Stronghouse

RGU monitors insulation of ‘Hard-to-Treat Homes’

02 September 2021 - Published by Deirdre Buist
As part of the Stronghouse project, the Robert Gordon University (RGU) has recently been involved in the extra challenging energy retrofit of a house in Glasgow. This ‘hard-to-treat home’ is a dwelling so defined because it possesses stone walls that are difficult to insulate.

According to the BRE - a world leading, multi-disciplinary, building science centre - there are approximately 10.3 million hard-to-treat homes across the UK, equivalent to 40% of the existing housing stock.

Joint evaluation

Our Scottish partners at RGU are now collaborating with an installation company, the homeowner and academics to jointly evaluate whether the insulation technique and the material used in this demanding building are adapted to solid stone walls.

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Mohammed Seddiki and Amar Bennadji (left) of RGU join the evaluation trial

Condensation sensors

The trial endeavours to shed light on any unclear aspects of this typical insulation method. RGU's team have installed sensors inside the internal insulation of the solid stone walls to monitor the humidity and temperature.  The collected data will indicate if the applied insulation material has created a risk of internal condensation inside the walls. The results will be used to guide homeowners on how to insulate solid stone walls in the future.

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 Mohammed Sedikki installs a sensor

We’ll keep you updated on progress and results!