Buildings thermal insulation system
THERMAL INSULATION REQUIREMENTS – Bahrain.
- Thermal insulation shall be provided for all external walls including exposed columns, beams, stair cases and light wells/shafts. External walls of the building abutting adjoining building(s) if any shall also be insulated.
- Thermal insulation shall be provided for the roof including swimming pool decks and stair cases/lift machine rooms.
- Floors & walls of A.C. spaces exposed to non-air-conditioned spaces like car park/service areas in the building should be insulated.
- Spandrel areas of curtain walls should be insulated.
Sources: Electricity and Water Authority – Bahrain.
BITCO Helps
BITCO experienced team is fully aware of all requirements by the authorities in Bahrain and can help developers and architectural offices to establish effective insulation systems for all types of building including residential, commercial and industrial.
Thermal insulation types
Based on BITCO experience in the insulation systems, BITCO decides to provide its customers with the most effective types of insulation materials and systems. BITCO offers its clients insulation systems using Expanded and Extruded Polystyrene, Rigid and Sprayed Polyurethane for residential and commercial buildings, whereas using Rock Wool for industrial applications.
Theses materials has the lowest Thermal conductivity (k) leading to the highest insulation effectiveness of up to 80%. Thermal conductivity (k) is the property of the material, which determines the heat flow by conduction through unit thickness of unit area of the material across a unit temperature gradient. Thermal conductivity is influenced by the density, the porosity, water contents, and specific heat of the material. The unit of measurement is (W/m.OC).
The blow comparison between different type of insulation is conducted Thermal Insulation Unit, Electricity & Water Conservation Directorate – Electricity & Water Authority – Kingdom of Bahrain. )
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The advantages of using thermal insulation in buildings are:
- Saving up to 40% of electricity consumption.
- Improve the comfort level inside the building
- Reducing the cooling capacity needed by air conditioners
- Protecting the building material and extending the building life.
- Insulating the outside noise.
- Reduction of capital cost for A/C equipment due to reduction of A/C load.
The weather in Bahrain is very hot & humid during summer from May to October & cold during winter. Therefore air- conditioning of buildings is essential for human comfort. 47 to 57% of electricity demand in Bahrain during summer is for air-conditioning load.
Therefore, a Ministerial Order (Order No 8/1999) was issued in 1999 by H.E. The Minister of Housing and Municipality making it compulsory to provide thermal insulation in all buildings, which require air-conditioning, in Bahrain.
Types of Thermal insulation materials and their thermal conductivity K shown below:
| No | Materials | Thermal conductivity k(W/m.ٌْْْْْْْC) | |
| 1 | Perlite Expanded | 0.058 | Granules |
| 2 | Vermiculite | 0.055 | |
| 3 | Foam Glass | 0.058 | Ready sheets |
| 4 | Expanded[space]Polystyrene(molded) | 0.036[space]BITCO Materials | |
| 5 | Expanded Polystyrene | 0.032 | |
| 6 | Polystyrene (Rigid) | 0.029 | |
| 7 | Rock Wool | 0.034 | |
| 8 | Fibre Glass | 0.035 | |
| 9 | Sprayed Polysturethane | 0.024 | chemical mixed & sprayed with pump |
F. Insulation Materials & Systems:
a. Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Blocks (Light weight white blocks:Thin-bed mortar (glue) as recommended by the manufacturer should only be used for the joints to minimize the thermal bridging effect of mortar joints. If ordinary sand cement mortar is used for joints the U-value calculation for wall should take into account the thermal bridging effect of mortar joints./Light weight: saves costs in foundation; building structure; labour etc.Easy to handle and time saving in construction.Easy to inspect. Higher price of blocks may be offset with above savings./Price higher than insertion blocks. Separate insulation required for exposed external columns & beams.
b.Concrete Blocks with insulation insertions (Insertion Blocks):Blocks with insulation insertions to the full depth of slots, in 3 rows, at the manufacturer’s factory should only be used. U-value calculation for wall should take into account the thermal bridging effect of mortar joints./Cheaper compared to AAC blocks/Requires close and continuous supervision to ensure that insulation sheets are inserted properly in the slots and joints, which are to be done manually & improper insertions will result in thermal resistance value higher than the declared value. Not recommended as most of the violations noticed are due to improper insertions. Separate insulation required for exposed external columns & beams.
c. Cavity wall (double wall) filled with insulation:If the external wall is of double wall construction, thermal insulation can be provided in the cavity with insulating material such as rock wool, polystyrene etc. of appropriate thickness. The cavity should be water proof./Provides much better insulation property. About 28% less Thermal Transmittance value could be achieved./Though it may cost more, but on a life cycle cost would be comparable.
d. External Thermal Insulation Composite System:This system consists in fixing light thermal insulation boards, (usually expanded polystyrene boards using a special mortar on the external surface of walls), covering their surfaces with a mortar reinforced glass fiber mesh and then entire surface with a thin layer weather resistant plaster./d. External Thermal Insulation Composite System:This system consists in fixing light thermal insulation boards, (usually expanded polystyrene boards using a special mortar on the external surface of walls), covering their surfaces with a mortar reinforced glass fiber mesh and then entire surface with a thin layer weather resistant plaster./
e.Walls with internal insulation:This system consists in fixing light thermal insulation boards (usually expanded or extruded polystyrene boards) on the internal surface of the wall and covering with plaster board./Provides joint less thermal protection for the entire external wall including external columns-beams resulting in no thermal-bridges./Size of the rooms on the periphery of the building will be reduced to the extent of thickness of insulation board plaster board.
a. Polyurethane Foam/Sprayed or foamed-in-place applications of polyurethane insulation are usually cheaper than installing foam boards. These applications also usually perform better since the liquid foam molds itself to all of the surfaces./Potential health effects that may result from exposures to the chemicals if proper precautions are not taken during the application.
b. Extruded Polystyrene: 1.Inverted Roof System with gravel protection. 2.Inverted Roof System with concrete pavers. 3.Inverted Roof System with concrete screed top./The Inverted Roof system protects the waterproofing membrane from extreme thermal stresses, high ultraviolet exposure & mechanical stresses/Inverted Roof System with concrete screed requires provision of vent pipes over the separation layer on insulation boards.
a. Soffit insulation with Polystyrene (extruded or expanded) covered with gypsum board//Fire classification is B2 (difficult to ignite), but flame spreads & smoke develops.
b. Soffit insulation with Rock wool covered with gypsum board/Non-combustible & excellent fire proofing material./