Building Science and its study of Heat Flow, Air Flow and Moisture Flow, uses thermal imaging for non-invasive inspection. Thermal imaging devices, also known as infrared (IR) cameras or imagers, assist building diagnostics by “seeing” thermal patterns due to heat transfer from Heat Flow (conduction, radiation), Air flow (convection) and Moisture Flow (evaporative cooling and thermal capacity differences). This greatly increases the speed and accuracy of locating trouble spots for ongoing building maintenance and repair.
Using thermal imaging, structural anomalies and environmental conditions are revealed, adding value to conventional inspection methods. This provides cost and time savings for a safer, healthier and energy efficient building environment. Using thermal imagers to image heat patterns, professionally trained thermographers can see what is behind the scenes (e.g. walls and enclosure structures). Thermal imaging is used in the building industry to monitor, locate and repair many otherwise hidden conditions such as: heating and cooling loss through improperly insulated areas, air movement through the enclosure, moisture presence from plumbing or rain water issues, termite damage, and many more.