Problems in the calculation of thermal bridges in dynamic conditions

The importance of calculating the effect of thermal bridges in building energy demand is growing. This is because new energy saving regulations are being applied in different countries making builders to increase the level of insulation in homes, and therefore raising the percentage of thermal bridges in total heat loss. This paper makes an introduction to the problem that implies correctly calculating the heat transfer through thermal bridges within the programs to calculate the building energy demand considering their inertia. Different existing models are presented making a comparison between them. This study is carried out in dynamic conditions for two different types of thermal bridges: one with similar inertia to the homogenous wall and the other when the thermal bridge has a much lower inertia.