EFFECT OF APPLIED INTERIOR THERMAL INSULATION SYSTEMS ON THE ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF A HISTORICAL/CONTEMPORARY MASONRY

Abstract

The paper is aimed at the investigation of the effect of applied internal thermal insulation system on the energy performance of historical and contemporary masonry. For that reason, sandstone masonry and ceramic brick masonry were selected as representative examples and their energy performance was analyzed using hygrothermal simulations in two states. First, each wall was simulated without being thermally insulated to obtain reference values of energy performance. Then, the walls were thermally insulated – sandstone masonry with mineral wool and ceramic brick masonry with wood fiber insulation – and new performance after wall retrofitting was quantified. All simulations are performed for two different locations to analyze the effect of boundary conditions as well. The paper demonstrates how the computational simulation using advanced moisture-dependent material parameters can be utilized for accurate assessment of thermal and energy performance of building envelopes under dynamic conditions, which is often omitted by national standards or black-box simulation tools. The results clearly indicate that application of thermal insulation on the interior side can significantly contribute to the reduction of annual heat losses varying from 66.7% to 87.2% depending on the material of thermal insulation and the location of the building.