Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBPKey factors for sustainable building
Energy efficiency, hygiene, comfort and durability: these factors are key to building sustainably. The most important aspects are solar protection, thermal insulation and air impermeability. There is a welcome increase in the wide range of high-performance sealing and insulation systems available, as well as coatings for controlling short-wave and long-wave radiation. In particular, a growing number of systems based on renewable or recycled raw materials are being launched on the market.
Especially when it comes to new materials and use in sensitive areas - such as historical buildings - special requirements generally have to be taken into account. For this reason, precise knowledge of material and system properties is essential in order to implement products successfully.
The consumer rightly expects that today's heat and radiation protection systems not only comply with the specifications stated during installation, but also during the entire use phase. For manufacturers, this means implementing continuous monitoring measures in order to ensure the quality of their products,. Last but not least, the right products must be selected for the respective application. They must be suitable for the purpose and have a practical installation tolerance.
The test laboratories at Fraunhofer IBP can do more than just verify the specifications of building products by determining their thermal, moisture and radiation properties, and by performing air and rain impermeability tests. Rather, the measured profiles of the properties of products form the basis of further investigations, such as computational simulation models, to determine their possible uses and scope of application.