What to build warm walls from

Modern construction pays special attention to the thermal insulation of buildings. After all, in the conditions of continuously rising prices for energy resources, up to 60% of all operating costs are for heating. What to build warm walls from?

According to research conducted by a special European commission, the cost of building a house itself is only 20% of all the costs associated with its subsequent operation. Therefore, the conclusion is simple - it is more profitable to build from more expensive materials, using high-quality insulation materials, than to pay high heating bills later.
Based on these studies, recommendations for wall insulation were developed. According to them, the thermal conductivity coefficient U for two- and three-layer walls should be 0.3 W/(m²•K). For modern construction, achieving these parameters does not present any problem. The use of appropriate building materials and technologies allows achieving a thermal conductivity coefficient U even lower than 0.2 W/(m²•K), which is recommended for energy-efficient houses.

As is known, due to poorly insulated walls, a house on average loses 20-30% of heat. Reducing the U coefficient by only 0.1% will lead to significant savings in the family budget. What materials can be used to build truly warm walls?

Single layer walls

In the case of single-layer walls, thermal insulation plays a key role. First of all, in order for single-layer walls to be warm, they must be built from materials with a low thermal conductivity coefficient, such as cellular concrete or expanded clay concrete. A characteristic feature of this type of building materials is their porosity. Silicate blocks are completely unsuitable for the construction of single-layer walls due to their compact structure and high thermal permeability.

But keep in mind that even the best building material will not "work" properly if the walls are built incorrectly. Building single-layer walls requires a lot of experience. An inexperienced builder can allow "cold bridges" to appear, which lead to the greatest heat loss. Avoid amateurs!

Double layer walls

When constructing a two-layer wall, the choice of building materials is much wider. Two-layer walls can be built from traditional brick, cellular concrete, expanded clay concrete, sand-lime brick.

An important part of the construction of a two-layer wall is the insulation, which is most often made of polystyrene foam or mineral wool. In this case, the facade is finished using wet or dry technology. Wet finishing is finishing with plaster, and the dry method involves finishing the walls with siding or other similar materials, which is attached to a wooden frame.

Three-layer walls

Three-layer walls have an additional protective layer that keeps the thermal insulation from various negative factors. With this design, the load-bearing wall can be built from any mineral materials used for masonry. Usually this is silicate, brick, combining high strength with good thermal insulation characteristics. In fact, a three-layer wall is two walls with a layer of insulation between them. As a rule, the external partition is erected from clinker brick, but it can also be built from cellular concrete with decorative finishing. To avoid mistakes when building three-layer walls, it should be remembered that between the thermal insulation and the outer wall it is necessary to maintain ventilation gaps of 2 to 4 cm wide, which ensures the evaporation of moisture from the insulation.