Experimental work on a linked, dynamic and ventilated, wall component

Abstract

In a conventional construction, the ventilation air enters the building through a combination of pathways, such as windows and vents, via cracks around external openings, joints between building materials, etc. By contrast, in a dynamic insulation construction, the ventilation air is drawn into the building through the insulation material of the building envelope. Structures with dynamic insulation incorporate porous insulating material in the envelope and air passes through the porous material. The aim of this paper is to present the experimental work carried out on a wall component that is a combination of dynamic insulation panel and a ventilated façade, tested under real weather conditions. The wall component consisted of two main sub-layers: the ventilated external envelope and the dynamic insulation (DI) sub-layer. The DI component consisted of layers of breathing materials that let the air enter the room at a reasonable pressure difference between the interior and exterior. The paper describes the experimental work carried out and the results drawn from the tests performed in the linked wall component under: (i) various differential pressure regimes between the interior and the exterior of the test cell and (ii) controlled and floating internal air temperature. In summary, the performance of the component was effective, since conduction losses were decreasing.