Point thermal bridges at ventilated facade and impact on economics of building operation

Abstract

Point thermal bridges are still a very neglected issue and are usually overlooked when determining the thermal insulation properties of the structure. Their influence is related not only to their count and size, but also the possibility of heat dissipation to the exterior, or, conversely, heat dissipation from the interior to the structure. It can also be important to cut across the thermal bridge by inserting a thermal insulation pad between the metal anchor and the load-bearing wall. In the theoretical simulation of the thermal behaviour of such anchor, those parts of the structure which are thermally conductive and which exceed the thermal insulation boundary are very often neglected. As it is considered that there are no thermal insulation effects, i.e. from the point of view of engineering simulations, it is usually a laborious matter where relatively complex three-dimensional structural elements have to be simulated. In practice, there is another mistake, namely the thermal insulation pad is often omitted during implementation, because there is no immediate control of the implementation and after covering with thermal insulation it is no longer possible to check this part of the structure.