Performance evaluation of aerogel-based and perlite-based prototyped insulations for internal thermal retrofitting: HMT model validation by monitoring at demo scale

•Prototyped insulations for internal thermal retrofit installed at a demo scale.•Monitoring before and after retrofit.•Comparison between measured and calculated Heat and Moisture Transfer.•Parametric analysis, validation and identification of the most affecting variables.•Performance evaluation and U-values obtained by different methods.

A South-East oriented façade of a protected building of Politecnico di Milano has been retrofitted on its inner surface with respect to energy consumption and thermal comfort. Four prototype solutions including special perlite boards and aerogel composite materials have been used. The analysis envisaged both monitoring by means of temperature, moisture and heat flux sensors at demo scale, and Heat and Moisture Transfer modelling. The study has been carried out before and after retrofit. The present investigation is concerned with the comparison between simulation and measurements. A parametric analysis permitted both the validation of assumptions made for numerical simulations and the identification of the most affecting variables.