On the influence of several parameters in energy model calibration: the case of a historical building

The aim of this work is to investigate the extent to which several different variables (e.g. climate conditions, infiltration rates and envelope characteristics) could affect the calibration process and, consequently, the reliability of the simulation outcomes. In this regard, in this paper the calibration phases of a dynamic hourly energy model for an existing building are presented. The test case is a historical construction built at the end of the nineteenth century in northern Italy. The building, originally designed for tobacco processing, has a massive envelope and it has no HVAC system. Therefore, the simulation model is calibrated using the actual air and wall surface temperature as control variables. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is carried out in order to assess the incidence of different inputs in building thermal behaviour and to identify which parameters have to be refined with the aim of optimizing the model calibration.