Thermal and hydrothermal investigations of the external walls of modern apartment houses in Saint-Petersburg

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to investigate properties of modern multi-layered external walls implemented in modern multi-storey apartment houses in Saint-Petersburg (Russia). Long cold winters prevail in northern regions of Russia. Good thermal and hydrothermal properties of the building mantle help to achieve high energy efficiency of buildings and to decrease energy consumption by heating system. Therefore, construction of modern widespread types of external walls must be thoroughly investigated. The study projects observed in this work are multi-storey houses of residential complexes Swedish Krona and Ȯland erected by NCC Housing in Saint-Petersburg. Multi-layered walls are used in Swedish Krona project, whereas houses of Ȯland project have concrete sandwich panel walls. These types of external walls are both used in Russian multi-storey housing. In Finland panel walling is widespread. Therefore, comparison of multi-layered walls and panel walls was executed in this work. Thermal properties of the studied wall structures were calculated according to Finnish and Russian norms. Hydrothermal properties were investigated with the help of computer programs. Some construction specialities of the studied wall structures were described. The conclusion about expediency of using multi-layered walls in multi-storey housing in Finland was made.