morrison hershfield, an engineering and technical advisory firm, announced the release of the building envelope thermal bridging guide – analysis, applications, and insights.

the document is now public and can be downloaded from bc hydro.

the guide aims to assist companies and builders in mitigating thermal bridging to reduce energy consumption in buildings.

the guide was developed by morrison hershfield in collaboration with co-sponsors and industry partners.

industry partners helped extend the scope of the guide to include many additional details.

the guide catalogues the thermal performance of common building envelope assemblies and interface details.

it provides data driven guidance intended to make it easier for the industry to comprehensively consider thermal bridging in building codes and bylaws, design and whole building energy simulations.

its authors examine the costs associated with improving the thermal performance of opaque building envelope assemblies and interface details, and forecasting the energy impact for several building types and climates.

it also evaluates the cost effectiveness of improving the building envelope through more thermally efficient assemblies, interface details and varying insulation levels.

the guide, which is broken into three main sections for ease of use, contains information for technical committees for energy standards, regulators, utilities, architects, mechanical designers, building envelope consultants, energy modellers, developers, manufacturers and trade organizations.

the guide is backed up by an extensive catalogue of thermal performance data.

morrison hershfield in a news release stated that this information is essential for practitioners evaluating building envelope thermal performance.

the firm expects researchers and regulators will be interested in the sections focused on market transformation, which includes an evaluation of cost effectiveness and energy savings in common large building types.

co-sponsors of the guide include bc hydro power smart, canadian wood council, fortis bc, fpinnovations and homeowner protection office (a branch of bc housing).

the pdf guide may be downloaded from bc hydro's web site at:  building envelope thermal bridging guide

the video below explains thermal bridging and some approaches to solve it.