Influence of insulation defects on the thermal performance of walls. An experimental and numerical investigation

The addition of insulating layers on vertical walls of buildings is a common practice for providing a higher thermal insulation of the envelope. Workmanship defects, however, might influence the effectiveness of such insulation strategy. Damaged materials, incorrect installation, use of aged or weathered materials might alter the capability of reducing heat transfer through the envelope, whether vertical or sloped. In this work, drawbacks caused by the wrong installation of insulating material and by damaged material are assessed. A specimen wall was investigated by experimental and numerical approaches, the latter carried out by using COMSOL Multiphysics®. Results are compared and discussed.