VII International Congress on Architectural Envelopes May 27, 28, 29 2015, San Sebastian-Donostia, Spain VII International Congress on Architectural Envelopes Fire Behaviour of Drywall Systems Incorporating Phase Change Materials and Vacuum Insulation Panels Dimos A. Kontogeorgos, Georgios K. Semitelos, Ioannis D. Mandilaras and Maria A. Founti Department of Mechanical Engineering University/Company National Technical University of Athens e-mail: dimkon@central.ntua.gr Key words: VIP, PCM, Conventional Insulation Materials, Fire Behavior, DSC Abstract This paper investigates the fire behaviour of drywall systems incorporating Phase Change Materials (PCMs) and Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs). For this purpose, an experimental set up was designed and realized, in which a multilayer drywall configuration was subjected to fire temperatures from one side, while the other side was exposed to ambient conditions simulating realistic fire conditions. The wall assembly consisted of a gypsum board with PCMs (PCM-GB), a VIP, a standard gypsum board (S-GB), an Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and a Thermal Insulation Render (TIR) with EPS. In order to assess the fire performance of the VIP as a part of a drywall system, three additional experiments were carried out in which the VIP was either replaced with conventional insulation materials, i.e. EPS and Mineral Wool (MW), or a cavity was created instead. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) measurements, in inert (nitrogen) and oxidized (air) environments, were performed for all the materials. Results indicated that at temperatures up to 200 o C, the gypsum boards (both PCM-GB and S-GB) act as fire retardants because of the dehydration of the contained free and chemically bound water. The PCM found to be a potential flammable material as at high temperatures it evaporates and under ventilated conditions its volatiles oxidize. On the other hand, the VIP layer was found to significantly delay the penetration of heat through the drywall configuration when compared to the other configurations, i.e. with conventional insulation materials or without insulation. According to the failure criteria of the excessive temperature rise on the ambient facing side of the wall, the VIP layer was found to increase the time to failure by ca. 55%.