System and method for the automatic monitoring of the state of thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic system (1) and a method for monitoring the state of thermal insulation for buildings and infrastructures (2). The system comprises: - at least one internal measuring device (10) and one external measuring device (20), applied to the walls; - at least one Gateway (30) for a long-range communication system (Lo.Ra. or similar); - at least one Server (40) for automatic data storage and analysis. The measuring devices (10, 20) acquire and evaluate the thermal conductivity of the walls on which they are applied, measuring the thermal conductivity at preset intervals through a set of sensors that allow the appropriate corrective measures determined by wind and air humidity (including the possible effects of rain) to be applied. Once the data has been acquired and the thermal conductivity calculation has been carried out (both with the theoretical formulas and by applying the convection correctives), the internal device (10) sends the data to the Server (40), which processes them, determining the variations in thermal conductivity through regression algorithms, in order to estimate the rate of deterioration of the insulation. If the deterioration rate exceeds the standard, estimated from previous data, the system sends an alarm.

Description

[0001] Title

[0002] SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATIC MONITORING OF THE STATE OF THERMAL INSULATION OF BUILDINGS AND INFRASTRUCTURES

[0003] Description

[0004] The present invention relates to an automatic system for monitoring the state of thermal insulation for buildings and infrastructures.

[0005] State of the art

[0006] The fight against climate change and energy saving requirements have led, as is well known, to the adoption of regulations that in various ways encourage the construction of buildings equipped with thermal insulation (the so-called “coat”), which aims at avoiding heat loss in winter and reducing the need for air conditioning and cooling in summer.

[0007] In this context, on the one hand, a plethora of technologies and methodologies for the construction of insulation have reached the market, both on existing buildings and on new buildings, on the other hand, a need to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of these insulations over time has arisen.

[0008] Drawbacks of the prior art

[0009] Insulation is subject to deterioration for several reasons: the type of insulating material used: each material has its own characteristics and resistance to atmospheric agents; the quality of the installation work: an incorrect or sloppy installation can compromise the effectiveness of the coat and accelerate its degradation; maintenance: regular cleaning and control of the coat can help prevent deterioration.

[0010] There are also other causes that can occur regardless of good material selection and maintenance practices. Examples include, but are not limited to: climatic conditions: more humid and saline climates tend to attack insulating materials more; seepage: the presence of excess water or humidity can cause a serious deterioration of the insulating capacity and the insulation itself; the presence of animals or insects: colonizing the interspaces, insects or other animals can cause considerable damage to the isolation, while making the buildings less healthy.

[0011] For example, in the case of coats, deterioration can give rise, at an advanced stage, to major problems such as to render the insulation itself useless, to the point of needing the removal thereof. This deterioration manifests itself with: cracks and crevices: may occur due to temperature changes, shocks or installation errors; material detachment: if the insulating panels are not well fixed to the wall, they may detach partially or completely; mould and stains: humidity can promote the growth of mould on the surface of the coat, with negative consequences for both aesthetics and health; discoloration: exposure to UV rays can cause discoloration of the insulating material; loss of energy efficiency: if the coat has deteriorated, its ability to insulate the house decreases, resulting in increased heating and cooling costs.

[0012] Currently, insulation monitoring, when carried out, uses non-standard techniques and methods. These methods include visual inspections, including by means of endoscopes, the use of thermal cameras, the temporary installation of small transducer systems that detect parameters such as temperature or humidity, mainly inside buildings and their respective environments. Through constant monitoring of insulation it is possible to achieve many advantages, including: prevent the deterioration of the coat: by identifying any problems early, such as water seepage or detachment of the insulating material, it is possible to intervene promptly and prevent more serious damage; optimise energy efficiency: by monitoring the temperature and humidity inside and outside the coat, it is possible to optimise the heating and cooling settings, saving energy and money; improve living comfort: the data collected by the transducers can be used to improve living comfort, for example by automatically adjusting the indoor temperature according to outdoor conditions.

[0013] The widespread practices on the market, however, do not allow a capillary control over time or even to identify the conditions that can cause a deterioration in such a timely and “predictive” way, to avoid the consequences.

[0014] The state of the thermal insulation is represented by the ability of this insulation to carry out its task, that is, by its ability to retain heat. Therefore, by maintaining a low thermal conductivity value over time.

[0015] The designer is therefore required to evaluate the design conditions of temperature and humidity in which the insulating material may be on site, determining the value of A (i.e. the thermal conductivity) that the thermal insulation must have to obtain the required results. The designer must also take into account that said A value could improve or worsen over time depending on the assumed conditions.

[0016] The process described represents the rule of the art at the national level: the manufacturer follows the rules of current legislation for the determination of the declared A and the designer on the basis of these values uses the reference standard UNI EN ISO 10456 for the determination of the design A.

[0017] It can be said that the thermal conductivity values A of the construction materials used for the evaluation of the thermal transmittance U generally apply to standard winter applications at the reference temperature of 10 °C.

[0018] The materials used in construction, in fact, have the following behaviour with respect to thermal conductivity: as the temperature increases, the material conducts more heat; as humidity replaces the air contained within the material, thermal conductivity increases since humidity (water in liquid or aeriform form) conducts more heat than air.

[0019] The national reference standard for evaluating design thermal conductivity is UNI EN ISO 10456; the other possibility is to use tabulated design thermal conductivity values.

[0020] With regard to this aspect, on a national level the old UNI 10351 standard, from 1994, is in force, which actually presents tabulated design thermal conductivity values (starting from the increased manufacturers' values to obtain the design value).

[0021] The standard is now outdated and the values it indicates refer to different measurement conditions that existed at the time prior to the publication of the standard, i.e. at an average temperature of 20 °C, and at different curing conditions.

[0022] That said, it is clear that the implementation of an insulation state monitoring system cannot be calibrated or set by relying on the theoretical parameters of the project and requires being equipped with the appropriate measuring instruments as well as the algorithms necessary to identify the “normality” of the measurements obtained. It should also be reminded that the insulating layers are placed inside the walls and are not easily accessible or separable except by destructive and invasive ways that would not be applicable or convenient for the real market.

[0023] In addition, our interest is not, at least in the first instance, to know the thermal conductivity of each individual insulating layer, but the overall thermal conductivity, that is, that of the entire thickness of the wall being examined and monitored.

[0024] As is known, thermal conductivity can be calculated with Fourier's law:

[0025] 0 = - A * A * (dT / dx)

[0026] Wherein: : is the heat flow (W), i.e. the amount of heat that passes through a surface in the unit of time;

[0027] A: is the thermal conductivity of the material [W / mK], an intrinsic property of the material that indicates its ability to conduct heat;

[0028] A: is the area of the surface through which the heat flows [m2]; dT / dx: is the temperature gradient [K / m], i.e. the change in temperature per unit length in the direction perpendicular to the surface; the negative sign: indicates that heat always flows from the area at a higher temperature towards the one at a lower temperature.

[0029] From Fourier's law it can be therefore derived:

[0030] A = -0 / (A * dT / dx) and also taking into account the fact that dT / dx « (T1 - T2) / Ax it follows that in order to calculate A, which is our goal, we need to know the following parameters: the heat flow 0; the thermal gradient dT / dx; the surface area A.

[0031] Aim of the invention

[0032] The aim of the present invention is to overcome at least in part the inconveniences complained of through a system for the automatic monitoring of the state of thermal insulation for buildings and infrastructures.

[0033] That described and other aims, as will be explained below, are achieved with a system and a method, respectively, according to claims 1 and 4.

[0034] The system comprises: one or more measuring devices applied to the internal walls and provided with first means designed to detect a plurality of parameters in the internal environment; one or more measuring devices applied to the external walls and provided with second means suitable for detecting a plurality of parameters in the external environment; one or more Gateways for the respective type of radio transmission applied to said means; a Server to which said one or more Gateways send the values detected by said measuring devices and which proceeds to the analysis and archiving of said data, said analysis allowing to know the overall thermal conductivity of the walls being examined and monitored.

[0035] Data detection takes place at regular intervals and the external and internal measuring devices are synchronized, that is, they are structured to detect data simultaneously.

[0036] The method is of the type that involves the use of transducers for the detection of parameters such as temperature and / or humidity, and is characterised in that it uses the monitoring system described above and comprising the following phases: phase 1 : the timer of one of the external devices signals to its microcontroller the expiry of the pre-set time interval, starting the measurement process; phase 2: the external measuring device sends a signal with its short-range radio to the corresponding internal device and starts the measuring activity; phase 3: upon reception of the signal, the internal measuring device also starts the measuring activity; phase 4: the external measuring device, once the measuring activity has been performed, waits a few seconds, keeping the data in memory and, at the end of this wait, sends the data with its short-range radio system to the internal device; phase 5: the internal measuring device, once it has received the data and having memorized its own data, sends all the data, therefore its own and those acquired by the external measuring device, via the long-range radio to the Gateway; phase 6: the Gateway sends the data to the Server which: processes them to determine the effective thermal conductivity of the wall, with the evaluation of the energy dissipated through the external wall; stores the data itself and the result of the processing.

[0037] Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variants of the present invention form the subject matter of the dependent claims.

[0038] All appended claims form an integral part of the present disclosure.

[0039] The invention in question solves the problems complained of as it carries out the detection of parameters that allow the Server, equipped with adequate algorithms, to evaluate the heat flow through the insulation according to the external climatic conditions and the internal microclimate. By performing repeated detections over time, the system is able to monitor the performance of said efficiency over time, reporting any anomalies.

[0040] It will be immediately obvious that innumerable variations and modifications (for example relating to shape, dimensions, arrangements and parts with equivalent functionalities) can be made to what has been described without departing from the field of protection of the invention, as appears from the appended claims.

[0041] The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments, provided by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0042] Fig. 1 shows a reduced diagram of a measuring system according to the invention;

[0043] Fig. 2 shows a measuring system according to the invention, applied to a large building;

[0044] Figs. 3 and 4 show the diagram of the measuring devices applied respectively inside and outside the building I infrastructure to be monitored.

[0045] With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, a measurement system installed on a building 2 is schematically indicated with 1 , to which a “coat” 3 consisting, for example, of an expanded polymer is applied.

[0046] The automatic system 1 is adapted to evaluate the efficiency of the thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures 2 by monitoring the actual state of effectiveness of said thermal insulations, which may deteriorate over time also due to the possible deterioration of the insulating material used, the reaction of said insulating material to climatic conditions and atmospheric agents such as moulds and stains, the presence of animals or insects in the interspaces, the presence of cracks, crevices and detachments that may occur due to thermal changes, shocks or installation errors.

[0047] The automatic system 1 subject matter of the present invention allows a continuous, constant and permanent monitoring that allows to ascertain the possible loss of energy efficiency and / or the tendency to the loss of energy efficiency of the thermal insulations.

[0048] Said measuring system 1 comprises: one or more measuring devices 10, applied on the internal walls, provided with means 11 , 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, designed to detect a plurality of parameters in the internal environment; one or more measuring devices 20 applied to the external walls provided with means 21 , 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, designed to detect a plurality of parameters in the external environment; one or more Gateways 30 for the respective type of radio transmission applied to said means, in particular the Gateway has the purpose of receiving the radio signals of the long-range radio vector (e.g. Lo.Ra.) with a suitable receiving station and converting them to a suitable format for sending to the server (e.g. TCP, http, Mqtt, OPC UA); a Server 40, to which said one or more Gateways 30 send the values detected by said measuring devices 10 and 20 and which proceeds, not necessarily in the following order, to the decoding, storing and analysis of said data.

[0049] For example, these means are transducers and / or equipment for the detection of a plurality of parameters in the internal or external environment.

[0050] Said internal 10 and external 20 measuring devices are arranged in pairs and act simultaneously, as will be specified below.

[0051] The internal measuring device 10 (Fig. 3) is equipped with the following means: a first analogue and with ADC-equipped (Analog to Digital Converter) or digital temperature transducer 11 to detect the temperature of the internal environment in which it is located; a first analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital humidity transducer 12 to detect the humidity of the internal environment in which it is placed; a second analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital temperature transducer 13 to detect the temperature of the internal walls on which it is placed; an analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital transducer 14 to detect the thermal flow of the walls on which it is applied; a first analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital pressure transducer 15 to detect the air pressure in the internal environment; a microcontroller or other calculator or calculation unit 16 for the control of the measurement, coding and data transmission process; a first short-range radio 17, for synchronizing the internal device 10 with the corresponding external device 20; a long-range radio 18 for data transmission to the Gateway 30.

[0052] The external measuring device 20 is equipped with the following means: a microcontroller 21 to control the measuring activities; a third analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital temperature transducer 22 to detect the temperature of the external wall on which it is placed; a fourth analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital temperature transducer 23 to detect the outdoor air temperature; a second analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital pressure transducer 24 to detect the air pressure acting perpendicularly to the wall; a third analogue and with ADC-equipped (analog to digital converter) or digital pressure transducer 25 parallel to the wall and sheltered from the wind; a second short-range radio 26, for synchronizing the external device 20 with the corresponding internal device 10; a digital or analogue and with ADC-equipped second humidity transducer 27; a timer 28 to regulate the measurement activities.

[0053] According to a preferred embodiment, which is also suitable for medium and large buildings or complexes, said long range radio 18 for data transmission to the Gateway 30, comprises a Lo.Ra. system. Said transmission system allows the internal measuring devices 10 to transmit over a long range, up to a few thousand metres, making installation easy, smooth and sustainable.

[0054] Through said radio transmission system, the data arrives at said Gateway 30 and, from there, at said Server 40, which provides for the analysis of the data and their archiving.

[0055] In case of difficulty in bringing the power supply to the external devices 20 and in order to facilitate their installation outside the buildings, said external devices 20 are advantageously provided with the following components (not shown): a solar panel; a battery; an energy management module.

[0056] The method according to the invention provides that the detections are carried out at predetermined time intervals. In addition, the operation of the internal 10 and external 20 devices takes place in a coupled manner and provides for the following phases: phase 1 : the timer 28 of one of the external devices 20 signals to its microcontroller 21 the expiry of the pre-set time interval, starting the measurement process; phase 2: the external device 20 sends a signal with its short-range radio 26 to the corresponding internal device 10 and starts the measurement activity; phase 3: upon reception of the signal, the internal device 10 also starts the measurement activity; phase 4: the external device 20, once the measurement activity has been performed, waits a few seconds, keeping the data in memory and, at the end of this wait, sends the data with its short-range radio system 26 to the internal device 10; phase 5: the internal device 10, once it has received the data and having memorized its own data, sends all the data (therefore its own and those acquired by the external device 20) via the long-range radio 18 to the Gateway 30; phase 6: the Gateway 30 sends the data to the Server 40 which: processes them to determine the effective thermal conductivity of the wall, with the evaluation of the energy dissipated through the external wall; stores the data itself and the result of the processing.

[0057] In this way, the measurements of the two devices 10 and 20 take place periodically and at the same instant.

[0058] Considerations about the method

[0059] The determination of the thermal conductivity of the insulating materials adopted to contain the thermal dispersion through the walls, achieving the expected energy saving results, is done in the laboratory and, therefore, in optimal conditions and in the absence of wind or high humidity conditions.

[0060] Continuous monitoring of the state of the insulation, and therefore of its thermal conductivity, is conducted in the real world.

[0061] Therefore, the measurement devices and calculation models adopted must take into account the conditions under which the measurement process takes place. Otherwise the system would produce incorrect data, inevitably producing false alarms and unreliable data.

[0062] In the presence of strong wind, for example, it is clear that the heat flow would be higher than expected, with the same temperature difference between the external wall and the internal wall.

[0063] In particular, the thermal dissipation of a wall as a function of the wind that hits it can be calculated using the following formula:

[0064] Qconv=hCOnv * A * AT wherein:

[0065] Qconv is heat dissipation by convection [W]; hConv is the film convection coefficient [W / m2K];

[0066] A is the wall area [m2];

[0067] AT is the temperature difference between the wall and the air [K],

[0068] The film convection coefficient depends on the wind speed, the geometry of the wall and the thermal properties of the air. Several empirical formulas are available to calculate hCOnv based on these variables. A commonly used formula is as follows: hconv= 3.6 * Vwind* (Aair / pair)(0.5) (Nu I Pr)(0.33) wherein:

[0069] Vwindis the wind speed [m / s];

[0070] Aair is the thermal conductivity of air [W / mK]; pajris the dynamic viscosity of the air [kg / m s];

[0071] Nu is the Nusselt number [dimensionless];

[0072] Pr is the Prandtl number[dimensionless].

[0073] The Nusselt number depends on the geometry of the wall and the air flow regime. The Prandtl number is a thermodynamic property of the air.

[0074] By replacing the appropriate variables in the aforementioned formulas, it is possible to calculate the convective heat dissipation of a wall as a function of the wind that hits it.

[0075] The formula above assumes that the wind direction is perpendicular to the wall. Choosing a more complex calculation model would necessarily imply a complication of the measurement system and the possible addition of an anemometer to detect the wind direction would greatly complicate the installation of the measurement device with the addition of mechanical components subject to easy deterioration and breakage.

[0076] For this reason, an analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital pressure transducer 24, perpendicular to the wall, in the external device 20 and a pressure transducer 15 on the internal device 10 are simply provided.

[0077] In particular, the analogue and with ADC-equipped or digital pressure transducer 24 on the external device 20 is placed so that the direction of detection is perpendicular to the wall, inside a cylindrical container (not shown).

[0078] Said 1 and 2 two sections of said cylindrical container and recalling Bernoulli's law

[0079] Wherein:

[0080] P-i is the static pressure in the section 1 ;

[0081] P2is the static pressure in the section 2; p is the density of air;

[0082] Vi and v2are the speed of the air in section 1 and 2 respectively.

[0083] The density of the air, in turn, can be calculated as a function of pressure and temperature by known methods, using the perfect gas equation, taking into account the presence of water vapour:

[0084] Pair = (P - Pv) / (Rair * T) + Pv / (Rv* T) wherein:

[0085] Pair is the density of humid air [kg / m3];

[0086] P is the total atmospheric pressure [Pa];

[0087] Pvis the partial pressure of the water vapor [Pa];

[0088] Rair is the specific gas constant that for dry air is about 287 J / kgK;

[0089] Rvis the specific gas constant that for water vapour is about 461 J / kgK;

[0090] T is the absolute temperature [K];

[0091] The partial pressure of the water vapour depends on the relative humidity of the air. It can be calculated using the following relationship:

[0092] P v — <P P sat(T) wherein: cp is the relative humidity (between 0 and 1 )

[0093] Psat(T) is the saturation pressure of water vapor at temperature T (can be obtained from psychometric tables or diagrams).

[0094] The pressure data Pi will be that detected by the pressure transducer 24 placed in the external device 20 and detects the pressure of the air acting perpendicularly to the surface. The pressure data P2will be that detected by the pressure transducer 25 placed in the external device 20 and detects the pressure of the air acting parallel to the surface and is sheltered from the wind.

[0095] By detecting this data, it will be possible to evaluate the air flow perpendicular to the wall and, consequently, the wind speed, allowing the evaluation of the influence of the wind itself on the measurement of the heat flow and (Ti - T2) I Ax to apply the appropriate correctives in determining the thermal conductivity of the wall.

[0096] In particular, it will be necessary to subtract the heat dissipation of the wall from the heat flow. Predictive algorithm applied to measurements

[0097] Each thermal insulation has two characteristics: an initial insulation capacity that, unless there are installation errors, will be optimal; a minimum insulation capacity, i.e. that necessary to maintain the energy class of the building at the expected levels.

[0098] The actual insulation capacity will change over time, both temporarily and permanently.

[0099] The predictive algorithm will calculate the regression of the thermal conductivity index by re-evaluating said calculation over time with the arrival of new measurements, calculating, at the same time, the residual time before the insulation capacity becomes such as not to guarantee the expected energy class, in addition to the percentage of additional energy required to maintain the internal areas at the expected temperatures.

[0100] If the evaluation of the evolution over time of the angular coefficient of the regression line shows an increasing trend, the system automatically informs the user, so as to allow inspections and subsequent interventions to restore optimal conditions.

[0101] Conclusions

[0102] Preferred embodiments of the invention have been described. Modifications and variants, functionally equivalent to the previous ones, which fall within the field of protection of the invention, as highlighted in the appended claims, will be evident to the person skilled in the art.

Claims

CLAIMS1. Automatic system (1 ), adapted to evaluate the efficiency of the thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures (2) by monitoring the state of said thermal insulation, characterised in that it comprises: one or more measuring devices (10), applied to the internal walls and provided with first means (11 , 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18) designed to detect a plurality of parameters in the internal environment; one or more measuring devices (20) applied on the external walls and provided with second means (21 , 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28) suitable for detecting a plurality of parameters in the external environment; one or more Gateway (30) for the respective type of radio transmission applied to said means, said Gateway (30) having the purpose of receiving the radio signals of the long-range radio vector (Lo.Ra.) with a suitable receiving station and converting them to a suitable format for sending to the server; a Server (40), to which said one or more Gateways (30) send the values detected by said measuring devices (10) and (20) and which proceeds to the analysis and archiving of said data, said analysis allowing to know the overall thermal conductivity of the walls being examined and monitored.

2. Automatic system (1) according to claim 1 , characterized in that said first means, with which said internal measuring devices (10) are provided and suitable for detecting a plurality of parameters in the internal environment, comprise: a first temperature transducer (11 ), digital or analogue equipped with ADC (Analog to Digital Converter), to detect the internal environmenttemperature; a first humidity transducer (12), digital or analogue equipped with ADC, to detect the humidity of the internal environment; a second temperature transducer (13) to detect the temperature of the internal walls; a thermo flow meter (14), digital or analog equipped with ADC, to detect the heat flow of the walls; a first pressure transducer, digital or analog equipped with ADC (15) to detect the air pressure in the internal environment; a microcontroller (16) for controlling the measurement activities; a first short-range radio (17), for synchronizing the internal device (10) with the corresponding external device (20); a long-range radio (18) for data transmission to the Gateway (30); and said second means, with which said external measuring devices (20) are provided, are suitable for detecting a plurality of parameters in the external environment, comprise: a microcontroller (21 ) or other calculator or calculation unit to control the measuring activities; a third temperature transducer (22), digital or analogue and equipped with ADC, to detect the temperature of the external wall on which it is placed; a fourth temperature transducer (23), digital or analogue and equipped with ADC, to detect the outside air temperature; a second pressure transducer (24), digital or analogue and equipped with ADC, to detect the air pressure acting perpendicularly to the wall; a third pressure transducer (25), digital or analogue and equipped withADC, parallel to the wall and sheltered from the wind; a second short-range radio (26), for synchronizing the external device (20) with the corresponding internal device (10); a second humidity transducer (27), digital or analogue and equipped with ADC; a timer (28) to regulate the measurement activities.

3. Automatic system (1 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that said external measuring devices (20) are equipped with the following components: a solar panel; a battery; an energy management module; in order to overcome any difficulty in powering said external measuring devices (20) via the electrical distribution network.

4. Method for the automatic monitoring of the state of thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures (2), of the type that involves the use of transducers for the detection of parameters such as temperature and / or humidity, characterised in that it uses a system compliant with claims 1 to 3 and comprises the following phases: phase 1 : the timer (28) of one of the external devices (20) signals to its microcontroller (21 ) the expiry of the pre-set time interval, starting the measurement process; phase 2: the external device (20) sends a signal with its short-range radio (26) to the corresponding internal device (10) and starts the measurement activity; phase 3: upon reception of the signal, the internal device (10) also startsthe measurement activity; phase 4: the external device (20), once the measurement activity has been performed, waits a few seconds, keeping the data in memory and, at the end of this wait, sends the data with its short-range radio system (26) to the internal device (10); phase 5: the internal device (10), once it has received the data and having memorized its own data, sends all the data, therefore its own and those acquired by the external device (20), via the long-range radio (18) to the Gateway (30); phase 6: the Gateway (30) sends the data to the Server (40) which:- processes them to determine the effective thermal conductivity of the wall, with the evaluation of the energy dissipated through the external wall;- stores the data itself and the result of the processing.

5. Method for the automatic monitoring of the state of thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures (2), according to claim 4, characterised in that the measurements of the two corresponding internal (10) and external (20) measuring devices occur periodically and at the same time.

6. Method for the automatic monitoring of the state of thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures (2), according to claims 4 and 5, characterised by calculating the thermal dissipation of a wall as a function of the wind that hits it using the following formula:Qconv=hCOnv * A * AT wherein:Qconv is heat dissipation by convection [W]; hconvis the film convection coefficient [W / m2K];A is the wall area [m2];AT is the temperature difference between the wall and the air [K],7. Method for the automatic monitoring of the state of thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures (2), according to at least one of claims 4 to 6, characterised by calculating the density of the external air using Bernoulli's law:wherein:P-i is the static pressure in the section 1 ;P2is the static pressure in the section 2; p is the density of air;Vi e v2are the speed of the air in section 1 and 2 respectively.

8. Method for the automatic monitoring of the state of thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures (2), according to at least one of claims 4 to 7, characterised by calculating the partial pressure of water vapour present in the external air using the following formula:P v — Cp P sat(T) wherein: cp is the relative humidity (between 0 and 1 )Psat(T) is the saturation pressure of water vapor at temperature T.

9. Method for the automatic monitoring of the state of thermal insulation of buildings and infrastructures (2), according to at least one of claims 4 to 8, characterised in that it includes a predictive algorithm capable of calculating the regression of a thermal conductivity index, re-evaluating said calculation over time with the arrival of new measurements, calculating, at the same time, the residual time before the insulation capacity becomes such as not to guarantee the expected energy class, inaddition to the percentage of additional energy required to maintain the internal areas at the expected temperatures.

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