Dynamic modelling of thermal bridges: Equivalent wall method

The multidimensional and dynamic aspects of the thermal bridges (2-D or 3-D details, by extension) are often neglected in the building energy simulations: a common hypothesis is the heat flux is 1-D. The aim of this work is to develop a method easy to incorporate into a building energy simulation program in order to take into account the real effects of the thermal bridges on the building energy consumption.
The approach is based on the equivalent wall method: the principle is to define a 1-D three-layer wall, replacing the thermal bridge, which has the same steady and dynamic thermal behaviours as the thermal bridge. The methodology has been applied to some 2-D thermal bridges.