Measuring the extent of thermal bridging in timber-framed external walls

Verney Ryan, Guy Penny, Jane Cuming.

This report shares the results of Stage One of a project to investigate the extent of thermal bridging in external timber-framed walls of new builds. The research investigated the percentage of framing in 47 new dwellings from Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton. The results show that the average percentage of timber framing compared to the area of the wall is above 34%, much higher than the 14 – 18% framing content generally assumed by both regulators and the industry.