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DESIGN NOTE
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I March 19 9 0
" Published by the Brick Development Association
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I CAVITY WALLS WITH ,..

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AN O~UTER LEAF .> I ,

OF FACING BRICKWORK { _'( I

J R.W. Ford BSc, FICeram and W.A Durose , Dip Arch ; .J \:

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INTRODUCTION

This Note deals with the implications constructions meeting th e improved

for cavity walls with an outer leaf of
facing brickwork when complying with
the improved the rmal insulation
standards for external walls required by
the Approved Document L1 1990 Edition
of the Building Re gulat ions. (Table 1) I" .
Design ers are dir ected to th e BDA
pub licat ion s "Cavity Insul at ed Wa lls -
Specifiers Guide" 1' 1 and "Good Practi ce
Not es" 131 which give detailed gulda nce
on the s pecifica tion . design and
construction of cavity walls incorporating
insulation material in the cavity. The
information contained in those
publications remains valid for
levels of the rmal insulation . Reference
should always be made to the tech nical
informa tio n supplied by th e
manufa ctu rers of the part icu lar
insulating mat erial being used .
This Not e is restr icted to the ways in
which the impro ved sta nda rd ca n be
met by the use of cavit y insulation .
Co nside ra tion is given to th e significa nt
contri buti on tha t ca n be made by the
inner leaf.
Surface ins ula nts fixed to the outer
or inne r surfaces of the cavity wall a re
outside the sco pe of this Note.

Table I. The Improved Thermal Insulation Standards: 1990

. - ~
Maximum 'U' value (W/m 'KI -
--' ~
Building Type Wall Roof ' Ground ~I o o r
>.\. \ 'J
Former Improved Former Improved Former Improved
- v T
Dwellings 0.60 0 ,45 \ . 0.3S 0 .2S None ' 0 ,45
Industria l BUildin gs 0.70 0.45 0.70 0.45 None 0 ,45
Other Buildings
(e.g. Offices) 0.60 0.45 0.60 0.45 None 0.45

CAVITY INSULATION SYSTEMS

Many specifers feel that it is an in the joints . An adva ntage of retr o-fit
ad van ta ge to retain an air space methods is that th e cavity ca n be
bet ween the oute r lea f of the cavity vis ua lly chec ked before the ins ulation
wall a nd a ny ins ula tion placed in the is inst alled.
cav ity becau se thi s feat ure mainta ins
Table 2 sh ows the propertie s of
the "status quo" of the traditional
various types of cavity insulation
cavity wall con ce pt. Insula tion, in slab
mate rials .
or boa rd form. faste ned securely to the
inner leaf masonry can achieve this Plaster [II' plasterboard
Insulatioo Batt
partial -fill form of construction in new- or blown or injetted
build situations. insulation
Full-fill cavity insulation can be built-
in as construction proceeds by
inco rpo rating bat ts of glass fibres or
mine ral fibres . Alternatively the cav ity
may be filled afte r construction (retro-
fit) by injec ting plast ic foam , or by
blowing in glass fibre , or mineral
fibre, or polyst yrene bead s or gra nules .
BUil ding-in insulation is a simple and
straig ht forwar d procedure but care is
required to avoid distortion of the batt s
and the deposi tion of debris and mortar
TYPICAL FULL-FILL INSULATION SYSTEM
 Table 2. Typ ical Propert ies of Cav ity Insulation Materials

( ~ «
/
.J ~ , 'J\. Theimal cond ucti vity
produ ct
/ ,
J British Sta ndard , ' IW/ m K) -

Partial Filled Cavity

y ~
RIGID 5i'LABS OR,BOARDS / _ , ./
Ex pa nded polyst yre ne bea d board 1 0 ,0 34 - 0.037 ':1
Ex tru ded expa nde d polyst yren e"i' { I ~)f
0.028 '?
I \
Mine ral fibre ~ , '0.033 - ) 0~037
I ,
(I _
r l' _ ~ :'
Y)
"' - 0:022
Polyu
- rethan
... .
e board s ,
'PolyisDcya nura te board s r { 1 0.022
r-

Foam ed glass slabs, j r ,0 .0 4 2 I (

.
Gla ss fibre's labs ,
-' l' <; I
, 0.033 - ' 0'.037

Fully Filled Cavi ty x "-

BATTS
Mineral fibre,_
~ ), Y-
6676
I? ,
Glass fibre y
~,
, ) 'k-4> (
... , I'
BLOWN I L- J /J.. ..r (
Mi ne ral wool orfi bre ) /) 6232 .30 - 70./ ),
Gla ss fibre ~. '\ \ \. I 18 _~ 22 ;
Polys ty rene bead s l '+ \ { { .)2 - 18
Polystyren e gra nL\les I -,~ -..J. AY' "L./ \ 1 ,l f •
/ ;!!,
"\ ~ 'f..' /
r OAM EO ~~ i 'Y ' *,;7- "'- ,-.,
UreaJo rmalde hyde' /' I 56!7~J J' 10 - y , 0 .0 40
Polyuret han e foam J ~" 11 J1 ~ ~ 0.037
,Polyu ret ha f\e foam( / r ,,-~ 3 6 C "'~ 0.02'>-'-
(cavi ty' stil bilisati'o n) /11 ~
)'"
V

DESIGN OPTIONS

The ca lculatio n of a ' U' value to r an may have an inn er lea f of 100mm
exte rnal wall of 103mm brick, 50m m den se block throug h to 200 mm of ultr a
glas s fibre lnsulatlon-filled cavity a nd lightweigh t block, with eit her wet
103mm brick produces a calc ulated pla stered or dry lined pla ster board
figure of 0.6 WI m' K. This does not finis he s. The infor ma tio n give n in
meet t he new requirement. To imp rove Table 3 a pplies to a par tia lly filled
the value to the requi red 0.45 WI m' K cavit y wall. Table 4 refers to a wall in
with dou ble leaf cons tructio n seve ral whic h the cavit y is completely filled
opt ions are availab le. by insu lation .
(1) Thicker Ins ulation Four different Therma l Conductivity
(2) Ins ulat ion of Less Therm a l value s of cavity insu lating material are
listed . This ran ge which covers th e
Cond uct tvlty
ma jority of t he ins ulati ng mater ials
(3) Thicker Inner Lea f used in practice Isee Table 21.
(4) Inner Leaf of Less The rmal The th icknesses of cavity insu lat ion
Conductt vtty have been ca lculated to give a 'U' value
of exac tly 0.4 5 WI m' K, In pra ctice, th e
(51 Plaste rboard Dry Li ning t hickne ss of the insu lation will be
(61 CDmbinati ons of any or all of dete rmined by comme rcial ava ilability
a bove option s of the slabs or batt s, Dr in the ca se of
injected insu lation (re tro -Ht) . by the
width of th e cavit y. The use of greate r
Tables 3 a nd 4 show th e variou s
thi cknesses t han given will provide
cavity wall const ruct ions that achieve a
lower ' U' va lues th an 0.45 WI m' K.
' U' value of 0.45 WI m' K, Cavity walls
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .- -

OUTER LEAF OF FACING BRICKWORK

For the pu rposes of calculation in
producing the tables of constructions
(Ta ble 3 and 4) the densi ty of the
brickwork in the oute r leaf has been
taken as 1800Kg/m 3 together with a
moisture con tent of 5% by volume
giving a corres po nding Thermal
Conductivity of 0.96 W/ mK.
In practice, brickwork densities com -
monly vary from 1600 to 2000 Kg/m 3 ,
(corres po ndi ng to Ther mal Conduc tivities
varying from 0.73 to 1.24 W/ mKI.The
outer lea f of brickwork only co nt ri bu tes
about 5% to t he ov erall ther mal resist·
ance and any varia tion i n the density
of the brickwork has a very small
effect on th e t hermal perf ormance of
the cavity wall.

INNER LEAF OF FACING BRICKWORK

In some situations the inner leaf of a Facing Brickwork - outer leal
cavity wall may be requi red as facing Residual airspace
brickwork with no in ternal plastering or Insulation board Of slab fixed to
lining. Tables 3 and 4 i ncl ude such walls inner leaf
ba sed on br ickw or k of 1800 Kg/m 3
den sity with a moi sture co nte nt of 1%
by vol ume givi ng a co rrespo nd ing
Thermal Conductivity of 0.71 W/ mK.

Plaster or
Plasterboard

Residual air space

TYPICAL PARTIAL·FILL Structural cavity

INSULATION SYSTIM

Table 3, Thickness of Insulation (mm) within a Partially Filled Cavity required ta achieve U .V,

Inner Leaf > Ultra li gh t w ei ght block Li gh t w ei ght block

/
475 kg /m 3 0.1 1 W/mK 600 kg /m 3 0.19 W/mK
.

Internal surface finish Wet plaster Plasterboard drylin ing -' Wet plaste r Plasterboarddrylinlng

Thermal
-
conductiv it y of cavit y ,
.022 .035 .040 .045 .022 .035 .040 .045 .022 .035 .040 .045 .022 .035 .040 .045,

-insula tio n

Inner leaf block 100 17 27 ·31 34 13

,
21 24
r

27 25
-
40 46 52 22 35 40 44
t hicknes s {mm} 125 12 19 22 24 8 13 15 17 22 36
- 41 46 19 30 34 38
150 11 12 14 7 ) 31
5 6 35 40 25 29 32
200 ~
0 0 - 0 0 0 0'
~.
22 25
~~ -<r 16 18
k
21

> Thermal conduct ivit y valu es for blo ckw ork and brickw ork are taken fr

It is the cav ity in sulation which
no rmally makes t he ma jor contrib uti on
to th e overa ll the rmal res ist a nce of th e
wall : the inner leaf con trib utes to
varying degrees d ep endin g upon its
density and thickness .
Lower density b locks ha ve bette r
insulati ng pro perties than those of
highe r density. In recent years very low
density conc rete blocks have be e n
made available in res ponse to
re qu irem e n ts for improved therm a l
resista nce in maso nry walls . However.
low density is associated wit h low
com pressive streng th an d t he st ructural
req uire me nt of a wall ca n dict a te a
certai n mini mu m co mp ressive st re ngt h
wh ich preclud es th e use of blo cks of
very high the rm a l resistan ce.
INNER LEAF MATERIALS
Fou r d ifferent dens it ies of blocks for
the int ernal lea f of th e wall are
co nside red in th e Tables of Cons t ructions
(Tables 3 a nd 4) . These de nsi ties are
ty pica l for t he co nc rete blocks
commonly availa ble for cavity wall
contructio n.
some hollow blocks contain
insulating ma te ria l wit hin their voids or
ins ulating materi al may be bonded to
the face of the block. These composites
have not b ee n includ e d in Tables 3 a nd
4 due to the wide ra nge available.
Designers ma y subst it ute such
composites as a pp ro p riate .

INTERNAL FINISHES
The two most co mmon inte rna l
fini sh es a re we t p la st er a nd pl ast e r
board dr y linin g. The latter co nt ribu tes
mor e to th e overa ll th erm a l res istan ce
of t he wa ll. Composi te b oard s ha vin g
in sul ant s pr eb ond ed to pla st e rb oa rd a re
ava ila ble as dry lining to the in ner leaf
of masonry. Owing to th ei r wide va rie ty
these are not inclu ded in t he examples
in the ta bles .

ue of 0 .45 W /m 1K (Facing Brickwork O ut e r Leaf)

-e-
Medium dens ity b lock Dense b lock . Brickwork
_ 1400 kg/m l 0 .51 W/m K 2300 kg7m ' 1.63 W/m K 1800 kg/m l ~

/"

Brickwork ~
• Wet plaster Pla sterb oard rylin ing / We t pla st e r
-
Plas terboa rd drylin in g r
./ I

J
~
1 ......
r ~

J2 2 .03 5 .040 .045. .022

, .03 5 .040' .045" .022 .03 5 .040 .045 .022 m51:.0~0 .0 45 .022 .03 5 .040 .045
,.\
I
32 52 "59 66 - 29 46 52 59 56 ~ 65
r
73 32
.50 58 ~65 . 35 56 64 · 73
~

31 50 57 64~ 28 45 51 57 56 ~ 64 72 32 50 58 65
-48 1 ~
/'
55 62 43 ':- 49 55 55 , 63 71 ( 30 57 64

"
4'5 51 58
I
39 ' 45l
)
50 54 62 70 ' - J 49 56 6.3:'

n (' I.B.5.E. Gu ide A3 The rma l Prope rties of Build ing 5tru ctures 1980 .
 APPLICATION OF TABLES
s ome examp le s of how these ta bles
can be us ed for determining a lte rn a tive
s o lu tio ns a re g ive n b elow.
Case 1 - Determine Blown Insula tion
for an Existing Cavity Wall
Inner Leaf :
wet pla stered , lightwei gh t bl o ck
(100mm).
Cav ity : 50mm
Outer Lea f:
103mm cla y or ca lc iu m s ilica te fa cin g
bri ck (1800 Kg/ m ' ).
What typ e s of injec te d in sul at io n can
be u sed t o o bta in a ' U' valu e of a t
least 0.4 5 W/ m' K?
Ref errin g to Tabl e 4, it s hows u nde r
th e lightweight blo ck / wet p la stered
co lu mn, that a Thermal Conductivi ty fo r
the ins ula ti o n b etween 0 .0 35 and 0.0 40
W/ m K is required . Table 2 shows th at
th e major ity of retr o-fit a pp lied mater ials
a re lik el y to m eet , o r exceed , t his
requirmenl.
Case 2 - Determine Thickness of
Partial Fill in a Proposed Wall Design
Inne r le af:
Wet pla stered ultra lightweight block
(tsornm) .
Cavity: 5 0mm .
Oute r Leaf:
103mm cla y o r calci um s ilica te fa cin g
bri ck (1800 Kg/m 'l .
What thi ckn es s of e xp a nded p olystyre ne
b ead board fixed in th e ca vity is
required to e ns u re that a maxim um 'U'
va lue of 0.45 is not e xc eed ed?
Referen ce to Tab le 2 gives a typical
t hermal co nd uc tiv ity for e ps board of
0.03 5 W/mK . Loo king under t he
a p pro pria te co lu m n in Ta ble 3 s ho ws
th at a minimim thi ck ne s s of 11 mm is
requ ired . Commercia lly a va ilable 25mm
t hic k bo ard would th erefore be more
tha n a de q ua te. Thi s would mean that
the residual a ir s pa ce in the ca vity
wou ld be re stricted to 25mm if a
sta ndard 50mm s t ruct u ra l ca vit y wa s
s peci fie d . The re sidua l air s pa ce would
p rese nt di ffic ult ies of co ns t ruc tio n a nd
pre s ent a ris k of water penetration .
An inc rease of s truc t u ral wid t h to
75 m m s ho uld therefore be co ns ide re d
so that a re si du a l a ir s pa ce of 50mm
is provid ed .

Table 4. Th ickness of Insulation (mm) within a Completely Filled Cavity required to achieve U

Inner leaf ' Ultra li gh tw e ig h t bl'ock ¥' Ligh tweig ht block

475 kg /m 'j
, - '-
0.11 W /mK t it I 600- ~g /m ' ~ - )j ~ . 1 9 W /mK

Int ern a l su rface fin ish Wet pl a s te r Y' Pla sterboard drylining y We t plaster ; Pla ste rb oa rd d ryl ini n<
'\ . J Y J_. ) '0

Thermal
,. - , ( I ) J.
conductivity of ca vit y .0 2 2 .0 35 .0 40 .04 5 .0 22 .03 5 .040 .04 5 .0 22 .035 .0 40 .0 45 .0 22 .03 5 ..040 .0 4 .
_ ins u la tio n )./ !
. ( _ r ) (

In ner leaf blo ck foo 21 33, 38 27 31 35 29 46 ' 53 59 25 41 46 J 52

thickne ss (mm) 125 16 25 29 22 26 29 26 42 .; - 48 54 J • 22 36 41 46

.
150 17 20 12 13 15 ) 31 42 48 .3 2 36 41
200
\~ 1 1 o o o 28 32 36
.(
r 22 26
,
29
-.

'T he rmal co nd uct ivi t y va lues fo r blo ck work a nd brickwork a re take

 Case 3 - Determ ine Inner Leaf
Th ickness Req u ired in Conjuction With
Fu ll Fill In su la t ion
Inner le a f:
Wet p lastere d ligh tw eight block.
Cavi ty :
50mm filled with e ps be a d s (th erm al
co nd uc tivi ty 0 .040 W/ m KI
Oute r leaf:
103mm clay or ca lciu m s ilica te fac ing
bri ck (1800 Kg/ ml l.
Wha t t hickn es s of inn er lea f b lock is
requ ired t o ens ure t ha t a 'U' val ue of
0.4 5 is not excee de d?
Ref errin g to Ta ble 4, it s hows t hat a
125mm bloc k is required . Alternatively
a 100mm blo ck would me e t the require-
men ts if a p las te rboa rd d rylinin g finis h
was u se d ins tead of we t p la sterin g.
The table s give gen er al gu ida nce to a
de si gn er whe n variou s co mb ina tio ns of
co mp one n ts a re be ing cons ide re d .
Wher e the ta bles ind ica te t ha t co m p li·
a nce is crit ica l an y fina l decis ion
s h ould b e chec ke d by ca lcula tio n usi ng
the a p p ro p ria te Thermal Condu cti vitie s
for th e propri et ar y material and th e
meth od de scribed in th e C.I.B.S.E.
Guide A3
Co nt rol ling Authoriti e s ma y a lso
require calculation to p rove co nfo rmity
wit h requ irem ents .
ApplIcation of 'Super' Insulation
MaterIals
Som e ma terial s s ui ta ble for cav ity
in sul ation ha ve a therm a l co nd uc t ivity
valu e which is appre ciabl y lower th an
the mor e conventi on al ma terial s .
Exp anded polyureth an e ha s a th e rm al
condu ct ivity va lue of 0.020 -
0 .022 W/ m K a nd similar valu e s are
qu ot ed for p olyisocyan urate board .
These materia ls a re more e xp e ns ive
than conventi o nal th ermal in sul ants b ut
in ce rtai n si t ua tions ma y pr ov id e a
co nve n ie nt so lu t ion to th e problem of
meetin g more s t ringe n t ' U' value
requirements. Ta bl es 3 a nd 4 inclu de
these ma teri al s .

lue of 0.45 W /m 'K (Facing Brickwork Outer Leaf)

' - ,A... . r- I . I
~'-"~ 1
r Medium density block " ~.
'"
Dense block -I.,' l;>'- -
1400 kg/m' v 0 .51. W/ ~ 23~ 0 kg/m ' / l' 1.63 W/ m K, ~
r> ,>, ~ t

(.. Wet pla st e \ () Wet pla ster 'J '" Jr. J A Brickwor
P la s'terboa rd'd ry lining 7'} _ '
k }"'::
~.44. ......." '--' _/

»<>: t \ ~
,Q22
l
,03S \ .040- .045
'"
122,.. .035 .040) .~ 4 5 .03 5 .040' .945'
I('
/ - ~ '

63 '( ,72,' 81 ~3 7
--"
16 66 60 67 ' 39
15 64 , 58~ .72 ,.39" .,62 {1' ~ ,J1 .0
62 ~ 49 -:: 56 63 r
62 I- 7 0 79 64 72 -, /

58 46 .\ 52(. S9 \~D 61 69 78/ 63

~
7 1(
r
.( II I

.m C.I.B.S.E. Guide A3 The rma l Propert ies of Buildi ng Structures 1980.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Durab ility of Outer Leaf Mate rial s
Althoug h the use of cavity insulation
will influe nce the te mp er a t u re of the
outer le a f, in p ra ct ice t here is no
evidence to show that insulation values
of 0 ·6 W/ m' K induce frost damage in
walls which are prop e rly s pecified,
designed a nd constructed . it is unlikely
that improved insulation values wou ld
change this situat ion .
Ra in Pe n etrati on
When improving the insulation val ue of
walls to 0·45 W/ m' K no d ep ar tu re
from esta blished techniques of ca vity
ins u la tio n need be made and therefore
the likelihood of water pen et ra ti on will
not be inc re ased . When usi ng partial ·fill
systems t he residual air s paces s hou ld
not be less than SOmm. However. the
Britis h Boa rd of Agre me nt does pe rmi t
the use of ce rtain pa rt ial ·fill systems
with resi d ua l ai r s paces of less than
SOmm in wa lls s he lte red fro m exposure
to win d dr iven ra in . When u sin g such
materials careful compliance with th e
manufacturers instructions re gardin g
a pplicatio n and insta llation is es se ntial.
Wall Ties In Wider Cavities
Some of t he op tio ns for ac hievi ng th e
im proved ' U' val ue requi re cavities
wide r than th e sta nd a rd SOmm.
Table 3 shows th at the maximum
ca vity width to meet the 0.45 W/ m' K
requirem e nt ca n be grea ter t han 100m m
when an a de quate allowance is made
for the residual air s pace .
The double t ria ngle tie to
B.S.1243 :1978'· ' is a p p rop ria te for use
in cavities not exceeding 100m m wide .
In all wider situatio ns t he ve rtical twis t
steel tie to the sa me B.S. must b e
used . The ties are offered in sta nda rd
sizes and in all cases t he correct
lengt h is th e cav ity width plu s a
minimum e m be d ment of SO mm in to
each leaf of the ma s onr y. in part ia lly
filled cavi ti es the pos it ion of the wa ll
tie d rip mu st be relat ed to th e res idu al
air s pace .
Cold Bridging
As therma l insulation sta nda rds for
walls improve , more ca re must be taken
whe n designi ng t he const ruction to
avoid co ld bridging across t he cav ity at
position s such a s the ja mb s. c ills and
head s of openings .

REFERENCES

1. Building Regulations 1985 . 3. Good Practice Notes . B.D.A.

Conservation of Fuel and Power. Reference CIW·1, September 198 4
Approved Document L1.1 990 Editi on .
4. BS 1243 :1978 . Specification for Metal
2. Cavitv insulated Walls Spe cifiers Ties for Cavit y Wall Cons truc tio n.
Guide. B.D.A. Referen ce CIW·2, Ia nua ry
1987

From Cover:The Needham Resea rch Institute. Cambridge.

Architects: Lyster. Griller & Har ding
Facing Brickwork: 75 mm exp anded polystyrene board partial '"I insulation : JOO mm light·
weight concrete block inner leal - the construction has a calculated ti-votue of 0.32 Wl m 2 K

All e nq ui ri e s should be addresse d to the Tec h ni ca l Editor: M. Hammett DlpArch ARIBA

The contentsof this publicationareintended for general guidanceonlyand any person Intending to use these contentsfor thepurpose ofdesign. construetJon
or repair of brickworkor anyrelated projectshould first consult a Professional Advisor.
TheBrick Development Association. Its servants, and any personswho contributed to or whoin anyway connected with thispublication acceptno liability
arising from negligence orotherwise howsoever for any Injury or damageto any person or propertyas a result ofany useor reliance on any method product.
Instruction, Idea, or other contentsof this publicatJon.

Designed andProducedfor the BrickDevelopment Association, Woodside House. Winkfield, Windsor, BerkshireSt 4 20X. Telephone: Winkfield Row (0344) 885651
By fWD Frank Walter Design Umited Printedin England by StewkJey Press Umited