BEEM-UP Novel solutions

Novel Solution #9 Thin Façade Insulation Material

1.1 Novel Solution #9 – Thin Façade Insulation Material (Paris pilot)

1.1.1 Location in building – Paris

The thin insulation material is applied only on the Falguière street façade. The brown areas in

the Figure 1 below show its location on the building.

Figure 1: Location of thin insulation material – street façade (marked in light brown). The other parts of the façades

are supplementary insulated with more conventional materials.

1.1.2 Existing Construction

• The external wall insulation has an average U=0.9 W/m²K.

• Street side walls have originally only 2 cm sandwich insulation.

• Courtyard walls have an additional 8 cm PS ETICS supplementary insulation

BEEM-UP Novel solutions

Novel Solution #9 Thin Façade Insulation Material

1.1.3 Identified Problems

Identified problems of existing design are:

• Heating energy consumption for the building is very high due to its poor insulation and

causes excessive expenses for the tenants

• Inside dwellings insulation would reduce dwellings surfaces thus decreasing rent

incomes. It would also allow too many thermal bridges

• External insulation thickness is problematic on the street façade. The building envelope

is not allowed to interfere with the public space at the ground level. Being in a historical

protected area, the chosen material must be suitable for appropriate aesthetical coating

1.1.4 Solution

ETIC solution is chosen to exclude thermal bridges. This also made it possible for the tenants to

stay in the dwellings during the renovation works.

The old 8cm PS ETICS on the courtyard façade is removed because it would be too complicated

to fastened another ETICS layer on top of it. For most surfaces of the street façade and for the

courtyard façade the insulation material chosen is 18 cm of BASF Neopor: an expandable

polystyrene containing graphite, with λ= 0.032 W/m/K.

For the ground level of the street façade a thinner system is applied to minimize its expansion

on the pavement. It is quite conventional, composed of glass wool between the structures of a

resistant cladding.

For the surfaces located around the Falguière street balconies, a 5 cm thick new thin insulation

material has been chosen for its very high performances even at low thickness. It is from BASF:

Multitherm AERO, λ= 0.018 W/m/K. Thanks to this solution saving 13 cm depth space, the

balconies can still be used in a meaningful way.

Figure 2: Implementation system for the

graphite EPS

Figure 3: Graphite EPS pasted

around a window

Figure 4: Mechanical anchors fixing

the graphite EPS

BEEM-UP Novel solutions

Novel Solution #9 Thin Façade Insulation Material

Figure 5: Higher insulation for aerogel material Figure 6: Implementation plans for the aerogel on the balconies

Figure 7 Pasting the aerogel Figure 8 Aerogel fixed with anchors Figure 9 Glass fibre mesh and final

coating

BEEM-UP Novel solutions

Novel Solution #9 Thin Façade Insulation Material

1.1.5 Energy Experiences

The thin insulation material contributes to energy saving by reducing heating consumption with

about 75%.

Figure 10 Comparison of dimensions needed for different façade materials for the same insulation performance –

with Multitherm Aero aerogel insulation in the top layer, followed by light concrete, timber, porous brick, cob,

perforated and façade bricks and concrete in the bottom layer. Source: Multitherm Aero

1.1.6 Lessons Learnt

This material is new in France and it had to be authorised for experimental use by construction

authorities, though it had already been approved and used in Germany. A European harmoni-

sation would be a great improvement. The process of approval resulted in noticeable delays in

the work.

As asked by the construction authorities, a quality plan has been implemented to insure that the

workers apply the correct manufacturing process:

• Make sure that this system is fully dissociated from the other ETICS (NEOPOR) present

on the façade

• Establish a quality plan for implementation to insure that the workers:

o Respect the thickness of sub-coatings (5 and 2 cm), their application tempera-

tures and all drying times

o Make sure the panels are placed edge to edge very carefully

For this purpose, two technical experts from Germany came for a whole day to the Paris pilot

site in order to explain and demonstrate the implementation of the MultiTherm Aero to the

workers. They also gave an exhaustive documentation about this with the correct ways to work

and the errors to avoid. In addition, auto-control forms were established.

This is a very interesting result of ICF-BASF partnership, meaning that experimentation is eased

by the involvement of the manufacturer. The thin insulation use is very interesting in the areas

where gain of space is crucial. This is the case in the Paris pilot site, a very dense urban area. It

would have been interesting to implement it at the ground level but its price is still dissuasive.