Thermal Assessment of a Novel Drywall System Insulated with VIPs

Abstract

Advanced building envelopes targeting high energy performance should combine high thermal performance with easy and fast installation. The combination of lightweight steel-framed building systems with vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) form an attractive solution toward this requirement. In the present study, a lightweight metal frame drywall building insulated with VIPs is constructed and experimentally/theoretically investigated, focusing on the impact of every type of thermal bridges on the thermal performance of the envelope and its upgrade due to the presence of the VIPs at the walls. Temperature measurements obtained at several locations of the envelope, over a period of one year, are presented and analyzed. The results are in agreement with the theoretical values and demonstrate that the VIPs can reduce the thermal transmittance of the central part of the wall by ca. 50%, limiting the impact of metal studs. The paper discusses the impact of dimensional inaccuracies and damaged panels on the thermal performance of the envelope. It is shown that VIP decreases the impact of thermal bridges and reduces the risk of condensation inside the walls.

Keywords

• building envelope technology
• lightweight envelope
• vacuum insulation panels
• thermal bridges
• experiments
• monitoring
• theoretical analysis