A key aspect in assessing the thermal standard of building envelopes is the quantification of the heat loss though thermal bridging, which can be expressed in terms of the linear thermal transmittance Ψ. Values of Ψ may be obtained from tabulated values for standard building details, from numerical modelling or from measurement. Where the internal structure of the building envelope is unknown, which is very often the case, measurement is the only option. This study shows how the infrared thermography technique (ITT) can be used as a non-invasive and easy-to-use method to provide quantitative measures of the actual thermal bridging performance. The novelty of this approach includes evaluation of the actual heat flow rate caused by thermal bridge qTB and Ψ-value by means of the ITT solely, without any supporting methods. Another important aspect of the methodology is that it accounts for the correlation between the surface temperature and the convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients. Values for these coefficients are assessed for the whole range of the surface temperatures recorded on the thermogram resulting in improve accuracy. The qTB and Ψ-value calculated using the presented methodology fully mirrors the real thermal performance of the thermal bridge. The methodology has been tested under laboratory conditions in a steady state in a hot box with excellent agreement.
Improving the thermal performance of the existing building stock is essential to significantly reduce the overall energy consumption in the building sector. A key objective is the retrofitting of the existing building envelope. A necessary first step in the building envelope optimization process is the assessment of its actual thermal performance. This assessment should be repeated after retrofitting to clearly define the improvements that were made and the heat loss reduction that was achieved. In this study, an efficient, non-destructive, in-situ measurement method, based on an outdoor infrared thermographic survey, is developed to determine the thermal bridging performance. As wind velocity significantly influences the heat losses through the building envelope, this study includes quantification of the wind velocity impact on the Ψ-value. This was assessed by undertaking ITT of the same thermal bridge at various wind velocities, in a controlled environment, in a hot box device. The results showed that the Ψ-value is highly dependent on wind velocity so that measurement of the Ψ-value taken at different wind conditions cannot be directly compared. An adjustment procedure is proposed that can be used to convert the Ψ-value measured at any wind velocity to a standard value corresponding to a velocity of 4 m/s. From a practical point of view, this adjustment procedure makes the methodology widely applicable.
Highlights• A method to assess thermal bridging heat loss using the outdoor ITT is developed • The ITT approach compared with measurements from hot box and numerical predictions • The wind velocity impact on thermal bridging is quantified • Adjusting procedure for the Ψ-value measured at different wind velocities is developed • This procedure allows measured and standard Ψ-value comparison
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