Thermal Properties and Service Life of Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIP)

Highly efficient thermal insulation of the building envelope demands for layers up to 40 cm thickness.This often causes problems regarding architecture and loss of space, especially in building renovation.An attractive alternative is the recently introduced vacuum insulation panel (VIP) having a 5 to 8 timeslower thermal conductivity than conventional thermal insulation. Aging effects and service life arecrucial aspects of those high performance insulation systems, as gas permeation through theenvelope barrier may drastically reduce the insulation efficiency. In the present contribution agingmechanisms and experiments as well as service life estimates investigated within IEA Annex 39subtask A are reported. In-situ monitoring data taken from a flat roof construction are compared withresults from a prediction model that is based on aging characteristics determined by laboratoryexperiments for constant temperature and humidity conditions.