STRUCTURAL INSULATING ELEMENT FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS
The present invention refers to a structural insulating element for building constructions.
It is widely known that traditional methods for designing and making the majority of buildings are lacking from the energy-environmental point of view. This inefficiency, among other things, has a significant weight on various national balances; buildings in fact are responsible for the majority of energy consumptions and, in spite of standards which introduced in the building field, specific prescription tools for limiting energy dispersions, in the last ten years consumptions linked to buildings are those that have most increases, accounting for example in Italy for more than 30% f total energy consumptions.
Deep thermo-graphic studies have also been performed and allowed to point out the Energy dispersions of buildings which allowed to locate the critical points and to the problems of thermal
insulation: from such studies, it resulted that the structural elements of buildings, pillars and floors absorb heat from inside and transmit it outside, thereby making the so-called "thermal bridge" and generating loss of head from building envelopes .
In fact, the building element which has most problems is the envelope: the building envelope is the most relevant exchange surface of the building, delimits its thermo-dynamical system and the energy flows pass through the envelope, and are exchanged with, the external environment. One of the major problems of the envelope is therefore given by such "thermal bridges". In particular, the "thermal bridges" are originated by material and morphology discontinuities, or by insulation non-continuities present in building structures and generate their thermal dispersions.
Systems are known in the art for making insulating caissons, but these elements do not provide structural performances and cannot therefore be used for making projecting elements like balconies or gutters.
The art further proposes systems specifically made to allow making projecting elements which do
not disrupt the insulation in the building node composed of floor - curb - terrace, insulating it from external thermal actions. Such products are different both regarding the design of elements and due to the position or irons and substantially for used materials. Their characteristics can be summarised in making a partial thermal cut between the element part oriented outwards and the internal part; all above systems are characterised by the use of an insulating material (usually polystyrene) and of a metallic reticule which assumes all carrier functions. The most widely used components are as follows:
the system commercially known as "MENSOLINO" used as accessory in buildings made with traditional building systems, in addition to buildings made with the system commercially known as "Climablock" ;
fittings for slabs commercially known as "SCHOCK ISOKORB", used as insulating junction elements with structural function for connecting external slabs made of reinforced concrete to building floors;
the system commercially known as "HALFEN HIT" which allows avoiding the formation of mildews
next to the balcony - slab connection;
- the system commercially known as "FRANK TEAM" which, comprising various fittings, allows fastening, in a statically correct way, the projecting elements of a building, reducing thermal bridges which occur in the balcony - slab connection.
A further way of solving the problem of thermal bridges in the envelope is the method of arranging the insulating material as "coat" also on projecting elements. Such procedure consists in placing the insulating material continuously on external walls and balconies, in order to completely insulate the whole building from outside. This solution is efficient, but far from usual building practices and needs to modify, in addition to traditionally used procedures, also the global image of a building.
The prior art in the building sector of components for envelope systems however has no component which can join in a single element both the insulating function and the structural function .
Therefore, object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems, by providing
a structural insulating element for building constructions which allows guaranteeing an insulation continuity, consequently avoiding the formation of "thermal bridges" which are generated on elevated building elements such as, for example, beams, balconies or gutters directly oriented outwards and traditionally lacking insulation, thereby improving performances and energy efficiency of the structural packet.
Another object of the present invention is providing a structural insulating element for building constructions able to join the characteristics of a disposable caisson with those of a load-bearing structural element.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is providing a structural insulating element for building constructions able to offer an insulation of the envelope keeping coherence with the most widespread building typologies.
Another object of the present invention is providing a structural insulating element for building constructions which can be used also in building restructuring works, guaranteeing the chance of placing it also in small yards.
The above and other objects ad advantages of
the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained with a structural insulating element for building constructions as claimed in Claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non trivial variations of the present invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
It is intended that all enclosed claims are an integral part of the present description.
It will be immediately obvious that numerous variations and modifications (for example related to shape, sizes, arrangements and parts with equivalent functionality) can be made to what is described, without departing from the scope of the invention, as appears from the enclosed claims.
The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:
Figures 1 to 4 show side sectional views of some possible applications of preferred embodiments of the structural insulating element according to the present invention, in particular for making new buildings; and
Figures 5 and 6 show side sectional views of other possible applications of further preferred
embodiments of the structural insulating element according to the present invention, in particular for the restructuring already existing buildings.
With reference to the Figures, it is possible to note that the structural insulating element 1 for building constructions according to the present invention, in particular aimed to be used in situations in which a thermal bridge appears, generated by concrete elements placed on the facade of a building, is composed of at least one structurally load-bearing supporting body 3 made of at least one insulating material, for example selected among polymeric composite materials, adapted to thermally insulate at least one building structure or overhang 5 from the external environment, such structural insulating element 1 further comprising fastening means of such supporting body 3 to such building structure or overhang 5, which place at least such supporting body 3 preferably in direct contact with the building structure or the overhang 5 itself.
In particular, the feature of load-bearing structure of the supporting body 3 is made by using at least one high-resistance fibreglass-based composite material inserted into a F.R.P. (Fibre
Reinforced Plastic) epoxy matrix.
As is possible to note from the Figures, the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention allows solving both problems pertaining to thermal dispersions, and structural problems. Obviously, the shape and size configurations of the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention can be various, substantially depending from shapes, sizes and/or types of building solutions of such building structures or overhangs 5.
Advantageously, the proposed element can have fields of applications located both in restructuring existing buildings and in making new buildings.
In particular, Figures 1 to 4 show some possible applications of preferred embodiments of the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention for making new buildings: in particular, from such Figures it is possible to clearly note that the element 1 can be placed, whe building, in the external part of the caisson used for making the building structure or the overhang 5, such as for example the external curb of a fagade or of any other projecting structure with
respect to the fagade itself. Preferably, for applications on new buildings, the fastening means of the supporting body 3 comprise at least one fastening portion 7 seamlessly connected to the supporting body 3 itself, such fastening portion comprising at least one surface equipped with at least one grasping profile 9 adhering to such building structure or overhang 5, and in particular to the concrete making such building structure or overhang 5.
In particular:
Figure 1 shows the use of the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention for insulating and placing the caisson between external wall and cover
(building solution pointed out in box A) and between external wall and floor (building solution pointed out in box B) : in this latter case, it must be noted how the supporting body 3 comprises at least one structural supporting portion 11 of the external coating building panels 13, such portion 13 being adapted to support at least the vertical loads exerted by such panels 13 on such supporting body 3; advantageously therefore, the structural
insulating element 1 according to the present invention can replace, due to its structural characteristics, the traditional external curb made of concrete and avoid the formation of a thermal bridge along the whole facade, creating continuity with the layer of insulating material 14 placed between wall facings;
Figures 2, 3 and 4 show the use of the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention for insulating and placing the caisson between external wall and intermediate floor/frame 19 (building solution pointed out in box C) : also in this case, it must be noted that the supporting body 3 comprises at least one structural supporting portion 11 of the external coating building panels 13 and the creation of continuity with the layer of insulating material 14 placed between wall facings for removing the thermal bridges ;
Figure 2 also shows the use of the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention for insulation, placing the caisson and the structural support of a projecting
structure 21, such as a balcony or a balcony (building solution pointed out in box D) : in this latter case, it must be noted how the supporting body 3 comprises at least one structural projecting portion 15 for supporting the building elements 17 of the above projecting structure 21. Also in this case, the creation of continuity with the layer of insulating material 14 can be noted, for removing the thermal bridges;
Figure 4 also show the use of the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention for insulation and placing a caisson of a foundation building structure 5 (building structure pointed out in box E) : also in this case it must be noted that the supporting body 3 comprises at least the structural supporting portion 11 of the overhanging building elements 25 and the creation of continuity with the layer of insulating material 14 for removing the thermal bridges.
As stated, the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention can also find application in restructuring already made buildings .
In particular, therefore, Figures 5 and 6 show some possible applications of preferred embodiments of the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention for restructuring buildings. Preferably, for restructuring applications, the fastening means of the supporting body 3 comprise at least one fastening pin 27 passing through such supporting body 3 and grasping the building structure or the overhang 5, such fastening pin 27 being a nail, a screw, a small block, etc.
In particular:
Figure 5 shows the use of the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention in a restructuring application for insulating between external wall and cover
(building solution pointed out in box F) and between external wall and floor (building solution pointed out in box G) : also in this latter case, the creation of continuity with the layer of insulating material 14 can be noted, for removing the thermal bridges and how the supporting body 3 comprises the structural supporting portion 11 of external coating building panels 13, such portion 13 being adapted to support at least the vertical
load exerted by such panels 13 on such supporting body 3;
Figure 6 shows the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention in a restructuring application for insulation of external wall and intermediate floor/frame 19 (building solution pointed out in box H) : also in this case, the creation of continuity with the layer of insulating material 14 can be noted for removing the thermal bridges and the supporting body 3 comprising the structural supporting portion 11 of the external coating building panels 13.
In general, therefore, the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention as described above advantageously allows simultaneously performing the following functions: insulating the building structure or the overhang 5 from outside;
- making an insulating caisson system;
being structurally load-bearing.
Moreover, the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention allows improving the sequence of operations necessary for making the casting of beams or curbs: in particular, the
advantage consists in not having to remove the caisson after the casting and of being able to use the disposable caisson composed of the element 1 according to the present invention as structural element which is load-bearing and insulating at the same time.
As stated, the structural insulating element 1 according to the present invention further allows having a total insulation continuity avoiding the formation of thermal bridges between outside and the building structure or the overhang and consequently improving performances and energy efficiency of the structural package. Such advantageous features has moreover experimentally verified by the Applicant through a stratigraphic analysis made with a Diatherm PRO software, with which it has been possible to check that the structure complies with the thermal standards and therefore is a final design solution for current thermal-energy problems.