Temperature and moisture conditions are, in general, the two major factors influencing the long-term performance of external walls made of porous mineral building materials. Degradation of wall components is accelerated by temperature and moisture induced stresses which lead to cracks and in turn a surface more vulnerable to other degradation agents. The degradation rate depends on both the environmental conditions and the material-inherent and component design properties. Extreme and rapid temperature fluctuations as well as moderate diurnal and seasonal temperature cycles cause thermal stresses and strains in the material, resulting in expansion or contraction and eventual deformation such as cracking or fracture. Material properties such as thermal expansion, elasticity and tensile strength determine if cracking occurs either immeadiately when the surface temperature drops below the initial temperature after rapid cooling or after a period of time if alternating or repeated stresses result in creep and fatigue.

In this paper an attempt is made to evaluate the temperature effects on the risk for degradation of external walls made of rendered autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) based on temperature measurement data and the material properties. The measurement results are obtained from the continuous microenvironment monitoring carried out on a test cabin built on the roof of the Centre for Built Environment building in Gävle, Sweden. A finite element model (FEM) is used to simply calculate the temperature induced stresses in two different cases; with and without creep and relaxation in the material. According to the microenvironment measurement results the test panels attain maximum surface temperatures up to about 60 °C during summer and experience surface temperature fluctuations between day and night up to about 55 °C during winter. Rapid changes in surface temperatures frequently occur particularly throughout late spring and early summer. The preliminary calculated results indicate that the tensile forces built up during cold spells may be sufficient to crack the surface of AAC panels but the risk for fatigue damages due to combined moisture and temperature cycles induced by radiation from the sun seems to be small. Further studies are needed for better knowledge and reliable information on the degradation mechanisms related to temperature by complementary measurements of stress-strain, stress relaxation, creep and fatigue behaviour of AAC panels under different and cyclic temperature loading.