Heat conduction across double brick walls via BEM

The Boundary Element Method (BEM) is used to compare the steady-state heat and moisture diffusion behaviour across double brick walls provided by two different models: in the first one, the brick wall is assumed to be composed of a set of homogeneous layers bonded together, which is the model frequently used to predict internal condensation; in the second model, the geometrical modelling and hygrothermal properties of the individual bricks are taken into account. The BEM is implemented allowing the use of multi boundaries, which permits the full discretization of the brick cavities. Three different construction solutions are analysed. In the first, the double-brick wall is assumed not to be thermally insulated; in the second, the space between the two layers of bricks is filled with thermal insulation material; in the third solution, both the space between the brick layers and the holes of the inner brick layer are filled with thermal insulating material. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.