Aerogel-based coating for energy-efficient building envelopes

International audienceIn the building sector, space heating and domestic hot water remain the most important energy users. Buildings' renovation has a high priority in France. In this paper, we present a recently patented insulating coating based on silica aerogels. Then, we present a simulation-based rapid assessment tool designated for architects, building engineers, and non-expert users to examine the effect of adding this coating on the energy consumption and thermal comfort. All the building construction types representing the different construction periods of France are considered. Also, all these are examined under the different climates of France. The output of this tool is the house energy load with and without the coating. As an inverse problem, the user can enter the required energy load and the output will be the coating thickness. Moreover, the tool provides a thermal comfort assessment based on different thermal comfort models. Results show that applying this coating is very interesting for buildings under rehabilitation. For very well insulated new houses, adding the coating may allow reaching the new thermal regulations (French RT 2012) levels of the low energy buildings. However, this coating may increase the risk of overheating during summer, especially for the Mediterranean climate, which could be overcome by adopting proper shading and night ventilation