Presents a review of research on the determination of transient heat conduction through building envelopes. Differentiates between three methods- numerical techniques, harmonic analysis and the z-transfer function method. Gives the capabilities, limitations and assumptions of these methods. Discusses methods of determining z-transfer function coefficients. Also presents a limited comparison of experimental methods of deriving z-transfer function coefficients. States that frequency response analysis using a binary multi-frequency sequence signal can give a thorough description of the dynamic thermal performance of a system. The z-transfer function coefficient can then be obtained using multi-linear regression techniques in the frequency domain.

KEYWORDS: Heat flow, walls, roofs, windows, floors, research, comparing