As urbanization becomes more prevalent, the built environment’s impact on climate change and local ecosystems will worsen. Since thermal bridging significantly reduces buildings’ energy efficiency, it’s one of the main drivers for these outcomes. What technologies and analytical techniques can prevent heat loss?

Why Standard Solutions Can’t Mitigate Thermal Bridging 

According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, framing members account for up to 30% of the total heat loss in a wood-framed wall assembly. Since 

commercial buildings have a high ratio of total wall area to header and stud volume, thermal bridging is usually a serious issue.

You’re likely aware that builders like using metal fasteners and studs on junctions and exterior framing despite their tendency to act as thermal bridges. Despite the current tariffs on steel, the metal fabrication industry will likely achieve the U.S. Gross Domestic Product rate of 2.7% to 3.4%, meaning it will likely remain their material of choice for years.

Although using aluminum or steel is sensible since metal structures are long-lasting and durable, they can contribute to thermal bridging. You can still use them in commercial construction — especially when pairing them with other sustainable materials to offset energy consumption — but building in particularly cold or warm climates may require a more direct solution.

Alternative materials are often prone to cost fluctuations. For instance, while lumber was priced as low as $340 per 1,000 board feet in 2023, it reached a high of $1,650 as recently as 2021. It surged again in 2022, exceeding $1,464 per 1,000 board feet. Realistically, more surges are likely, so advanced technical solutions are necessary instead.

Advanced Technologies for Thermal Bridge Mitigation

These advanced technologies can improve thermal assessment precision and guide your decision-making processes, helping you mitigate thermal bridging.

Artificial Neural Network

When combined with digital twin technology — a three-dimensional, one-to-one virtual representation of a real-world asset — an artificial neural network can simulate how interventions could mitigate thermal intervention for a room, floor or building. Research shows this subset of artificial intelligence can accurately simulate and predict operative temperature and energy consumption without time-consuming modeling. It performs tasks automatically, so you don’t have to enter data manually.

Building Information Modeling

A building information modeling (BIM) system uses interconnected sensors and relevant documentation to create a 3D digital version of a building’s functional and physical characteristics. You can use it during engineering, construction or operation.

Integrating building energy modeling (BEM) — a computer simulation that factors thermal conduction, convention and phase changes — into a BIM system enables you to create a virtual heat flux map. This technology is already widely used in design phases for its efficacy. 

There are countless use cases for BIM and BEM technologies. For example, you could use them to simulate an air conditioning system's performance under specific conditions. This approach wouldn’t require building a test unit, saving you time and money. 

Phase-Changing Materials

Phase-changing materials absorb and store thermal energy to be released as latent heat when they transition physical states, like from a solid to liquid. Suspending them in a paint-like substance lets you use them strategically as thermal breaks.

You can apply a coating of phase-changing materials post-construction to improve a building’s thermal behavior. Doing so provides energy savings up to 29,84 kilowatt hours per square meter per annum. It also results in an energy payback period of as low as 0.81 years.

Analytical Methods for Thermal Bridge Mitigation 

Leveraging these cutting-edge analytical techniques can help you identify, predict and address thermal bridging.

Computational Fluid Dynamics 

Computational fluid dynamics calculates gas and liquid flows using computer-based simulation and analysis. This analytical tool leverages governing equations to determine how unknown variables react when energy, momentum or mass change.

Finite Element Analysis 

Finite element analysis (FEA) uses a mathematical technique called the finite element method to predict an asset’s behavior. You can use it in the engineering phase to evaluate how a building reacts to heat, enabling you to optimize your design pre-construction.

While FEA can simulate several external forces, fluid and heat flow are the primary ones you should concern yourself with to mitigate thermal bridging. However, you could also track load-carrying capacity to optimize framing and reduce material usage, reducing heat loss.

The Bottom Line of Mitigating Heat Loss With Technology

You have the technology and resources to eliminate thermal bridging in new construction almost entirely. If you strategically deploy the latest, most precise tools, you can substantially improve buildings’ energy efficiency and help progress the built environment toward a more sustainable future.