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SUSREF
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3. Background - refurbishment technologies - literature review
3.1 Introduction
This study focuses on additional thermal insulation of external walls. In other words, this study
leaves out all the other building components and systems. The main goal of this study is to
give a comprehensive view of the different technologies available for refurbishing external
walls.
The scope of this study is on residential buildings, but the results and technologies presented
here may also be applied to other building types.
3.2 Classification of refurbishment technologies
This study divides the different refurbishment technologies under five main technologies. The
technologies differ from each other mainly by the placement of new insulation layers. SUSREF
2.1 presents a brief explanation of each of these technologies and this study will discuss them
in more detail.
The primary technologies for refurbishing external wall, as in SUSREF 2.1, are:
Technologies for replacing existing walls
Technologies for applying external (insulation) layers
Technologies for inserting (insulation) materials in cavities in existing walls
Technologies for applying internal insulation
Other (advanced) refurbishment technologies
This classification has been justified earlier (SUSREF 2.1) by the significance of the insulation
for the moisture and temperature balance of a wall structure. Each of the technologies have
some advantages and disadvantages, some of which are listed in Table 1.