Home > When an infrared shot of a building shows lots of reds and yellows, you’ve got heating problems

When an infrared shot of a building shows lots of reds and yellows, you’ve got heating problems

date: 
Fri, 2011-12-02 11:09
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EBRD has recently provided Energocredit with a thermal camera.  This allows us to take photos of the outside of the building, which show how much heat is leaking from the building.  Building surfaces with good insulation appear blue (cold like the outside temperature at the moment).  Red surfaces in the photo are hot and are losing lots of heat, wasting energy and causing high operating costs for the owner.  You can see the scale on the right of the photo, which shows the actual temperature. 

The main building (for people who don’t know Tbilisi it is the Philharmonia) shows how cold it can get when there is too much glass with low quality glazing.  It will not meet proper standards of comfort for the visitors.

Just as insulation retains heat in winter, it keeps heat out in summer, making it easier to keep buildings cool inside.  Old buildings did this with very thick walls, but modern buildings can do this with a layer of insulation (from polystyrene or mineral wool) on the outside wall.

If you are planning a new building or renovating an old one, don’t forget to reduce your energy bills by using insulation and double-glazing.
 

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