IR thermography is more and more extensively used; amongst its applications, civil engineering is
one of primary importance. In fact, performance indicators for new and existing buildings are derived from
the temperature pattern. This is true, for both the envelope and plant investigations. The preventive
maintenance and energy savings are addressed with qualitative or quantitative techniques. Non-destructive
testing and evaluation of the repair and decay status is a hot issue. In this chapter, some examples of structural
analysis aided by IR thermography, are presented and discussed. In particular, it is evidenced that help to the
comfort monitoring given by the distributed temperature map measured by an infrared device is impressive.
Using a novel method, it is possible to “see” the main environmental quantities such as air temperature,
relative humidity and velocity, obtained from thermographic readings. Also, the well established application
of thermography in building science for the detection of moisture is addressed. The discussion includes both
the classical and innovative techniques, which are now available for dealing with usual or more complex
problems. As the characterization of building materials by thermal properties is impressively improved by
thermographic techniques, it is also demonstrated. The dedicated procedures, which have been developed
since a long time ago for heritage building, are also reported and discussed herein.
Keywords: IR thermography, heritage buildings, NDE, moisture detection, thermal transmittance, HVAC
preventive monitoring, structural analysis, thermal inertia, thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity.