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Posted
This building was scanned before and after renovations. Before knowing what the renovation was, I guessed that they added rigid insulation to the wall. This is common during envelope retrofits in Yellowknife, NT, Canada, but I found out later that only an air barrier was added. The windows were also changed. The cladding was changed from wood to painted metal. As can be seen, there are significantly less thermal anomalies on the wall but I don't know how much of the change is due to the metal cladding and how much is due to the air barrier. Any thoughts? It is now very difficult to spot the wall members, for example, but thermal bridging hasn't changed because no insulation was added. I think they may have added extra strapping over the air barrier, which means that thermal bridging can't be seen from the outside.

 
Posts: 2 | Location: Yellowknife | Registered: 01 February 2008Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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Which is before and after... left or right?

I don't know much about buildings but I was a little curious about how the scale was selected. I see you kept a 15C range in both cases. Was the ambient temperature 10C cooler in the left than the right? Assuming the inside temperature was roughly constant than we have a higher delta-temperature (inside to outside) in the left and expect more heat showing through. Don't know why some of those things (like up near the roof) show up more in the right.

I am also curious why the sky shows up so warm in the left image...sunlight diffused toward camera on a hazey day?
 
Posts: 2867 | Location: Texas Gulf Coast | Registered: 20 February 2005Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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The left image is post-retrofit, and yes, the weather was cooler by about 10 degrees. The greater delta-T means that structural members should be easier to spot, if not for the retrofit. The left scan was completed in early morning just as the sun was rising, so the haze in the sky was being warmed by the sun, whereas the right image was taken on a very clear day.
 
Posts: 2 | Location: Yellowknife | Registered: 01 February 2008Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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Looks like your time of day is different and so is your scale.These should be the same to properly compare.Also is the building in a negative or positive pressure and was it the same both times? Was it windy? .Most building go into unoccupied mode (HVAC is off for the most part)in the evening which changes the air pressure.
 
Posts: 6 | Location: Charlotte ,NC | Registered: 15 February 2006Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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It is difficult to discuss this without certainty about the retrofit details. IF, in fact, they added air barrier, strapping and metal, I would suggest possibly:
1. you are not seeing framing because you are now thermally disconnected from the building by the strapping and air space
2. you still have air leakage (as can be seen in the post-image) but it is now simply diffused in the air space

I would suggest you might get better results on the inside, especially using a blower door to depressurize.


John Snell
The Snell Group
ASNT NDT Level III Certificate #48166
http://www.thesnellgroup.com
http://IRTalk.com
http://www.thermalsolutions.org
 
Posts: 80 | Location: Vermont | Registered: 16 September 2005Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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