Experimental and numerical assessment of breathing walls performance for the improvement of air quality and comfort indoors

The construction of airtight building envelopes within nearly Zero Energy Buildings is likely to generate thermo-hygrometric discomfort indoors, that needs to be managed with airconditioning and ventilation systems. In countertrend, some researches developed in northern Europe countries focused on the construction of “breathing” building envelopes that let in the air (passively or with mechanical devices) through dynamic thermal insulations able to preheat and filter it from possible pollutants. This study reports the results of experimental and analytical assessments of dynamic insulation systems, aimed to the design of a breathing wall system for the application in building renovation interventions.