External Masonry Cavity Walls
Apart from structural considerations, which are obviously pre-eminent, the correct specification of wall ties is crucial in two additional respects.
Firstly, it is necessary that the tie does not compromise the performance of the cavity wall insulation with regard to liquid water penetration.
Secondly, the U-value calculation method must take into consideration the number of wall ties per square metre as well as the cross sectional area, and thermal performance of the wall tie.
Timber Frame Walls
Insulated external timber frame walls can provide better insulation performance than masonry walls of comparable thickness.
Timber frame is also widely recognised as the most environmentally friendly construction method – a construction with extremely low ‘embodied energy’. This is the energy required to manufacture a building component or material, deliver it to site and install or construct it.
RAINSCREEN FAÇADE SYSTEMS
There are a wide variety of proprietary rainscreen cladding systems available most of which have the insulation installed on the external face of a masonry wall, this helps to keep internal temparatures stable by storing heat in the winter and reducing solar gains in the summer. Rainscreen cladding systems are also lightweight when compared to brick and masonry solutions and they can provide the designer with a wide range of aesthetic options.
EXTERNAL WALL INSULATION
External Wall Insulation (EWI) systems involve the installation of an insulating layer to the external fabric of an existing, or new building, the system is usually finished with a render coat,
brick slips or clad with timber boards or tiles.
EWI systems should not be used to isolate or hide moisture penetration or damp problems in the existing structure.
BUILT-UP METAL WALLS
Our mineral wool insulation solutions for built-up metal walls provide very high levels of sound absorption, and can achieve outstanding levels of sound insulation when combined with the separation between internal and external metal sheets.
Built-up metal walls are most commonly installed on non-residential buildings such as offices, shops and warehouses providing very high levels of thermal insulation.
Internal Walls
Sound Insulation, otherwise known as sound reduction, is the prevention of sound being transmitted from one part of a building to another, for example by erecting a partition
or wall.
Improving the sound insulation of separating elements between dwellings is the main way in which the sound transmission between dwellings can be reduced.
Separating Party Walls
Party wall thermal bypass is now recognised in Building Regulations for new buildings, and details of how to include this are provided in Approved Document L1A: 2010 Edition for
England and Wales and Section 6 of both the Domestic and Non-Domestic Technical Handbooks for Scotland.
In both cases the approach requires that a value for the heat loss through the party wall is included in the calculation of whole building energy performance and carbon emissions.