thermal bridge assessor or ACD (Accredited Construction Details) Assessor
Heat lost through junctions such as window sills & reveals, ceiling and floor perimeters can account for up to 25% of the heat loss of a building. The Building Regulations heavily penalise designs that have not used thermal modelling to measure heat loss from these junctions. For example the default Y- value in the SAP is 0.15w/m²k. If the average U-Value for the dwelling is 0.30w/m²k then the Y-value will be added to average U-Value to give a total U-Value of 0.45w/m²k, diminishing the building performance by 50%. Using Accredited Construction Details will lower the Y-Value to 0.08w/m²k and using Enhanced Accredited Construction Details will lower the U-Value further to 0.04w/m²k. However the problem with using Accredited Construction Details is that will add additional costs to your construction budget as these details are not the most cost effective method of construction. Additionally you will now have to change your design to suit these pre-set details, adding delays and costs to the design process.
To optimise your design and keep to your budget all details should be thermally modelled. Thermally modelling details is the most cost effective method of construction for new buildings and it may not be possible in many circumstances to meet the building Regulations without thermally modelling details.
In highly insulated buildings, any cold or weak spots, particularly at junctions, will be more prone to condensation resulting in mould, higher maintenance costs and possible localised failure. Thermally modelling allows all details to be checked for condensation risk, thus helping to ensure design and construction quality.
thermal modelling experience
We can thermally model a single detail or complete a whole building package of details. We have thermally modelled details for over 200 dwellings and integrated them into energy models for design strategies that can achieve Code 4 Level of Energy Performance without incorporating renewable technology.
HEAT LOSS SIMULATION THROUGH A GROUND FLOOR DETAIL