Changes to the National Construction Code in 2019 are set to reinvigorate the industry’s focus on the design and construction of building envelopes to optimise thermal performance. One of the major changes is the increased requirement for thermal performance, which has mostly been achieved through rebalancing the contribution of the building envelope to energy efficiency. In particular, the updated Section J treats glazing and wall components as co-contributors to the building envelope and therefore their performance will be calculated together.

Energy-Efficient Building Envelopes: NCC 2019’s Revised Section J and its Impact on Facade System Design takes a closer look at the new energy efficiency requirements in Section J and explores how they can be met using efficient building envelopes. First, we consider why the recent changes to the NCC focus on energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, leading to a rebalancing in thermal performance requirements for wall components and glazing with target specifications for the total facade. We then discuss how the NCC 2019 changes operate in practice, focusing on topics such as insulation, assessing wall-glazing construction, solar admittance calculation and thermal bridging.

Bondor_Metecno is Australia’s leading manufacturer of insulated sandwich panels. Founded in the 1950s, the group is constantly working on solutions for industrial, commercial and residential building customers across Australia and offers the most comprehensive range of insulated panel products and systems available. The company’s products have been approved and tested to Australian standards, while adhering to the strictest international regulations.

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