Thermovision in construction

Thermography is a way of capturing infrared radiation emitted by every warm object, and especially of making it visible. And not only that, the thermal imaging camera captures changes in material properties, such as when cutting, cracking, excessive wear etc. The thermovision (as the thermal imaging camera is also called) creates an image that shows the surface temperature. The thermal imaging camera is frequently used in construction for measuring heat loss from buildings, but it also has other applications in engineering, criminology e.g. in search of people, medicine, etc. The staff in one zoo knows something about it: a scientist measuring heat loss from the elephant pavilion was asked to use the thermal imaging camera for “measuring” the resident of the pavilion, the elephant himself. The thing was, that the elephant had been struggling with inflammation for a long time, but due to the size of this dangerous animal, it was impossible to determine the exact source of the illness. The discovery of tendinitis in his right hind leg using infrared thermal imaging camera then contributed to the rapid and gentle treatment of the animal patient.

On the market, there is a wide spectrum of various thermal imaging cameras by type of use and prices from thirty thousand to several million. The one the university team uses for scientific work is worth around one million Czech crowns. Its recording allows them to see defects on buildings and to find a solution for preventing heat loss that bleeds us dry every winter. Based on their measurements, they suggest how to save on heat. They have created a new composition of the thermal insulation composite systems in the plinth, which they have patented. In other words, they propose to place insulation better to avoid unnecessary heat loss in this area of the largest energy loss.

These measurements and research are carried out by Zdeněk Peřina and his team at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, VŠB-TUO