Performance assessment of thermal bridge elements into a full scale experimental study of a building façade

Abstract

In this paper, an experimental and numerical approach to the characterization of thermal bridges is presented. The need for this characterization was found within an experimental study in a 2 floor high facade. This facade was constructed with 3 concrete elements which were placed in it to produce a similar thermal bridge effect to the one created by floor slabs traditional building construction in Spain. Commonly applied thermal assessments perform one-dimensional heat transfer analysis over planar elements such as the facades studied in this experiment. However, it is well known that thermal bridges are locations in buildings where one-dimensional heat transfer analysis cannot be applied. This problem was approached by creating a numerical 2D thermal model which was calibrated against experimental data from several temperature and heat flux sensors which were located at specific points in the thermal bridge elements.