Main areas:
↪ Performance and pathology studies of different coating materials and building assemblies, under in-service conditions;
↪ Performance of thermal insulation materials and applications, including on walls, roofs, floors and elements in contact with the ground;
↪ Application of thermal insulating materials and building assemblies on the energy-efficient rehabilitation of buildings;
↪ Experimental and analytical studies of innovative building insulating materials, such as the incorporation of insulating aggregates on mortars and concrete and silica-based aerogels on renders;
↪ Development of maintenance plans and maintenance requirements for building coatings and assemblies;
↪ Support in the development of innovative coatings and building assemblies (including eco-materials and materials with recycled content) and in the definition of maintenance and rehabilitation strategies for buildings, in order to respect sustainability principles;
↪ Sustainable Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of innovative coatings and building assemblies, including the environmental, economic and social assessments.
Examples of works:
↪ Development of an innovative thermal aerogel-based render to be applied on a sustainable and energy-efficient multifunctional external wall;
↪ Training courses for trainers and building insulation installers, and training courses for External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) installers, with the design of the training support material;
↪ Maintenance plans development for coatings, buildings and monuments, and for ETICS solutions;
↪ Thermal conductivity assessment of innovative insulating materials (e.g. incorporation on mortars of pumice-stone and of expanded polystyrene aggregate), through both steady state and transient methods;
↪ Environmental, economic and social (e.g. thermal) assessment of innovative and sustainable insulating materials and building assemblies;
Awards: