Buildings are more vulnerable to faults in design and construction, when exposed to the extreme Greenlandic climate, however, most new materials and designs have not been tested for Arctic conditions. Thus even minor errors can result in failures like mould growth, discomfort, and unnecessary heat loss. Rekognizing the source of the error can be difficult, yet valuable. But how can it be identified whether the error lies in the design or quality of workmanship? This paper describes a case study from Nuuk, Greenland, where a new mineral wool insulation system was implemented. Residents were complaining about draft and cold areas. An investigation revealed that inaccurate use of the system caused several problems. Simulations of the exterior wall performance were conducted and compared to measurements. This paper discusses whether these measurements and simulations support the identified issues, and therefore if this kind of general surveillance of exterior walls can be used to determine the total performance of an exterior wall. The paper concludes that the collected data can support the issues of the complaints, and that the fundamental reasons for the problems are the design, the precision of the casted concrete and the lack of a wind barrier protecting the insulation.
The paper introduces prototypes of a new composite insulation product for interior application. The product consists of a standard mineral fibre insulation batt, which is wrapped in a combination of a thin fabric of moisture absorbing, capillary active material and vapour retarding membranes. The insulation composite has been tested with small samples in a laboratory setup and in an outdoor field test on a full-scale brick wall, and has so far shown promising results in comparison with other products. The paper describes the new insulation composite and the initial moisture tests that have been made with its constituents as well as results from the laboratory and field tests of its ability to prevent moisture accumulation.
Increased insulation reduces the energy needed during operations, but this may be less than the energy required for the extra insulation material. If so, there must be an optimal insulation thickness. This paper describes the development of a tool to determine the optimal insulation thickness, including what parameters are decisive, and presents some results along with a discussion of the success criteria and limitations. To make these considerations manageable for regular practitioners, only the transmission heat loss through walls is calculated. Although the tool is universal, Greenland is used as an example, because of its extreme climatic conditions. The tool includes climate change, 10 locations and 8 insulation materials. It focuses on greenhouse gas emissions, considers oil and district heating as heating sources, and evaluates four different climate change scenarios expressed in terms of heating degree days. The system is sensitive to insulation materials with high CO2 emissions and heating sources with high emission factors. This is also the case where climate change has the highest impact on the insulation thickness. Using the basic criterion, emitting a minimum of CO2-eq, the Insulation Thickness Optimizer (ITO), generally identifies higher insulation thicknesses as optimal than are currently seen in practice and in most building regulations.
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