Design of an experimental facility for the validation of cooling load calculation procedures

Scope and method of study. Two test cells were constructed to validate the ASHRAE cooling load calculation procedures developed under RP-875 and codified in the ASHRAE Loads Toolkit (RP987). The test cells were designed to test the cooling load procedures' ability to accurately predict cooling loads dominated by solar and transient conduction heat gains. Internal heat sources were eliminated and infiltration was minimized for the study. The construction of the test cells also examined the procedures' ability to differentiate between thermal mass effects.; Findings and conclusions. Laboratory and field testing validated the design and control of the facility prior to data collection. Preliminary tests showed that the facility was capable of validating the new ASHRAE cooling load procedures. The experimental uncertainty associated with the measured cooling load was less than 7.5% and model input parameters were well defined for baseline configurations.