ZEMCH 2019 International Conference Proceedings April.2020 | Page 26
Thermography Residential Building Defects Detection
during Construction in the UAE
Kheira A. Tabet Aoul 1 , Rahma Hagi 1 *, Boshra Akhozheya 1 , Rahma Abdelghani 1 , Yasmin Abdou
1 , Noor Suleiman 1
Architectural Engineering Department, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates Univeristy; Al Ain,
UAE, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
* Correspondence: r‐[email protected], +971‐ 3 713 501 850 (RH)
1
Abstract: The remarkable growth of the construction sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
similar to many fast‐growing countries, raised a global interest on the energy impact of buildings. The
energy share consumed in buildings stands at a massive 70% in the UAE. The government initiated
serval enforcements to curb the related energy usage and CO2 emissions, notably through the energy
building code and the minimum insulation values of the building envelope. However, the current
construction quality control procedure does not include verification of construction thermal defects,
relying solely on specifications and building energy performance simulations, whereas field studies
and post‐construction status highlight a major energy performance gap ‐largely due to construction
defects. Defects during the construction process are costly but preventable if detected and remediated
early enough. Hence, the aim of this study is to identify building defects during construction on
selected residential case studies in the UAE through thermography diagnosis. The first target is to
identify, categorize and analyze the types of building defects that occur during construction that may
have an impact on building energy efficiency. Then, the reasons and causes of such defects are
assessed in order to establish early mitigation strategies during the construction process. Several
residential construction sites were analyzed with two distinctive and similar results: improper
insulation strategies that created thermal bridging between the structure and the walls, and a
combination of non‐compliant or late design changes.
Keywords: : Building Defects, Construction, Thermography, Construction Quality, Residential, UAE,
Mitigation
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ZEMCH 2019 International Conference l Seoul, Korea