Abstract
The article presents experimental studies of typical Finnish highly insulated (HI) envelopes with thermal resistance values ( R value) for the wall and roof inside the ventilation cavity between 7.7 and 8.1 m2K/W and 13 m2K/W, respectively. The conditions in the ventilation cavities were studied by using typical and increased R values for the exterior part of the cavity, which were 0.18 m2K/W and 1.57 m2K/W in the walls, and 0.13 m2K/W and 2.13 m2K/W for the roof. With higher exterior R values of 1.57 m2K/W and 2.13 m2K/W, the cavity temperature increased only after closing the inlet gap of the cavities. If the cavity inlet was closed, the restriction of the outlet gap from 20–25 mm to 10 mm had no significant effect on the temperatures. A closed ventilation inlet resulted in increased absolute humidity in the cavity, which indicates that the restriction of cavity ventilation should be made with care to avoid impairing the drying-out ability. The computational analysis showed that the optimal air change rates in the wall and roof cavities of HI structures were 4–40 1/h and 20 1/h, respectively. The conventional 22-mm-thick wood cladding enables safe cavity conditions in HI walls if the vapor barrier is vapor tight and other moisture sources are low. A lower heat flux and additional heat loss caused by cloudless sky at night support the observation that HI roofs have a higher moisture risk. In HI roofs, a conventional exterior R value of 0.13 m2K/W should at least be increased to the range of 0.3–0.4 m2K/W, which is achieved, for example, by a 20-mm-thick mineral wool board under the roofing. The use of mold-resistant materials in the ventilation cavity is recommended to mitigate the possible ramifications of the moisture behavior of HI roofs.
Highlights
Insulated (HI) exterior assemblies are widespread in cold climate zones
The global horizontal radiation may be used to evaluate the radiation toward the test roof, which was little shaded by the nearby obstacles
The diurnal radiation fluxes in February–October show, that the lower amounts of radiant energy directed to the facade originates from the shorter daily duration of incident radiation, whereas the peak solar irradiance is occasionally higher in walls compared to the roof (Figure 4(b))
Summary
Insulated (HI) exterior assemblies are widespread in cold climate zones. The high thickness of thermal insulation layers in such structures effectively reduces the heat flow toward outdoor air. Typical HI walls and roofs in Finland have insulation thicknesses of 300 mm and 500 mm, respectively, with corresponding thermal transmittances (U values) of 0.12 W/m2K and 0.08 W/m2K. These assemblies usually incorporate ventilation cavities that are located directly behind the faxcade cladding or under the roofing. Thermal insulation is usually located inside the ventilation cavity, which creates a capillary break against water leakages through the faxcade and increases the drying ability of the structure by allowing airflow behind the cladding. The increased drying ability and avoiding snow melting are the main benefits of a ventilation cavity Snow melting may lead to standing water and icing at the eaves, which results in roof leaks and damage to the roof components, and can even endanger human safety
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