Experimental and numerical investigation of thermal bridging effects of jointed Vacuum Insulation Panels

In order to verify the incidence of thermal bridges on the overall energy performance of an insulation system that makes use of VIP panels, an experimental campaign has been carried out using a heat flux metre apparatus and analysing different joint materials/typologies. First, a measurement method was proposed, tested and verified on the basis of data from the available literature. A series of measurements on different samples was then performed. The experimental results were then used to calibrate and verify a numerical model that allows the performance of various “VIP packages” to be predicted and the performance of the overall package to be optimised.