Groundbreaking Building Industry Thermal Bridging Guide that Targets Energy Efficiency is Published

Exterior Insulation Finish Systems (EIFS) figure positively in a broad analysis of building envelop thermal bridging solutions

TORONTO – Morrison Hershfield, an engineering and technical advisory firm, recently announced the publication of the long awaited Building Envelope Thermal Bridging Guide: Analysis, Applications, and Insights (downloadable from BC Hydro). The Guide’s purpose is to promote energy efficiency in buildings by increasing awareness of the impact of and methods to mitigate thermal bridging. It contains information for owner operators, builders, contractors, and manufacturers in the construction industry, as well as for technical committees for energy standards, researchers, regulators, utilities, architects, mechanical designers, building envelope consultants, energy modellers, developers, manufacturers, and trade organizations.

The Guide was developed by Morrison Hershfield in collaboration with co-sponsors and industry partners. Co-sponsors include BC Hydro Power Smart, Canadian Wood Council, Fortis BC, FPInnovations and Homeowner Protection Office (a branch of BC Housing).

A special thanks to the manufacturers and industry partners that helped extend the scope of the thermal performance catalogue to include many additional details and assemblies. The support and contributions of the following three industry partners: Dow Corning Corporation, Schöck Bauteile GmbH, and the EIFS Council of Canada are acknowledged. These industry partners provided the funding to evaluate many variations of solutions that mitigate the impact of thermal bridging.

Broadly, the Guide addresses a number of significant obstacles:

• Cataloguing the thermal performance of common building envelope assemblies and interface details.
• Providing data-driven guidance to make it easier to comprehensively consider thermal bridging in building codes and bylaws, design, and whole building energy simulations.
• Examining the costs of improving the thermal performance of opaque building envelope assemblies and interface details, and forecasting the energy impact for several building types and climates.
• Evaluating the cost effectiveness of improving the building envelope through more thermally efficient assemblies, interface details, and varying insulation levels.

The guide is broken up into three stand-alone main sections for ease of use:

• Part 1: Building Envelope Thermal Analysis (BETA) Guide
• Part 2: Energy Savings and Cost Benefit Analysis
• Part 3: Significance, Insights, and Next Steps

The Building Envelope Thermal Analysis (BETA) Guide outlines how to effectively account for thermal bridging and is backed up by an extensive catalogue of thermal performance data. This information is essential for practitioners evaluating building envelope thermal performance. The remaining sections provide deep insight into the topic.

EIFS systems are evaluated in Part Three. The report states in part “EIFS systems have evolved to be more durable yet still offer a cost-effective and thermally efficient alternative to other types of claddings. In many respects, EIFS is the only wall assembly that is close to the notion of continuous insulation many in the building industry believe is important.” Please see the report for more details and comparisons.

“It is the ECC’s intention to further promote the Guide via our ECC social media and website as well as through dedicated communications to EIFS stakeholders,” said John M. Garbin, President/CEO, EIFS Council of Canada “The report nicely parallels our efforts in producing and promoting our ECC EIFS Practice Manual, EIFS Life Cycle Performance Study,  release of EIFS-centric codes and standards and the EIFS Quality Assurance Program to name a few.”

About Morrison Hershfield

Morrison Hershfield is an engineering and technical advisory firm. Founded in 1946, the company is employee-owned and has grown to over 850 staff with offices located throughout North America. Morrison Hershfield is dedicated to delivering cost effective and technically sophisticated solutions for both horizontal and vertical infrastructure, with a strong commitment to sustainability.

For further information: Patrick Roppel, email: proppel@morrisonhershfield.com, phone: 604-454-0402

About the EIFS Council of Canada

Founded in 1987, the ECC, a national not-for-profit industry trade association, represents the overall EIFS industry in Canada. The ECC membership is comprised of EIFS manufacturers, distributors, component suppliers, contractors, building science/design consultants, affiliates, and financial services companies. The ECC serves as the “official voice” of the EIFS industry with a mandate to provide for the advancement and growth of the industry across the country through advocacy, education, and marketing. For more information, visit www.eifscouncil.org.

EIFS Council of Canada/EIFS Quality Assurance Program Inc.

Contact: John M. Garbin, President/CEO, 70 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1H1, Direct Line: 416-847-9155, Office: 416-499-4000 ext. 121, Fax: 416-499-8752, Email: jgarbin@eifscouncil.org