ISO/TC 163/SC 1/WG 16 - In-situ measurement of thermal resistance and thermal transmittance of opaque building elements

This document describes the infrared method for measuring the thermal resistance and thermal transmittance of opaque building elements on existing buildings when observing high emissivity diffuse surface using an infrared (IR) camera. This document demonstrates a screening test by quantitative evaluation to identify the thermal performance defect area of building elements. This document aims to measure the thermal transmittance (U-value) of a frame structure dwelling with light thermal mass, typically with a daily thermal capacity calculated according to ISO 13786 below 30 kJ/(m2K).

ISO 9869-1:2014 describes the heat flow meter method for the measurement of the thermal transmission properties of plane building components, primarily consisting of opaque layers perpendicular to the heat flow and having no significant lateral heat flow. The properties which can be measured are: a) the thermal resistance, R, and thermal conductance, Λ, from surface to surface; b) the total thermal resistance, RT, and transmittance from environment to environment, U, if the environmental temperatures of both environments are well defined. The heat flow meter measurement method is also suitable for components consisting of quasi homogeneous layers perpendicular to the heat flow, provided that the dimensions of any inhomogeneity in close proximity to the heat flow meter (HFM) is much smaller than its lateral dimensions and are not thermal bridges which can be detected by infrared thermography. ISO 9869-1:2014 describes the apparatus to be used, the calibration procedure for the apparatus, the installation and the measurement procedures, the analysis of the data, including the correction of systematic errors and the reporting format.