Thermally Broken Balconies
Introduction Private outdoor space is a key part of a livable home, and
Report Assumptions and Structure
has become a sought after amenity in a residential unit.
The approaches presented in this guide are relevant to
The provision of balconies is not only an effective strategy
balconies of varying material in buildings at varying scales;
for developers in attracting tenants and meeting amenity
however, the primary focus of this report is for concrete
space requirements but it also has the practical function
construction for medium to high rise buildings. Building
of providing access to the outdoors which has a direct
performance requirements are specific to the regulations
correlation to quality of life, livability and mental health.
governing construction in the City of Vancouver but the
Balconies have become private havens for people living in
principles addressed are universally applicable. Refer to the
urban environments, and their value has been exponentially
local Authorities Having Jurisdiction for specific building
demonstrated in the recent pandemic where balconies
regulations and requirements.
have become a safe place to access the outdoors as well as platforms for community resilience and social connection.
Both imperial (IP) and metric (SI) R-values are used in this guide for indicating the thermal performance of
In recent construction there have been many advances in
base building assemblies. Metric (SI) units are used when
building envelope performance but the balcony connection
outlining thermal bridge performance values and regulatory
detail, and associated thermal bridging is often overlooked.
performance targets.
The impact of thermal bridging on overall building performance has been the focus of numerous studies and
This report is broken into three parts:
reports but the design and construction industry has been
Part A: Understanding Balcony Thermal Bridging
reticent to address this connection detail for a number
provides an overview of thermal bridging, balcony design
of reasons. As new building performance standards and
considerations and common concerns regarding thermal
requirements are introduced, the impact of the balcony
bridging specific to the balcony connection detail.
connection detail must be considered to achieve the
Part B: Balcony Types describes and compares several
increasingly stringent performance targets.
balcony construction options along with their associated
Although relatively new to North America, thermally broken
benefits and drawbacks.
balconies are common place in other countries around the world. Northern European countries, which experience
Part C: Case Study presents a case study that compares the
similar climatic conditions as Vancouver, have had to adapt
thermal performance of several balcony design options.
their design and construction practices to accommodate similar advances in building performance requirements. Thermally broken balconies are now standard practice in these countries, which demonstrates the feasibility for this type of progress and innovation within the local industry. To facilitate the transition to holistically higher performing buildings, this report focuses on understanding the impact of thermal bridging related to the balcony connection detail, its impact on the overall building performance, and provides a number of alternative solutions that address thermal bridging and allow for a more comprehensive improvement of the building envelope.
1
