Full scale experimental performance assessment of a prefabricated timber panel for the energy retrofitting of multi-rise buildings

Abstract

A prefabricated timber façade system is presented for the energy retrofitting of buildings. Large panel dimensions facilitate the installation of this system, with reduced disturbance to building users and increased overall quality in terms of thermal bridge mitigation and air tightness of architectural junctions. A full scale proof of concept test is performed, where several prefabricated timber panels were installed over a pre-existing brick façade, their junctions tested, and the differential thermal performance of the system is evaluated. It is concluded that the overall thermal performance of the system is satisfactory in terms of overall U-value, thermal bridge coefficient and, temperature factor. Furthermore, and based on experimentally obtained data, a dynamic characterization of the harmonic thermal response of the system is performed.