Retrofitting Historic Walls: Feasibility of Thermal Insulation and Suitability of Thermal Mortars
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Buildings Department, LNEC—National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, 1700-066 Lisbon, Portugal
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CONSTRUCT (LFC—Laboratory of Building Physics), Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: John J. Hughes, Alexandre S. Gagnon and Elena Sesana
Heritage 2021, 4(3), 2009-2022; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4030114
Received: 11 June 2021
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Revised: 18 August 2021
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Accepted: 21 August 2021
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Published: 27 August 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Heritage Conservation and Climate Change)
The European Union is pursuing an ambitious policy on climate action, urgently calling for an acceleration in the transition toward net-zero emissions by 2050. In this context, retrofitting historic constructions can play a key role in reducing European energy consumption and consequent emissions. What is more, beyond the opportunity for tackling climate change, thermal retrofits can improve indoor comfort while lowering operational costs, factors that are fundamental to ensure the continued use of historic constructions over time, and with that, improving their preservation and durability. The suitability of thermal insulation for this scope is still a debated topic. Thus, this study aims at contributing to the discussion by providing an overview on the feasibility of adopting thermal insulation for retrofitting external walls of historic buildings while preserving their significance and unique identities. Finally, the advantages of adopting thermal mortars rather than more traditional insulation solutions are outlined, and their potential efficacy is discussed.
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Keywords:
historic buildings; thermal mortars; thermal insulation; thermal retrofit; renders; plasters; energy efficiency; thermal conductivity; heritage; climate change
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MDPI and ACS Style
Posani, M.; Veiga, R.; de Freitas, V.P. Retrofitting Historic Walls: Feasibility of Thermal Insulation and Suitability of Thermal Mortars. Heritage 2021, 4, 2009-2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4030114
AMA Style
Posani M, Veiga R, de Freitas VP. Retrofitting Historic Walls: Feasibility of Thermal Insulation and Suitability of Thermal Mortars. Heritage. 2021; 4(3):2009-2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4030114
Chicago/Turabian StylePosani, Magda, Rosário Veiga, and Vasco P. de Freitas. 2021. "Retrofitting Historic Walls: Feasibility of Thermal Insulation and Suitability of Thermal Mortars" Heritage 4, no. 3: 2009-2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4030114
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