Thermography

Infrared (IR) inspection is a powerful and noninvasive means of monitoring and diagnosing the condition of buildings. An IR camera can identify problems that can be immediately documented with full color thermal pictures and corrected before they become serious

How Infrared Thermography Works
Thermography enables users to see and measure heat. All materials on earth emit heat energy in the infrared portion of the spectrum. Unfortunately, the unaided human eye cannot see in the infrared. Thermal images reveal temperature anomalies that in turn identify potential problems in buildings.

Today’s infrared cameras can measure the temperatures of target objects quite accurately, and can record infrared images in real time. Areas of possible concern show up clearly as hot or cold in relation to their surroundings. Recorded thermal images can be easily inserted into reports and easily distributed, greatly facilitating communications among trades, attorneys, and other professionals and serving as invaluable, rational, evidentiary data in cases involving controversy.

How It’s Being Used

The following are just a few of the ways Allied Restoration inspectors are using infrared to detect problem areas in residential and commercial buildings:

• Leaking roofs. Roof leaks can cause costly damage to a building’s contents and discomfort to its inhabitants. An infrared inspection can quickly identify missing or moisture-soaked insulation under a flat roof membrane roof where the insulation needs replacement, permitting the surgical repair of failed areas rather than the much more costly replacement of the entire roof.
• Construction defects. The increased use of EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems) and stone, stucco, brick veneers and siding as facades on commercial buildings invites the possibility of water intrusion if they are not properly installed. IR can detect or verify moisture infiltration in these weatherproofing "barrier" systems, usually the result of insufficient detailing such as inadequate or improperly applied flashing or sealants. In addition, IR can monitor and track moisture migration paths within the wall cavity.
• Energy efficiency. An IR camera can quickly and non-destructively detect areas of missing, moisture-laden, or otherwise damaged insulation in walls, crawlspaces, and attics or around doors, windows, electrical outlets, and other access plates. All of these problems can increase a building’s energy costs by allowing cold air to enter the building and heated air to escape in the winter, and the reverse in the warmer, summer months. IR can also identify poorly or uninsulated pipes, another source of costly heat loss.
• Moisture intrusion and potential mold in walls and ceilings. IR thermal imaging is way faster, noninvasive, and provides evidentiary-quality, intuitively understandable data having a much higher degree of accuracy and reliability than other moisture detection technologies used to trace the source and scope of water damage, and thus potential mold in buildings. Once the IR camera identifies areas with significant thermal differences, a moisture meter can be used to confirm that they represent moisture and not some anomaly, such as air infiltration.
• Even termites. Although considered cold-blooded creatures, termites are hosts to bacteria, which help break down and digest cellulose, the main ingredient of the wood they digest. The digestion process generates heat, and when large numbers of termites in nests congregate, a substantial amount of heat is concentrated in one area. As this heat moves through the walls or floor of a building, an IR camera can detect it on the surface.
  

In addition, infrared can be used to perform energy audits and surveys, indoor air quality investigations and plumbing and radiant floor heating inspections.