Thermography applied to buildings as an opportunity to detect thermal bridges. Case study: Ambato, Ecuador

Abstract

This research analyses the existence of thermal bridges in an urban context located at 2700 meters above sea level based on the analysis of thermal images of buildings taken in different ambient temperature conditions. The objective of this research is to expand and update the spectrum of analysis and detection of thermal bridges in an urban context, where environmental conditions change and increasingly reach higher and lower extreme peaks of temperature, which is why it is necessary to establish strategies for mitigation of thermal bridges and stabilization of internal temperatures, the materiality of the building envelope plays a very important role in this study. The methodology applied in this research is of mixed approach, qualitative in relation to the analysis and collection of information with thermal cards and photographs, and quantitative due to the comparison of thermal data obtained from the analysis and energy simulation of the case study. The qualitative results were obtained through the collection of thermographic information, the simulation of the house and focus on the detection of temperature leaks in an urban context of a building built in 2019 with contemporary materials and construction systems, the quantitative results were obtained from the energy simulation, which helped determine the failures in the envelope and thus could improve the energy performance of the building. The study concludes that currently, in spite of knowing the impact generated by climate change, improvements in the configuration of the envelope available in the market are not considered, which generates a negative impact on the perception of thermal comfort inside the building, it is also important to emphasize the importance of energy simulation in construction and design, since this helps to detect problems before building and to be more optimal when remodelling buildings.