Aspects of building physics and planning advice

Thermal insulation functions

Structural Physiological Ecological Economical

functions functions ­functions ­functions

Hygienic Comfort-related
functions functions

Protection from Minimising usage- Minimising energy

Preventing damage Preventing
excessive cooling related energy costs (heating and
from condensation mould formation
and overheating ­consumption cooling costs)

Reducing Extending the Extending

Preventing damage Reducing interior
dust formation building’s functional the building’s
due to diffusion air speeds
and vortices and service life service life

Adapting and Minimising the

Preventing investment and
­harmonising the
constraining operating costs of
­temperatures of air-conditioning
stresses
wall surfaces systems
inside rooms with A 3.2  Thermal insulation functions
the rooms’ air A 3.3 Facade with roller blinds (inside)
­temperature and louvre system outside, Munich
(DE) 2001, Peter C. von Seidlein
A 3.2

0.15 W/m2K, even good triple insulating
­ lazing, inert gas-filled glazing or vacuum
g of structural components, increase heating
­insulating glazing has U-values of around
0.6 W/m2K. In other words, nowhere near the
thermal values of the well-insulated exterior
walls made of opaque building materials men-
tioned above. Standard commercially avail­
able window frames may well have U-values
of > 1.0 W/m2K, so thermal weak points can
easily develop around them.
In joining window frames or frame profiles in
glass facades to solid walls, details should
be appropriately constructed to ensure that
thermal resistance is as consistently effective
as possible at every point in the facade to
­prevent thermal bridges and the risk of con-
densation forming. Planners should consider
factors such as heat transmission, convection
and the exchange of long-wave radiation in
choosing the properties of materials, structural
components and connections. This is espe-
cially important in and around joints, at the
bonded edges of glazing and panels, and in
the area of fastening elements because linear
or intermittent thermal bridges and leaks can
increase the risk of heat losses, condensation
and mould formation.
Horizontal and vertical corners, inside and
out, attics and footings, and projections and
recesses in insulating and sealing layers are
in practice particularly critical, especially at
junctions between different types of facades
and structures.
Mistakes made in planning or construction
can greatly impair the function and durability
energy consumption, have negative ecologic­
­al effects and be harmful to one’s health if
mould forms.
Protection from moisture
Exterior weather factors such as precipitation
and fluctuating extremes of temperature make
intensive demands on facades, which are also
exposed to considerable loads from moisture
hitting the splash water zone of the building’s
plinth, damp from surrounding soil and humid-
ity inside the building.
Water must not be allowed to penetrate struc-
tures in and around closed facade surfaces
(such as plastered masonry), punctuated
facades and partitioned exterior wall struc-
tures (like glass facades). Any water that does
penetrate must be extracted in a controlled
manner. The moisture content of materials
sensitive to damp, such as certain insulating
materials and timber, must also be kept low.
As well as choosing adequate materials, plan-
ners must make every effort to prevent ther-
mal bridges in building facades because they
are usually also weak points in terms of mois-
ture and can pose an increased risk of con-
densate forming on interior surfaces and inside
the facade.
The permeability to vapour of individual com-
ponents and the application of sealing meas-
ures in and around joints and fastening elem­
ents will determine the risk of condensate
forming inside exterior walls.
Effective prevention of condensation is a fun-
damental precondition for ensuring both a
facade’s durability and a healthy interior cli-
mate. We now know that mould can form even
in the absence of visible condensate, resulting
in critical surface temperatures being redefined
in DIN 4108-8. The basic rule of construction in
Central Europe is that the inside of a building
should be more vapour-proof than the outside.
This basic rule is reversed for warm, damp
­climates, where the outside should be more
vapour-proof than the inside.
Condensate can form in multilayer glass
facades when moist air inside cavities of the
facade meets cold surfaces. The risk of this
occurring can be reduced by improving the
quality of insulation between exterior layers
and ventilating the cavities [5].
The demands on a facade’s moisture protec-
tion depend largely on the building’s usage
and technical equipment. Air in indoor swim-
ming pools (and in winter in air-conditioned
buildings generally), for example, is more
humid, increasing the risk of condensate
­forming.
One phenomenon often overlooked in planning
is the formation of condensate or hoar frost on
a facade’s exterior surface. This risk increases
with the quality of insulation and is especially
great with highly insulating panels and triple
glazing, whose exterior surfaces barely warm
up at all due to these units’ low heat transfer.

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