Rehabilitation of Concrete Buildings Using Thermal Insulation

Exterior walls of concrete buildings frequently exhibit surface deterioration due to corroding reinforcement. The usual method of concrete repair of these walls is expensive and the results may be less than perfect. At the same time, the thermal insulation of these walls is often not adequate according to today's standards. Laboratory and field experiments show that it is possible to arrest corrosion in the rebar in the exterior walls of concrete buildings in central European or similar climates by additional thermal insulation. Preliminary results were reported at the IABSE Symposium 'Durability of Structures' 1989. Presenting the final results, this paper deals with a new concept to dry the outer layers of reinforced concrete walls by attaching thermal insulation to their outer surfaces. This method makes it possible to arrest rebar corrosion without the usual concrete repair, and at the same time to conserve heating energy. Additional corrosion protection, as used in commonly used concrete repair methods, is not necessary.