Retrotec USACE - Manual (Page 348)

G18 ENERGY & PROCESS ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL
Before renovation, the overall performance of the building and also the ther-
mal comfort of the building must be determined, according to the existing
requirements if possible. Thermal comfort and indoor air quality are the sum
of the performance of the previous factors. The renovation work must be based
on the results of the condition survey before the renovation.
When planning renovation and the new use of the building, the new re-
quirements must be adjusted according to the existing requirements and the
building owner’s/occupant’s/user’s needs. These needs must be mapped before
the design phase. During and after the renovation, the requirements and needs
(the factors that affect the goal) must be monitored, verifi ed, and confi rmed.
After the renovation, we have the same stages as before renovation.
The crucial point is how well the integration of the systems has been per-
formed to achieve the conditions needed.
In each stage, various tools are needed to confi rm and verify the perfor-
mance of the building and building systems. Thermography is one important
tool to measure the thermal performance and partially, indirectly, the mate-
rial performance of building envelopes before renovation, during the renova-
tion work (as a quality control method), and after the renovation (to confi rm
how successfully the work has been done and what difference is evident from
before).
With thermography one can use outdoor and indoor thermography to deter-
mine the overall condition of the walls, windows, doors, and ceiling structures
before renovation. Based on these results, the renovation work can be prop-
erly targeted. The thermal performance before renovation (thermal bridges,
heat and air leaks) can be found. Also, some material characteristics can be
evaluated (moisture, delamination, etc.). During the renovation, the quality of
the installations (possible additional insulation, change of windows, etc.) must
be studied. After the renovation, the new condition and performance of the
building envelope and performance of the heating system (scanning of heating
units) must be studied.
G.8 Operation Time
One or two buildings can be scanned in a day, depending on the size and
volume of the building and the other measurements possibly done in connec-
tion with thermography.
G.9 Interpretation of Results
There is lot of information about the indoor surface temperatures of the struc-
tures, both theoretically derived and climate chamber–tested. Several software
packages intended for solving heat transfer problems are available, thus allow-
ing the modeling of temperature distributions and air leaks.