Construction & Contractors Blog
If you run a commercial operation in a standalone property, then you need to ensure that your building is as energy-efficient as possible. If you do so, you can keep your costs down and make a difference to the environment by reducing the size of your carbon footprint. As you pursue these goals, you may have introduced the most efficient heating or air conditioning system and have trained your staff to use it wisely, but you may need to look for gaps around the shell of your property that could be causing an issue. In technical terms, these gaps are known as "thermal bridges," but what are these and what can you do about them?
What Is a Thermal Bridge?
A thermal bridge is a problem point in the shell of your building where air may be able to escape or could infiltrate and cause issues with your conditioning. Typically, these bridges will be caused by poor initial installation or by a lack of insulation in the relevant area, and it is remarkable how much of a difference they can make to your general efficiency.
Construction Issues
Many of these thermal bridges will be caused by breaks in existing insulation, where the material has been poorly introduced or may have perished over time, creating a gap. Alternatively, inferior construction techniques may have been used when the structure was first built, and this may need to be addressed first, before dealing with any insulation issues. You may need to bring in a contractor to have a look at the individual joists in the floors or ceilings, or in the wall ties around the edge of the property.
Insulation Issues
On the other hand, if your property gets a clean bill of health in this area and construction issues are not leading to the development of a thermal bridge, then you will need to address the overall insulation. To begin with, you need to pinpoint exactly where these bridges are, whether they are considered repeating or non-repeating, and whether any of them are classified as geometric. In this case, a problem may be caused by the definition of the space itself rather than a lack of insulation, but this form of bridge is relatively rare.
Fixing the Issue
Talk with your commercial insulation contractors to see what they can suggest. They will be able to identify the presence of any thermal bridges and introduce spray insulation or other solutions to help out.
Share29 October 2019
Welcome to my blog, my name is Blake and from now on, I will be writing a series of blogs which will deal with the process of finding and working with contractors when constructing a new building. I am not a construction specialist but last summer I gained a lot of experience in this area when I hired a team of 32 contractors to build a holiday home. When hiring contractors, it is important that you understand how to communicate with them and their ways of working. Below are a series of blogs which will help you to find the best contractors.