Abstract
An objective for expanded use of vacuum insulation panel (VIP) products in buildings will be assisted by an understanding of the relationship between small-scale laboratory thermal measurements and large-scale tests of building components. Thermal resistances of a typical element of VIP embedded in closed-cell cellular plastic (foam) insulation obtained with a heat flow meter (HFM) apparatus are compared with results obtained with a hot-box facility for a building component. Small-scale samples of the foam-VIP composites were measured in single- and multi-transducer HFMs. The multi-transducer HFM was used to determine the heat flow distribution across the different sections of the VIP, i.e. center-of-panel vs. edges and joints. These measurements enable validation of numerical models, which can be utilized to model and evaluate large-scale building components containing VIPs.
