Publications by Mohammad Rahiminejad

Experimental study of the hydrodynamic and thermal performances of ventilated wall structures

The presence of a ventilated air gap behind the external cladding in a building envelope is known to have a tangible contribution to the overall performance of the wall assembly. In the present study, the hydrodynamic and thermal performances of ventilated ...

2023

Impact of the ventilated air-space behind traditional (passive) and BIPV (active) façades on the thermo-hydrodynamic performance of the building wall structures

Mohammad Rahiminejad

For many decades, ventilated cavities in wall assemblies of buildings have been essential for creating moisture-resilient constructions by allowing airflow within the air gap to promote drying. In addition to that, the airflow in the cavity can contribute ...

EPFL2022

Measuring the effective thermal resistance of ventilated air-spaces behind common wall assemblies: Theoretical uncertainty analysis and recommendations for the hot box method modifications (ASHRAE 1759-RP)

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

A well-designed ventilated wall that incorporates air-space behind cladding can reduce energy use for conditioning buildings by adding a thermally resistive layer. The scarcity of thermal performance data and standardized test methods is a particular barri ...

2022

Numerical and experimental study of the dynamic thermal resistance of ventilated air-spaces behind passive and active façades

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

The variation of the thermo-hydrodynamic behavior of the airflow in the ventilated cavity behind external claddings in a wall structure could potentially affect the overall thermal resistance of the entire structure. Although the impact of an enclosed air- ...

2022

Heat recovery potential from ventilated passive and active facades

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

A ventilated air-space behind external claddings can potentially affect the thermal performance of the entire building structure. In particular, in the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) facades, ventilated cavities are typically present between the P ...

TU Delft OPEN2022

Performance of lightweight and heavyweight building walls with naturally ventilated passive and active facades

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

Well-designed ventilated air-spaces behind external claddings in the building envelope can potentially reduce thermal energy flow in the entire wall structure. In this study, the impact of the dynamic thermo-hydraulic behavior of the flow in the naturally ...

2021

Transient thermal response of opaque building envelope elements: EPFL campus case study

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

The building envelope acts as a shield against varying weather conditions and modulates thermal energy flow between outdoors and indoors. The choice of layers used in the assembly impacts the heat loss and gain through the wall structure and potentially ca ...

2021

Assessment of thermal and electrical performance of BIPV façades using simplified simulations

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg, Arnab Chatterjee

Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) facades are a solution to consider when it comes to electricity generation on the building site. One of the main challenges attributes to this technology is finding the best trade-off between the electrical efficienc ...

2021

In-situ measurements of the U-value of a ventilated wall assembly

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

The walls in a building envelope have the largest contact area with the exterior environment, and, therefore, a considerable portion of the thermal energy can be lost through the walls compared to the other parts of the building envelope. For energy-saving ...

2021

Review on ventilation rates in the ventilated air-spaces behind common wall assemblies with external cladding

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

For many decades, ventilated cavities in wall assemblies of buildings have been essential for creating moisture resilient constructions by allowing airflow within the air gap to promote drying. In addition to that, the airflow in the cavity can enhance the ...

2021

Dynamic Thermal Performance of the BIPV Facades

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), generally integrated on the roofs, are more and more often installed on the facade as a result of a growing need in renewable energy generating surfaces. This allows maximizing the use of the building surfaces to g ...

AMER SOC HEATING, REFRIGERATING AND AIR-CONDITIONING ENGS2021

Impact of the Ventilated Cavity on the Thermal Performance of Traditional Wall Structures

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

The amount of heat flux passing through the building envelope directly affects the energy use for the thermal conditioning of the building. The ventilated cavity behind the traditional external claddings (e.g., vinyl siding, brick veneer) adjacent to the w ...

AMER SOC HEATING, REFRIGERATING AND AIR-CONDITIONING ENGS2021

Thermal resistance of ventilated air-spaces behind external claddings; definitions and challenges (ASHRAE 1759-RP)

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

The presence of an air-space within a building envelope is known to have a varying contribution to the overall thermal performance of the wall assembly due to the combined effect of convection and radiation in the air cavity. In particular, the thermal res ...

2021

Thermal resistance of the ventilated air-spaces behind external claddings; theoretical definition and a parametric study

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

The presence of a ventilated air cavity between the external cladding and the wall core of a wall assembly can have a varying contribution to the thermal performance of the building envelope. In particular, the thermal resistance of a ventilated air-space ...

2021

Impact of air-flow on thermal performance of air-spaces behind cladding (ASHRAE 1759-TRP)

Mohammad Rahiminejad, Dolaana Khovalyg

The project ASHRAE 1759-RP addresses the impact of the ventilated cavity behind external claddings on the thermal performance of the wall structure by defining “effective thermal resistance” of air gaps based on the linearized network of thermal resistance ...

ASHRAE2020