Building envelope for New Buildings and Energy Renovation of Existing Buildings. Project results: Status for the period 1996-1998

At the energy conference in 1995, Denmark agreed on reducing the total CO2-emission by 20%. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to increase thermal insulation thickness both in new and retrofitted buildings.This will, for both cases, impose a series of building physics problems, as the knowledge of heat- and moistureflow is insufficiently documented for large insulation thicknesses.

Thermal bridges, for instance, plays a larger role for the overall heat loss in these constructions, and moisture in insulation materials will decrease the overall performance of the construction.Due to these facts, a group of scientists at the Department of Buildings and Energy, Technical University of Denmark, have started a research project to develop better solutions for new building and energy renovation.The publication report the status after the first 3 year of the Building Envelope Project with emphasis on the following subjects:Scientific basis for calculation programs, Development of calculationsmethods for heat transfer, Development of new building envelope components, Roofing system based on wooden roof elements, Roofing system with drying properties, Moisture uptake and drying from brick constructions, External insulation systems for facades, Integral Building Envelope Performance Assessment