Outdoor testbeds for studies on performance of building envelopes: review and recommendations

Figures & data

Figure 1. Classification of outdoor testbeds for building envelope performance assessment.

Table 1. Examples of single-room test cells.

Picture	Name of test cell	Construction time	Country	Facility Owner	Size/Dimensions (W × L × H)/Layout	Features	Tested systems & aspects	HVAC system
	PASSYS (Aleo et al. 2001; Assimakopoulos et al. 2007; Hahne and Pfluger 1996; Van Dijk and Van der Linden 1993)	1985	Ten European Union countries	Commission of the European Communities	2.75 × 5.0 × 2.75m (test room interior dimension)	35 Test cells located in different European countries, each has a test room and service room	Steady-state evaluation of thermal performance of passive solar building components. Validation of building design simulation tools.	A heating/cooling system with an electric heater, and air/water heat exchanger, and a fan.
	PASLINK (Baker and Van Dijk 2008; Dimoudi, Androutsopoulos, and Lykoudis 2004; García-Gáfaro et al. 2020; Goethals et al. 2012; Kotsiris et al. 2012; Leal and Maldonado 2008)	1989	Ten European Union countries	Commission of the European Communities	13.8 m²*2.75m	Test cells located in different European countries, each has a test room and service room	Characterization of dynamic behavior of building components. Validation of building design simulation tools.	A heating/cooling system with an electric heater, and air/water heat exchanger, and a fan.
	Calorimetric Façade and Rooftop Test Facility (Kersken 2021a; Strachan et al. 2015)	2001	Germany	IBP	3.8 × 3.8 × 3.5m 3.2 × 2.3 m (max specimen size)	Test chamber can be turned by 360⁰ and tilted from a vertical to a horizontal specimen.	Determination of the energetic and visual performance of transparent large-scale façade and roof elements	Air conditioner to maintain air temperature to avoid activation of thermal mass
	Prefabricated outdoor room facility (Dehra 2019)	2004	Canada	Concordia University	N/A	Prefabricated structure with two double façade sections	Acoustic and thermo-fluid insulation performance of an airflow window with a photovoltaic solar wall	The transportation of heat was achieved through manually operated intake and set of exhaust dampers. The exhaust damper allowed the pre-conditioned outdoor air directly into the room.
	The Cube (Kalyanova et al. 2009; Kalyanova and Heiselberg 2008; Marszal et al. 2009)	2006	Denmark	University of Aalborg	6.0 × 6.0 × 6.0m	1 Test room; 1 instrument room; 1 engine room. Flexible façade configurations, Manually controlled blinds.	Detailed thermal performance assessment of double skin façade and different types of shading devices.	A ventilation system with the heating and cooling unit is installed in the experiment room. A cooling unit is installed in the experiment room activated.
	PASLINK test cell at CIEMAT (Jiménez, Porcar, and Heras 2009; Jiménez, Porcar, and Heras 2008; Jiménez and Madsen 2008)	2008	Spain	PSA-CIEMAT	6.13 m²	1 test room; rotatable base	Thermal properties (U-value, g-value) of building envelope components;	The same as other PASLINK test cells
	Bamboo structure wall test cell (Wang 2011)	2011	China	Hunan University	2.0 × 2.0 × 2.0m	1 test room	Coupled heat and moisture transfer characteristics of bamboo structure wall	None.
	LGI test cell (Bigot 2011; Guichard et al. 2014)	2011	France	Reunion University	Volume of 30 m³	Single glazed window, inclined roof	Thermal performance of PCM integrated roof	Not specified.
	Btga-box (Schweiker et al. 2012)	2012	Germany	Wuppertal University	2.82 × 7.06 m	A prefab concrete building cell, south surface Exchangeable. electrically driven external shading device	Thermal and visual performance of windows and vacuum insulation panels.	Mechanically (fan) or natural ventilated.
	Test cell at University of Florence (Alcamo and De Lucia 2014; Luible et al. 2018; Romano, Gallo, and Donato 2021)	2014	Italy	University of Florence	2.8 × 2.8m (Test room)	Insulated wooden structure with rotatable base, an upgrade of PASSYS test cell	Thermal performance test of façade components	The same as PASSYS test cell
	Chang’an University test cell (Qian, Guan, et al. 2016)	2016	China	Chang’an University	3.0 × 3.0 × 3.0m	1 test room, concrete and brick wall with insulation	hygrothermal behavior of facades of new building	Two electric radiators for heating.
	Delft University of Technology test cell (Stec and Van Paassen, 2005; Stec and Van Paassen 2002)	2018	Netherlands	TU Delft	3.1 × 1.9 × 2.68m	thermally light construction with a double skin façade. 1 test room with a monitoring room	Thermal performance and control strategy of double skin facade	An electric radiator (1750 W) supplies heating to the test-cell. A Daikin Split-Sky indoor air conditioner supplies air-cooling.
	Kovilpatti experimental room (Karthick et al. 2020)	2019	India	National Engineering College	3.0 × 3.0 × 6.0m	Steel and wooden structure, with sloped roof. 1 test room	Thermal performance and energy conversion efficiency of semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) module as rooftop window,	None.
	Anseong testbed (Ko, Oh, et al. 2020)	2020	Korea	KyungHee University	14.57m^2×2.9m	Well insulated testbed, no ventilation, double glazed windows	Energy consumption of suspended particle device (SPD) windows	Heat pump cooling capacity of 2500 W, heating capacity of 2700 W.
	MATELab (Luna-Navarro and Overend 2021)	2021	UK	University of Cambridge	4.5 × 5 × 2.5m	1 test room or can be partitioned into two test rooms. South, east and west facades have reconfigurable wooden frames.	Occupant-facade interaction, influence of façade on indoor environmental quality (IEQ)	Heat-pump with heat-recovery unit made of two identical and separate systems for heating, cooling and ventilation. Under Floor Air Displacement (UFAD) system for ventilation
	Experimental platform in 2iE (Neya et al. 2021)	2021	Burkina Faso	International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE)	3.06 × 4.06 × 4.33m	0.14m thick Compressed Stabilized Earth Brick (CEB) walls with single glazing on north and south.	influence of insulation and thermal mass on building thermal performance	None.

Figure 2. PASSYS (Baker and Van Dijk 2008).

Figure 3. Layout of LABIMED test cell (Alcamo and De Lucia 2014).

Figure 4. LABIMED test cell (Alcamo and De Lucia 2014).

Figure 5. Calorimetric test facility (Kersken 2021).

Table 2. Examples of multi-room test cells.

Picture	Name of test cell	Construction time	Country	Facility owner	Size /Dimensions (W × L × H)/Layout	Features	Tested systems & aspects/parameters	HVAC systems
	MoWiTT (Klems and Keller 1986; Klems 1992, 1988)	1979	USA	LBNL	2.44 × 3.05 × 2.34m (Interior dimensions for each test room)	2 Test rooms with removable exterior wall and roof panels. 1 Service zone.	Thermal and energy performance of windows (including skylights)	Forced-flow, temperature-controlled air supply system with a fan coil unit and a chiller for heating and cooling.
	The VLIET -test building (Abuku, Blocken, and Roels 2009; Desta, Langmans, and Roels 2011; Janssens and Hens 2007; Langmans and Roels 2015; Roels and Deurinck 2011; Saelens, Roels, and Hens 2004)	1996	Belgium	KU Leuven	25.2 × 7.2 × 2.7m	2 Test rooms: the south east side (8 test walls and 4 flat roofs) and the north west side (12 walls and 6 duo pitched roofs)	Hygrothermal behavior of facades and roofs; thermal mass; ventilation	Not specified.
	EMPA facility (Manz 2004; Simmler, Binder, and Vonbank 2000; Simmler and Binder 2008)	1999	Switzerland	EMPA	2.9 × 4.6 × 2.4m	Wooden structure, 2 test rooms	Determination of the total solar energy transmittance of glazing with venetian blind shading/double facades; thermal performance of double facades	Mechanical ventilation
	ERS test facility (Kunwar et al. 2019; Loutzenhiser, Maxwell, and Manz 2007; Price and Smith 2000)	2000	USA	University of Iowa	8 Test rooms (23.63 m²)	3 Pairs of test rooms are located at the perimeter of the building (east, south, and west) and the other 2 test rooms are inside the facility. Different types of windows installed for each pair of test rooms, interior shading installed	Empirical validation of daylighting algorithms (illuminance, light power reduction, associated thermal load interaction) for various windows and shading devices	The primary system for cooling was air-cooled liquid chillers. Air handling units (AHUs) were utilized for cooling. Rooms had variable air volume (VAV) terminal unit to control the amount of supply air required to maintain the setpoint temperature in each room.
	LBNL test cell (Lee et al. 2015, Lee, DiBartolomeo, and Selkowitz 2006, 2005)	2003	USA	LBNL	88.40m²	3 Test rooms	Control strategies; visual comfort;	A packaged air-conditioning (heat pump) unit provides space conditioning to the thermal guard space. Dedicated fan coil units provide space conditioning to each individual test room.
	VERU (Schweiker et al. 2014)	2004	Germany	Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP	150m² 6 square test rooms	Reinforced concrete 3-storey test building, a pair of test room on each floor. Each test room can change internal depth and they can be combined. Flexible façade configurations	Integral investigation of façades, spaces, and building services to give practical information on energy consumption, visual and thermal comfort.	Fully conditioned with centralized system, thermally-activated slabs
	ISE test facility (Wienold and Christoffersen 2006, 2005)	2005	Germany	ISE & SBi	7.3 × 4.6 × 3 m	2 Identical experimental rooms, the distance from floor to the suspended ceiling can be changed	Glare effect from different window sizes and glazing typologies	Not specified.
	Test Cells (Silva, Almeida, and Mendonça 2006a, Silva et al. 2006b)	2006	Portugal	University of Minho	N/A	3 Different test cells(a passive solar optimized construction, a Portuguese conventional construction, and a super-insulated lightweight construction)	Thermal performance of integrating PCM in floors of a lightweight structure. Energetic and environmental performance of sustainable building technologies (high thermal mass and appropriate shading, etc.)	None.
	BSRTU test facility (Buxbaum et al. 2008; Janssens 2016)	2008	Austria	BSRTU	10.3 × 18.2 × 2.7m	Wooden frame structure, separation of roof areas allows for test of 14 different roof assemblies; variable spacing of partition walls	Hygrothermal behavior of facades; interactions of building component with indoor comfort conditions	Double air conditioning system.
	BESTLab (Favoino et al. 2018)	2010	France	EDF research center of Les Renardières	3.3 × 3.6 × 2.9m or 3.9 × 3.4 × 4.6 m	12 Test rooms (6 for vertical facades, 6 for sloped roofs), over insulated walls.	Thermal behavior and energy characterization of technologies associated or connected to building envelope components	HVAC split unit system with a 2650 W cooling and a 3050 W heating capacity, 460 m^3/h flow rate.
	Lwf-FAÇADE-facility (Laboratory for Intelligent Building Technology 2011)	2011	Germany	Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences	13 × 5.5 × 6m	3 Test rooms surrounded by an air-conditioned service room; can rotate and tilt; facade openings of 3 × 4 m individually adaptable	Façade assessment: physical behavior, thermal comfort, ventilation, control strategies, visual comfort	Heating and cooling supplied from suspended ceiling of each test room.
	LOBSTER (Safizadeh, Schweiker, and Wagner 2018; Schweiker et al. 2014)	2014	Germany	Karlsruhe Institute of Technology	4 × 6 × 3m	Rotatable structure, 2 test rooms, room surfaces are cooled or warmed by hydronic capillary tubes, operable window	Thermal comfort and occupant behavior	Two separated heat pumps for radiative heating and cooling, Ceiling fans or mechanically ventilated
	ZEB test cell (Cattarin et al. 2018; Goia, Schlemminger, and Gustavsen 2017; Gullbrekken, Kvande, and Time 2017)	2015	Norway	NTNU & SINTEF	12.6 × 10.8 × 4.7m	2 South exposed test rooms contained in a guarded cell	Energy performance and indoor environmental quality of building envelope components and building equipment components	Air conditioning of the cells bases on a balanced mechanical ventilation layout. The supply section consists of an adjustable fan, a water-based cooling coil, a PID controlled electric coil, followed by a silencer. Air system of the guard volume consists of a silence, an adjustable circulation fan, a water-based cooling coil, a PID controlled electric coil, and a second silencer.
	MATRIX (Ascione, De Masi, et al. 2016)	2015	Italy	University of Sannio	6.0 × 6.0 × 5.5m	2 Test rooms; can rotate of 360°; steel frame structure with wooden wall and roof; removable and configurable walls and windows; various mechanical systems	Hygrothermal characterization of facades/materials; energy performance of different envelope/HVAC system; evaluations of solutions for indoor comfort	The test cell is equipped with two different systems for heating and cooling, based on hydronic technologies (fan coil units, radiant systems).
	AEL test offices (Xiong and Tzempelikos 2016)	2016	USA	Purdue University	5.0 × 5.2 × 3.4m	2 Identical, side-by-side test rooms equipped with reconfigurable facade, shading and lighting systems	The impact of facade design and control options on indoor environmental conditions and energy use	N/A
	FACT (Bianco et al. 2017)	2017	France	CEA–INES	10 Different test cells (9 m^2 each)	Two-storey building, metallic structure, 5 test cells on ground floor and 5 on first floor. 8 Test cells each presents two façades of test with an area of 7.70 m² (2.3 × 3.3 m), 2 test cells each present only one façade of test south exposed.	Perform energy and IEQ test as well as to evaluate technically innovative building envelope solutions (aerogel based envelope component, cladding unit for deep renovation, etc.)	An HVAC system with a reversible heat pump.
	BCA SkyLab test cell (Yang et al. 2018)	2018	Singapore	Nanyang Technological University	43.5m^2×3.5m (each test room)	360-Degree rotatable structure 1 test room, 1 reference room, and 1 control room	Energy efficiency of façade technologies, thermal comfort, control strategies of cooling systems	A fan coil unit (FCU) ACMV system was installed. The FCU operates at constant fan speed, and is controlled by a thermostat that is linked to the actuator that regulates the chilled water flow rate through the cooling coil in the FCU. The thermostat controlled the chilled water flow rate according to room temperature set point that is determined by a proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control. The conditioned air is then supplied to the cell through four 4-way spread type ceiling air diffusers and subsequently returned through the six slot type diffusers on the ceiling.
	Test cell in Sophia Antipolis (Souayfane, Biwole, and Fardoun 2018)	2018	France	Université Cote d’Azur	9.3m² Floor area each (test/reference room)	Well insulated wall; 1 test room, 1 reference room, 1 data acquisition room	Thermal behavior of a TIM–PCM wall	The test cell is left in free floating mode; the reference room is equipped with a cooling/heating system maintaining the room air temperature at 23 °C in summer and winter.
	SCUT test cell (Lu et al. 2019)	2019	China	South China University of Technology	6.1 × 3.1 × 3.2m	2 Side-by-side test rooms, air conditioner installed	Effect of the inner wall surface radiation rate on the indoor thermal comfort	Air conditioners for cooling
	CELLS (EPFL 2020)	2020	Switzerland	EPFL	Not specified.	Two identical office-like test rooms, side by side, are divided by a buffer zone. Each room has two windows on opposite facades.	Thermal properties and performance of building envelope, control strategies. Visual and thermal comfort. Performance of building-integrated PV panels.	heat pump and ceiling radiant panels. Mechanical ventilation.
	Smart TinyLab (Mohammadi et al. 2022)	2021	The Netherlands	Saxion University of Applied Sciences	3.6 × 4.8 × 2.9 m (each test room)	Two test rooms plus an installation room, rotatable.	Assessment of energy efficiency and indoor climate conditions resulted from building products, HVAC components, smart technologies, user-related aspects	Heating/cooling is provided by the air and the floor heating, generated by a single heat pump with a buffer. Variable volume ventilation.
	BeTOP (Berardi and Soudian 2023; Soudian and Berardi 2022)	2022	Canada	Toronto Metropolitan University	45m²	2 Test rooms and a vestibule; allows for simultaneous testing of eight façade modules, and two large ceiling modules; easy removal and integration of different façade systems.	Thermal and comfort performance of envelopes (e.g., ventilated façade, radiant ceiling) and the dynamic interactions between building enclosure components, indoor environments, and mechanical systems	Primary heating and cooling system include two air source heat pumps (one for each room). The second heating system is a hydronic radiant floor system that can be activated upon demand.
	Vertical greening measurement platform (Zhang, Zhang, and Meng 2022)	2022	China	South China University of Technology	3.6 × 6.5 × 3.1m overall 2.0 × 1.9 × 2.0m (Each test room)	2 Test rooms contained in a butter room	Cooling benefits (in radiation reduction and thermal comfort) of vertical green facades	Not specified.

Figure 6. MoWiTT (a) Field configuration; (b) Plan (Klems 1988).

Figure 7. Lwf façade facility (a) Exterior view; (b) Plan (Janssens 2016).

Figure 8. Layout of the BSRTU test facility (Janssens 2016) (Grey blocks indicate the load-bearing structures, red blocks indicate the exterior walls where the facade components will be tested; and the blue lines indicate partition walls).

Figure 9. Floor plan of the facility at community college campus in Ankeny (Price and Smith 2000).

Figure 10. (a) Floor plan and (b) Cross-section of LBNL test cell (Lee et al. 2005).

Figure 11. Replacing the façade for KUBIK (Janssens 2016).

Figure 12. INVISO industrialized sustainable construction system project (Arranz et al. 2020).

Table 3. Examples of multiple test cells.

Picture	Name of test cell	Construction time	Country	Facility Owner	Size /Dimensions (W × L × H)/Layout	Features	Tested systems & aspects/parameters	HVAC system
	TWINS (Serra, Zanghirella, and Perino 2010)	2004	Italy	Politecnico di Torino	1.6 × 3.6 × 2.5m	2 Test cells	Evaluating active transparent/opaque facade thermal performances and testing responsive building envelope elements integrated with HVAC systems	Air conditioning system, independent ventilation system (external centrifugal fans driven by inverters and connected to the cell by PVC ducts).
	Solar air collector testbed (Yao 2010)	2010	China	TU Dalian	3.0 × 3.0 × 3.0m (each cell)	1 Reference cell, 2 test cells, masonry structure,	Thermal performance of solar air heating building	Solar air heating system
	PASSYS test cells at UIBK (Ochs et al. 2015; Siegele, Ochs, and Feist et al. n.d.)	2010	Austria	University of Innsbruck	7.56 m² each	2 PASSYS test cells	Thermal performance of active façade components	A façade integrated micro-heat pump (µ-HP) in combination with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR)
	EGUZKI and ILARGI test cells (García-Gáfaro et al. 2022, 2020, 2012)	2011	Spain	LCCE	13.8 m²×2.75m	2 Test cells; PASLINK test cells	ventilation; thermal mass; PV;	The same as PASLINK test cell.
	Living wall test cells (Chen, Liu, et al. 2015)	2014	China	Huazhong University of Science and Technology	2.5 × 2.2 × 3.3m	2 Test cells; the distance between the living wall and the building wall is adjustable,	Thermal behavior of a living wall system	Air conditioner installed but not used.
	Solar air heating system test rooms (Chen, Liu, et al. 2015)	2015	China	TU Dalian	3.9 × 3.9 × 3.0m	1 Test cell; 1 reference cell	Thermal performance of façade with closed loop solar air collector system coupled with temperature control material	Closed-loop solar air heating system on test cell, no HVAC for reference cell.
	Geslab Facility (Alonso et al. 2016; La Ferla, Román, and Calzada 2020b)	2015	Spain	Polytechnic University of Madrid	3.3 × 3.3 × 3 m, with 2.1 × 2.1 × 2.1 m interior dimension	11 Test cells with well insulated opaque envelope, and different glazing/facade types;	Thermal performance of refurbishment façade solutions (Alonso et al. 2016); the thermal and comfort performance (thermodynamic performance, radiant and thermal asymmetry, local indoor thermal comfort levels) of radiant glass façade technology (La Ferla 2020a)	A single zone system constant flow (INVERTER heat pump) was used to heat and cool the modules with pre-conditioned air (Alonso et al. 2016); HVAC split unit system with a 2650 W cooling and a 3050 W heating capacity, 460 m3/h flow rate, for heating in reference cell; no HVAC system for test cell. (La Ferla 2020a)
	Test cells in Torreón (Rojas et al. 2016)	2016	Mexico	Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico	2.8 × 2.8 × 2.7m	Two non-air-conditioned test cells with different envelopes of the same thickness for monolithic concrete buildings, one is mono-layered and other is two-layered.	Thermal performance of two envelope constructive systems for walls and roofs of monolithic concrete buildings	A fan was operating for night ventilation.
	University of Seville test cells (Calama-González, León-Rodríguez, and Suárez 2022; Domínguez-Torres et al. 2022)	2016	Spain	University of Seville	2.4 × 3.2 × 2.8m (Each test room)	Steel structure, 2 test cells, each contain 2 test rooms. Represents a social housing stock	Thermal comfort; ventilation	Each cell has an interior thermal control system, consisting of a reversible heat pump (air–water) and three fancoils. Fan for ventilation/ help simulate natural ventilation
	COOLSKIN test facility (Bröthaler et al. 2021)	2018	Austria	TU Graz	13.49 m^2	Concrete structure, 1 reference-room, 1 climatized test-room, and one supply container	PV output and cooling demand of an PV integrated façade module	Test-room was cooled by a plate heat exchanger on the ceiling, heated by a floor integrated pipework, and directly conditioned with a fan coil unit. The reference room was only supplied with warm water from the supply container. A heat load of 300 W was activated to simulate the internal thermal loads.
	Test cells (Ruiz-Valero et al. 2021)	2021	Philippines	Santo Domingo Campus	3.0 × 3.0 × 3.0m	4 guarded test cells, steel structure, well insulated wooden wall, rotatable foundation	Thermal and energy performance of facades of different thermal mass and glazed areas.	a split air conditioning system for heating and cooling
	GEMINI (Ciampi et al. 2021)	2021	Italy	University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli	2.2 × 2.8 × 2.4m (each test cell)	Steel frame structure, 2 test cells; simulate the basic indoor environment module	Thermal characterization of double-skin façades and smart window with different geometries, layout, materials and technologies.	An air conditioning system for heating and cooling
	Comparative experimental platform in cold zone (Lin and Song 2021)	2021	China	Tsinghua University	3.0 × 3.0 × 3.2m (each test cell)	2 Test cells, steel frame structure, light wood envelopes.	Thermal and energy performance assessment of double skin façade design parameters and ventilation mode	An air conditioning system for heating and cooling

Figure 13. Building process of Santo Domingo Campus test cells (Ruiz-Valero et al. 2021).

Figure 14. Exterior and wall bulk view of HUST test cells (Chen, Liu, et al. 2015).

Table 4. Examples of embedded test rooms.

Picture	Name of test cell	Construction time	Country	Facility owner	Size/Dimensions (W × L × H)/Layout	Features	Tested systems & aspects	HVAC system
	Duplex flat (Bozonnet, Doya, and Allard 2011)	1995	France	Private	100m²	Duplex apartment under a sloped roof in a 4-storey building of 87 collective dwelling, sloped roof. Steel cladding with insulation.	Thermal performance of roof with cool paint in summer	No air conditioning (as common in most dwellings in France)
	Building No. 5 (Daemei et al. 2021)	1998	Iran	Private	3.2 × 3.5 × 2.9m each	Two rooms in a 2-storey residential building with concrete block walls, single glazed window.	Thermal performance of green wall	All mechanical devices were shut down and there were no active internal heat gain sources during test.
	FH/VC/HB buildings (Mahdavi et al. 2008)	N/A	Austria	A university, an international organization and a governmental organization	Single/double/triple-occupancy offices	48 Offices selected from three buildings, they are on different floors and facing different orientations, manually controlled external/internal shading.	Occupants’ operation of lighting and shading systems in response to irradiance in office buildings	Fan coil/ radiator units under the window for fine adjustment of temperature.
	Field Exposure of Wall Facility (FEWF) (Maref et al. 2007)	2006	Canada	National Research Council of Canadian Institute for Research in Construction	Maximum façade component size for testing: 4.8 × 2.1 m	Two storey house facility consisting of a test opening measuring 4.8 m wide by 2.1 m high on the ground floor of the west façade for testing one large sample or several small samples. Concrete wall with insulation.	Hygrothermal behavior of exterior wall assemblies	Hybrid heating (zone-controlled hydronic radiant floor heating and zone-controlled forced-air heating) Hybrid ventilation (mechanical air exchange and passive ventilation openings in the basement walls and flues)
	Controlled environmental chamber (Ko et, Schiavon, al. 2020)	2008	USA	University of California	5.5 × 5.5 × 2.5m	An office-like test room divided into two spaces by a curtain, one with windows and the other without	The influence of having a window with a view on thermal and emotional responses as well as on cognitive performance.	Air handling system.
	IEQ Lab (De Dear et al. 2013)	2013	Australia	University of Sydney	85m² (60 m^2+25m^2)	2 Test rooms sharing 1 outdoor simulation corridor; operable windows, different facade ventilation modes	Indoor environmental quality (thermal, visual, acoustic, air quality)	Fully-conditioned with variable air volume (VAV), under floor air distribution (UFAD) and chilled beams (active and passive) Natural or hybrid ventilation.
	Daylight laboratory (Bakker et al. 2014)	2014	Netherlands	TU Eindhoven	5.4 × 5.4 × 2.7m	West wall is all glazed, on the interior side equipped with a prototype automated dynamic facade in the form of nontransparent movable roller shades	Control strategies and occupant influence on visual performance of dynamic facade	Air-based heating system and electric Radiators, VAV for cooling.
	Office rooms (Bian and Luo 2017)	2017 (Lab)	China	South China University of Technology	Not specified	Two offices in perimeter zones on the 3rd floor of a six-story open-plan concrete building. One has east-facing side-lit window with manual controlled louver blinds; one has south facing with encorbelment overhung.	Visual comfort	Not specified.
	LESO Building Physics Lab (Benedetti et al. 2019)	2018 (Lab)	Switzerland	EPFL	Not specified	Two identical office rooms in a university building, south oriented and single-occupied.	Visual performance of automated shading and lighting control systems	Not specified.
	Electricity substation (Lee and Jim 2019)	2019	Hong Kong	Electricity substation	N/A	Reinforced concrete building; Climber green wall installed on the northeast oriented façade	Radiation properties and shading-induced cooling energy savings	Not specified.

Figure 15. (a) Schematic of FEWF (Janssens 2016); (b) Insulating concrete form (ICF) wall specimens before installation of siding (Maref et al. 2012).

Figure 16. Location of the buildings in the ARFRISOL project (Janssens 2016).

Figure 17. (a) FH, (b) VC and (c) HB (Mahdavi et al. 2008).

Table 5. Examples of real-scale test houses/buildings.

Picture	Name of test cell	Construction time	Country	Property Owner	Size/Layout	Features	Tested systems & aspects/parameters	VAC system
	Westfield house (Kelly and Cockroft 2011)	1938-1969	UK	Private	8 Houses of 1-3 bedrooms	Double glazed windows; insulated brick walls; natural slate/concrete tile roof; constructed between 1938 and 1969	Efficiency of air source heat pumps	A retrofitted air source heat pump (ASHP) heating system comprised the ASHP unit feeding hot water radiators directly via insulated pipes running under the flooring.
	CBCC Office Building (Mejri, Del Barrio, and Ghrab-Morcos 2011)	1999	France	Confort Bois Contruction Company	110m² In total, including 4 offices, 1 meeting room, 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom ;1 rest room	Double glazed windows; massive wooden walls; 20% window-to-floor-area ratio	Building energy performance (indoor air dry temperature, total heating power, electricity power for lighting and equipment)	Heating is achieved by electrical convectors with manual regulation.
	Limbuš passive house (Mlakar and Štrancar 2011)	2006	Slovenia	Jožef Stefan Institute	113 m²	A single-family passive house; triple glazed windows; well insulated; wooden frame structure.	Overheating characterization (Indoor air temperature, passive solar gain, internal heat gain from heating systems)	A floor heating system with maximal temperature of 29◦C and maximal power of 1800 W. A ventilation system includes two infrared-based preheaters of 100 and 200 W and involves a water-to-air heat exchanger.
	INCAS platform (Favre and Peuportier 2014; Gouy-Pailler et al. 2011; Ibrahim et al. 2015; Spitz et al. 2012)	2008	France	French National Solar Energy Institute (INES)	4 Houses, 180 m² Each	Typical of French residential houses in similar shapes but different in exterior wall construction techniques (cavity wall/ brick wall…);double glazed windows;	Energy efficiency of aerogel-based insulation rendering (for brick-monomur walls); Influential parameters (sensitivity and uncertainty) on indoor air temperature (for cavity walls)	A controlled mechanical ventilation system with a heat exchanger and by-pass.
	EnergyFlexHouse (Iqbal et al. 2015; Jensen et al. 2016; Tahersima 2012)	2009	Denmark	Danish Technological Institute	216 m²	Two-storey, single-family house, nZEB, PV integrated roof,	Performance of intelligent components and systems for the future flexible energy system; advanced control of HVAC system; interaction/ influence of occupants	Hydronic central heating system, an electrically driven heat pump as the only heat source which is connected to a network of sub-floor heating pipes and radiators.
	Napevomo (Ango 2011; Rouault et al. 2014)	2010	Spain	Arts et Métiers ParisTech	N/A	Initially designed as a single-family house for “Solar Decathlon Europe” competition	Performance validation of a PCM energy exchange and storage system for air cooling	A latent heat thermal energy storage device, a fan coupled with a variable electric supply and an upstream air tank.
	TWIN Houses (Mantesi et al. 2019; Strachan et al. 2015)	2010	Germany	Fraunhofer Institute IBP	each ground floor :82 m²	Residential layout, detached, identical, located side-by-side; Double-glazed windows with electric roller blind, well insulated external brick wall.	Comparison of different heating systems; Empirical validation of building performance simulation models	The two houses are equipped with different heating systems: electric radiators vs underfloor heating.
	Welsh Passive Houses (Ridley et al. 2014)	2010	UK	RMIT University	87 m² (3 Bedrooms)+67 m²(2 bedrooms)	Certified to Passivhaus Standards Two houses built side by side differ in terms of glazed area (55% vs 22% glazed on south wall), the use of thermal stores, area of installed PV and occupant behavior (opening window)	Overall energy and carbon performance, indoor thermal comfort and air quality. Effects of occupants.	Dwelling 1: Heater battery in Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR), towel rails in bathroom. Heating straight from boiler. Dwelling 2: Heater battery in MVHR. Heating from thermal store.
	KUBIK (Chica et al. 2011; Elguezabal et al. 2020; Garay et al. 2015)	2010	Spain	Tecnalia	500m^2, 10 *10 *10m	Steel structure, totally demountable and allows reconfiguration of the scenarios at construction level, by exchanging the components of the envelope, the roof, the floors and the partitions.	Evaluation of energy performance, acoustic performance and air tightness evaluation, taking into account the holistic interaction of the envelope, the intelligent management of the climatisation and lighting systems and the supply from nonrenewable and renewable energy sources.	A hydronic system and a Variable Air Volume (VAV) system.
	NBERT retrofit test-bed (Murphy et al. 2021; NBERT 2013; O’Donovan, O’Sullivan, and Murphy 2017)	Built in 1974, retrofitted in 2011	Ireland	Munster Technological University	223 m²	Highly insulated concrete office building, contains 1 large open plan office area, 2 small cellular offices, 1 conference room;1 seminar room	Thermal comfort, ventilative and passive cooling, energy systems, and micro-grid applications	Heating is supplied by an air source heat pump while a zonal temperature controller and a thermal buffer tank are used to optimize both the energy efficiency and thermal comfort conditions of the building.
	The Camden Passive House (Ridley et al. 2013)	2013	UK	Private	101 m² 2 bedrooms	Timber structure with well insulated wall, inward-tilting triple glazed windows on south and west facades, external blind with automatic solar control	Heating season performance in terms of internal temperature and energy consumption	Ventilated by a Paul Thermos 200 MVHR unit. Space heating is provided by a 1 kW heater battery in the supply air duct of the ventilation system, complemented by heated towel rails on demand in the bathrooms.
	Botticelli project (Causone et al. 2019; Erba et al. 2019)	2013	Italy	Politecnico di Milano	144 m²	Typical single family residential house, satisfies nZEB standards high-performance brick envelope, PV integrated roof	Overall building performance in terms of thermal comfort and energy; individual technology tests (heat exchangers, energy storage systems, control strategies)	HVAC system with earth to air heat exchanger.
	Passive House Duplex (Sage-Lauck and Sailor 2014)	2014	USA	Private	145 m²+145 m²	Two mirror-image apartments, each contains 3 bedrooms;2 bathrooms; a common living room; a kitchen. Wooden structure, well insulated wall. Meet the Passive House standard	Performance of phase-change material integrated wall in terms of thermal comfort and energy	Heating and cooling for common areas are provided by Mitsubishimini-split heat pumps. Additional heating in bathrooms is provided via fan-forced, electric wall heaters. Mechanical ventilation is achieved via Heat Recovery Ventilators.
	FLEXLAB (Jia, Pang, and Haves 2018; Lee and Hong 2019; Pang et al. 2018)	2014	USA	Laurence Berkeley National Lab	370 m²	17 Interior cubicles; 10 perimeter offices	Thermal comfort; ventilation; thermal mass; control strategies	Radiant ceiling panel (RCP) system and the radiant slab (RS) system.
	Trondheim Living Lab (Goia, Finocchiaro, and Gustavsen 2015; Korsnes, Berker, and Woods 2018)	2015	Norway	Norwegian University of Science and Technology	100 m^2	Single family house, wooden-frame structure, highly insulated envelope, automated double skin (ventilated window) on south façade; PCM-based boards on roof, PV roof, solar thermal panels on south façade, automated window opening and shading control	Overall performance in terms of indoor environmental quality, energy use; effects of users’ patterns and habits, qualification of solar energy exploitation (by PV roofs and façade integrated solar thermal panels), efficiency in energy conversion and storage.	Floor heating or one high-temperature (55 °C) radiator is used for heating. Fresh air supply is managed by a compact air handling unit that integrates a heat recovery system with rotatory wheel.
	BNZEB (Ascione et al. 2022, 2019; Ascione, Bianco, et al. 2016)	2015	Italy	University of Naples	70m² (2 Bed rooms; 1 kitchen; 1 living room; 1 bathroom;1 technical hub)	Single-storey dwelling designed to nZEB; Wooden structure, double glazed window; PV roof, solar collector	Overall performance in terms of thermal comfort, energy performance, occupants’ behavior	An aerothermal heat pump and a backup DX multi-split are installed for heating and cooling. Air-to-air heat pump provides mechanical ventilation.
	PH houses (Colclough et al. 2018)	2016-2017	Ireland	Private	Each 102 m²	Three two-storey timber framed semi-detached dwellings, Built to satisfy Passive House standards, well insulated façade, triple glazed window, 5 m^2 PV on roof	Overall performance in terms of thermal comfort, indoor air quality, energy consumption, operational costs.	Heating: MVHR HP & 2 electric radiators (550 W). Ventilation system: MVHR.
	An affordable house (Fensterseifer et al. 2022)	2022	Brazil	Private	55 m²	Affordable house built with soil-cement bricks with poor thermal insulating properties, a deciduous vine used in the green façade installed on a west wall	Dynamic thermal characterization of a green façade to improve thermal performance of an affordable housing	Not specified.

Table 6. Summary of advantages and disadvantages of testbeds for assessing building envelopes.

Testbed type	Advantages	Disadvantages
Stand-alone test cells	Simple and quick construction Large flexibility in material selection, test variables (e.g., orientation), etc. Relatively simple calibration work Low cost	Boundary condition may not be a good approximation of the real-world conditions. Size may be limited and not suitable for tests with occupants
Embedded test rooms	Particularly suitable for POA or applicability test of a façade for a specified architectural type Both experiments with/without occupants may be carried out Low construction time	Low flexibility in function of building, service system, orientation, etc. Boundary conditions strongly depend on location of room in the building, and hence have large impacts on test results. Complex calibration work, particularly on existing building service system.
Real-scale test buildings	Realistic representation of indoor space and boundary conditions Both experiments with/without occupants may be carried out	Dedicated site is required High budget and longer construction period are required Complex calibration work Monitoring work may be affected by occupants, and comparative studies with occupants may be difficult

Figure 18. Classification of experimental purposes.

Figure 19. Decomposition and composition of Kiosk K67 (Stierli, Kulić, and Klarin 2018).

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