy Performance of Buildings Certificacion software here in Spain) and a simpler version in English just a bit later.

It will be a very cheap piece of software, which will provide the thermal lag result and the correct admittance and thermal decrement values which I have found wrong in Ecotect for some situations (mainly with air cavities).

I will announce it in this forum (I hope not to be banned for that) and in our webpage, so if you are interested, just keep an eye...

[t.gado]

Hi Germán

Many thanks for this. I sent you an e-mail a moment ago through your website. It will be much appreciated if you could communicate with me via the e-mail. I did not want to post to my e-mail address on the forum. I am much looking forward to reciving from you.

Thanks

Tamer

[falsalem]

Just use a program called 'OPAQUE' it calculates Thermal Lag for user specified wall and roof assemblies.

[gc.198950]

Just use a program called 'OPAQUE' it calculates Thermal Lag for user specified wall and roof assemblies.

Sure, if you find OPAQUE useful and you have checked its results, its an alternative (there are more though, but not free). In my case, I use SI units and I prefer not to build my compositions twice (I know in Ecotect you may not need to introduce all the layer information). I find OPAQUE is not practical for me, that is why I have programmed my own application, specifically adapted to Ecotect (you just copy layer info to clipboard from Ecotect and press Calculate button in my application to get the results).

[S.Heidrich1]

Opaque seems does not like XP, is programmed 1997, crashes quite often and sometimes comes up with funny values, gets stuck at "1#". But still easier as calculating it yourself.

edit: the "1#" is when the default R value is 0....
anyway, what units are specific heat and density in, struggle to convert metric to imperial values

[glittering_gleam]

if we have to put the values manually what should we put in the boxes of thermal resistance and the box below it ,because due to some error ecomat is not picking the values automatically when i "copy all layers"
n secondly can anybody give a link to download the software opaque?