Method: Dynamics of a building

Why a new method?

Historical buildings react thermally in a completely different way than modern new buildings.

Their mass, moisture content, storage capacity, and losses are individual – and often unknown.

Norms, assumptions, and model calculations cannot reflect this real-world behavior.

Therefore, RealThermo does not measure theoretically, but in the real building, under controlled thermal conditions.


What we measure

Dynamics – Thermal building dynamics of vacant buildings/room activation

We measure the building's thermal response using an activated reference room, which represents the entire building. We exclusively record indoor air data under defined thermal conditions – no component temperatures and no multi-room measurements.

Our measurement includes:

  • Temperature and humidity profiles in the activated reference room
  • Building response times to defined thermal impulses
  • Storage and cooling behavior of the building mass
  • Actual heat losses during the activation phase
  • Dynamic building progressions over several days

Dynamics provides a real thermal fingerprint of the building, showing how the object actually reacts to heat – independent of theoretical assumptions or model calculations.

Load – Actual heating load in heated buildings/building measurement

Load measures the actual heating load of a building over a longer period of time under real operating conditions.

No room is activated here; instead, the building is observed during normal heating operation.

We measure:

  • Long-term temperature profiles during actual heating operation
  • Actual heat output of the heating system
  • Temperature stability and control behavior of the system
  • Building response to real load changes
  • Consumption-dependent heat losses of the entire building
  • Daily and weekly heating load profiles

Load provides the actual heating load, not the theoretical one.


How thermal real-world measurement works (phases 1-4)

The method consists of four clearly separated steps:


Phase 1: Installation & Activation

The building will be equipped with precise measuring sensors.

We then generate defined thermal impulses (e.g., controlled heating) at Dynamics.

Load records and stores long-term measurements over weeks and months.


Phase 2: Data Collection & Monitoring

The actual thermal behavior is continuously recorded and monitored over several days, weeks, and months.

In addition to controlled measurement windows, buildings can also be monitored telemetrically over longer periods if required, in order to document typical thermal patterns in real operation.

  I. Dynamics (Impuls → Reaktion)

- short, controlled thermal pulses

- Reaction patterns over a few days

- demonstrates the building's dynamic responsiveness

II. Load (6–12 months heating season)

                         - reale Last

- real storage effect

- actual zone distribution

- shows the seasonal building dynamics

III. Continuous measurement (telemetry)

- WP‑Zyklen

- real-world use

- Long-term behavior

- shows the stable basic signature of the building

This creates a three-stage measurement logic: Impulse → Season → Long-term = Dynamics → Load → Telemetry

This is the complete thermal analysis of a building.


Phase 3: Data Cleaning & Structuring

The raw data is technically cleaned, synchronized, and converted into a physically correct structure.


Phase 4: Physical Assessment

An external, independent building physicist assesses the reaction patterns purely physically – without recommendations, without planning.


What the method is NOT

RealThermo is not:

  • Energy consulting
  • Renovation planning
  • Heating load calculation
  • GEG rating
  • Economic analysis
  • Simulation or model calculation

RealThermo is a measurement method – neutral, data-based, scientific.

Why this separation is important

The clear distinction between:

  • measurement
  • Data preparation
  • physical interpretation

guarantees the scientific quality of the method.

RealThermo remains a neutral measuring authority, free from economic interests.

The external building physics assessment creates institutional connectivity for:

  • owner
  • architects
  • heritage authorities
  • Building technology engineers

Result: Real measurements → real understanding → real decisions

Real-world thermal measurements reveal how a building actually reacts.

This creates a reproducible, reliable basis for decision-making for all those who bear responsibility for historic buildings.