Freeze-Thaw Risk: Prototype Monitoring

Back to Recommended Freeze-Thaw Risk Assessment Steps

In some cases, the risk of adding interior insulation is still not clear enough even after materials testing and site load monitoring. In these situations, a small area of the building can be retrofitted and closely monitored before proceeding to insulate the whole building. By creating a prototype of the anticipated project, real-world data about wetting, temperatures, and moisture content patterns can be compared to computer model results. The model can then be adjusted to better predict the effects of insulating the whole building.

Monitoring requires a significant investment of time and resources, and is therefore appropriate only for buildings where a high level of certainty is required and the necessary time and resources are available.

Next Steps

• Use data from prototype monitoring to improve computer model predictions. Go to: Hygrothermal Modeling.