COMPARING THE THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF STEEL STUD WALLS WITH TIMBER WALL STUDS

By Paula Hugens , 2 Sep 2010

Good sustainable design begins with having good thermal performance. New Zealand already has reasonably low levels of insulation requirements stipulated in the New Zealand Building Code clause H1 compared with other developed nations.

In Canada, British Columbia requires a minimum R3.5 of insulation for timber stud framed walls (this would be colder than our South Island Zone 3 but appropriate for Central Otago). In California wall insulation requirements generally depend on the insulation levels of the other building elements. This ranges from R2.3 to R4.4 in Oakland and San Francisco which would be similar to the main populated centres in NZ for Zones 1 and 2. Interesting that there are 16 climate zones in California yet we only have 3 for New Zealand and our climate spread is arguably greater than California's.

The continued poor performance of our homes becomes exacerbated through the choice of our building materials. Our market is dominated by highly conductive aluminium window joinery where continued consumer demand keeps the prices very competitive. The market is now moving towards the use of metal stud framed houses. Mild steel has a thermal conductivity more than 350 times greater than timber so it would appear that they would have a detrimental effect on the thermal performance of our homes.

With some support from Carter Holt Harvey, we have undertaken a detailed study of the thermal performance of common wall systems using both steel and timber studs. The details and results of this study are provided in the down loadable PDF file with the article. The results shed light on this issue so we encourage you to have a read for yourself.

COMPARING THE THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF STEEL STUD WALLS WITH TIMBER WALL STUDS

Other Posts