Thermal behaviour and comfort of a building pre- and post-intervention: the case of the Engineering School of Bejàr

Historic buildings are responsible for a large amount of energy consumption and CO2 emissions, besides presenting comfort condition problems. There is a strong need to bridge the gap between conservation of historic buildings and users comfort, through a comprehensive method for diagnosis and monitoring. This paper deals with this diagnostic method applied to one case study of the FP7 EU project 3ENCULT. Techniques integration in a scientific based diagnosis and evaluation tool can benefit the whole process, leading to energy efficiency and users comfort improvement. The methodology proposed covers three main phases of interventions: comprehensive pre-intervention diagnosis, evaluation of retrofitting strategies and assessment of the interventions, based on targets in the fields of historical value conservation, energy balance and comfort improvement. Building energy performance simulation tools are combined with non-destructive tests, such as IR thermography, blower door tests, and wired and wireless monitoring. Example results will be shown with trend and values.