Best Practice Recommendations for Interior Wall Retrofit for Masonry Construction

Energy efficient retrofits of existing commercial buildings are essential to achieve the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office’s (BTO’s) goal of 50% reduction in overall building energy use by 2030. Masonry buildings constitute a significant portion of the existing building stock built prior to the 1980s in the north-east region of U.S. These buildings often have uninsulated or under-insulated walls (not up to code) which offer a good potential to achieve energy efficiency through improved wall retrofit strategies. Factors such as historic preservation, space requirements, zoning issues, etc. often require these existing buildings to be retrofitted on the inside of the wall assembly.