Retrofitting a brick wall using vacuum insulation panels: measured hygrothermal effect on the existing structure

Paper in proceeding, 2014

Old listed buildings need to be retrofitted to reduce the energy use for heating. Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) require less thickness than conventional insulation materials to reach the same thermal resistance. The aim of this paper is to investigate the hygrothermal performance of a brick wall with wooden beam ends after it was insulated on the interior with VIPs. The paper presents the first part of a laboratory study where a brick wall was built in the laboratory and exposed to simulated driving rain. Different measurement techniques of the relative humidity in the construction have been used. The relative humidity in the wall increased substantially when exposed to driving rain. The moisture content in the wooden beams also increased. However, it has not been possible to fully determine the influence by the added insulation layer. It is clear that the drying capacity to the interior side is substantially reduced. These investigations are ongoing and will be reported in future publications.