Experimental Investigation of Internal Aerogel Insulation Towards Low/Zero Carbon Buildings: A Comprehensive Thermal Analysis for a UK Building

Abstract

Buildings are responsible for about 40% of total energy consumption in the UK. Decisive measures are taken to mitigate building-oriented energy consumption figures and greenhouse gas emissions. Energy-efficient retrofitting of buildings is such an attempt to both reduce energy consumed in the building sector and make them adaptive to the latest low/zero carbon building requirements. Thermal superinsulation is now more than a necessity towards low/zero emission buildings, and in this respect, it is of vital importance to reinforce building envelopes with thermal superinsulation materials like aerogel at optimum insulation thickness for thermally comfortable indoor environments with a cost-effective energy-saving strategy. Therefore, in this research, a traditional 1930s house in the UK has been internally retrofitted with a specially designed aerogel blanket and a complete and thorough co-heating test methodology has been applied to the whole house. Heat loss coefficient (HLC) and overall heat transfer coefficient (U-value) of each room and building element have been determined at pre and post-retrofit cases, respectively. The results have revealed that the HLC of the test bedroom has been reduced from 17.15 to 6.29 W/K after aerogel insulation. These findings have been achieved to reveal the changes in resistance value and heat transfer coefficient. Thermal bridging effects in the test bedroom have also been resolved after aerogel retrofit, which is verified through thermal camera images.