Application of additional insulation to ETICS on surfaces with biocorrosion

Abstract

The paper presents partial outputs from an experiment that demonstrated the impact of applying an additional insulation on an existing contact insulation system with a green-algae surface. The aim was mainly to detect the development of microorganisms in the gap between the original and the new insulation. The existing ETICS on the polystyrene-based contact thermal insulation system and EPS-based additional thermal insulation were used in the experiment. A theoretical modelling of temperature conditions showed that this type of doubling the insulation presented the highest risk of condensation of water in the gap between the insulation layers and that these conditions presented suitable humidity conditions for the growth of microorganisms. The reason for the experiment is to demonstrate the need to eliminate microorganisms before applying an additional thermal insulation to surfaces with biocorrosion. This is especially the case where EPS is used. The temperature and humidity parameters obtained during the experiment can be used to model the moisture regime in the gap of other types of insulations (e.g. MW, PUR, PIR.)