Catalog of thermal bridges in commercial and multi-family residential construction

The catalog comprises a collection of 21 thermal bridges commonly encountered in commercial buildings, as well as alternative construction techniques which reduce the deleterious effects of these bridges. The thermal bridges presented here are conduction-dominated. Construction details which transfer heat mostly through convection or radiation are not addressed. The benefits of the alternate designs are expressed for each thermal bridge as (1) reductions in U-values and (2) reductions in moisture condensation. These reductions, in turn, are extrapolated at the whole building level in order to predict changes in the energy used for space heating and cooling and to estimate changes in the magnitude of the surface areas affected by moisture condensation. Finally, technical notes address the probable effects (thermal and moisture) of minor variations in the construction details presented in this catalog. The technical notes also give a more detailed prediction of the potential for moisture condensation due to thermal bridging.