Apparently there is a fairly wide air space behind the cladding they have put on the tower blocks. How then can it function as thermal insulation? There are no fire breaks, it is said, so convection would presumably ensure a constant flow upwards of air which would cool the building walls even more effectively than if they were unadorned. Could it be that the cladding is primarily aesthetic, with greeny concerns just an excuse/means of getting an EEC grant?
Bill
No. The cladding is both rain screen and decorative - and the former came first. There is then a gap before the thermal insulation which is fixed to the structure. As shown in umpteen diagrammes since Grenfell. Eg
AIUI it is essentially the same approach as adding internal insulation to a solid wall: if water may penetrate, leave a gap so it can get out again.
If the insulation (i.e. not the over cladding) is tight fitting against the wall and sealed against draughts and moisture, then the outer cladding is just a decorative weather protection for the insulation.
The cladding does not. The insulation is fixed to the walls. The cladding hides it.
There are no fire breaks, it is said,
Ther should be, but the cladding would have bridged them
so convection would
No, the insulation is there to get the building up to spec and the cladding is a cheap way to make it not look like a building site after its finished
indoors|concrete|insulation|air gap|cladding|outdoors
Where air gap becomes chimney?
That doesn't answer my question.
Bill
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