Analysis of different frost indexes and their potential to assess frost based on HAM simulations

To reach the climate goals of 2020 our buildings have to become a lot more energy-efficient. This challenge rests mainly on the shoulders of the renovation sector because new buildings are only a small part of our building stock. Old buildings mainly cannot get insulated on the outside because the facade is historically valuable or because of urban planning restrictions. In those cases interior insulation or - if possible - cavity insulation are the only options. However, these renovation strategies may induce severe risks for the existing structure. One of the main risks is frost damage: the interior insulation lowers the temperature of the exterior facade and decreases the drying potential to the inside which leads to an increased risk of frost damage. Most of the studies that assess the risk of frost damage struggle with the dependency of the highly variable material properties of the façade.

http://ift.tt/2tbqzcb