BUILDING ENVELOPE PERFORMANCE INSPECTION USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY (IRT)

摘要

Infrared thermography (IRT) is a well-known non-destructive measurement tool for identifying the problems of the building envelope which hardly seen by naked eye. It has been widely used to pinpoint moisture intrusion, particularly leaks within the walls and determine the potential spot for electrical overheating. Therefore, this study aims to inspect the performance of the building envelope, such as water leakage, water seepage, electrical overheating, hollowness, crack, etc. The building envelope is the physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building, including walls, floors, roofs and doors. In doing this, the infrared thermal camera was used to scan over the selected buildings. The thermography captured the temperature differences on the walls, slabs and others part of the building envelope. After that, the "hot" spot and "cold" spot were identified from the processed thermography. IRT can detect the defects, such as water seepage, concrete hollowness. etc.. which might not be noticeable until permanent damage of the building envelope occurs. Results of this study, allows us to assess the performance of the building envelope. Consequently, the thermal survey is crucial in the aspect of building survey. It can monitor and assess the building envelope performance to locate the structural defects and rectify them before it gets serious.