MC024-5.1 Terminology, methodology, thermal bridges, and an overview of calculation software
Surfaces, Lines, and Points — A Complete Framework for Measuring Every Way a Building Loses Heat
About This CPD
Join us for a foundational technical CPD on heat-loss analysis. This session opens with a puzzle that catches people out: you calculate a wall — the plain build-up, layer by layer — and the number looks great. Every wall in the building passes. Then the whole building is assessed against the energy code, and it does not comply.
Presented by Eugene Korch (IAST), this course shows where the missing heat loss actually goes, and gives you the complete framework — terminology, method, and tools — for finding all of it.
This course covers:
What heat-loss analysis delivers — why a wall that passes on its own can still leave a building non-compliant, and the three forms heat loss actually takes: surfaces, lines, and points
Terminology: the language of heat loss — the U-value, the linear thermal transmittance (ψ), and the point thermal transmittance (χ), and the full chain of values from a material’s conductivity to a whole building
Methodology: how the total is built — starting with the areas, finding a bridge by the with-and-without method, and assembling every loss exactly once
Thermal bridges up close — why a bridge punishes twice, the four linear and four point bridges on almost every project, geometric bridges caused by shape alone, and repeating versus one-off bridges
An overview of the calculation tools — matching the shape of the loss to the right tool, what these modelling programmes actually do, and the essential divide between the tool’s arithmetic and the engineer’s judgement
Using one real puzzle throughout — every wall passes, the building still fails — this CPD gives you the map every later calculation lecture in this course builds on.
What You'll Learn
Explain why a wall that passes its own plain U-value check can still cause a whole building to fail its energy code compliance
Identify the three forms in which heat leaves a building — across surfaces, along lines, and at points — plus the additional loss from leaking air
Name each form of heat loss correctly and state its value and unit: the U-value (surfaces), the linear thermal transmittance ψ (lines), and the point thermal transmittance χ (points)
Describe the chain of values from a single material to a whole building: conductivity, resistance, U-value, linear value, and point value
Define a thermal bridge as any place heat escapes faster than through the surrounding plain wall, and distinguish its two origins: a material shortcut and the shape of the building itself
Avoid the double-counting trap by correctly identifying whether a real construction detail is physically a line or a set of points, and entering it only one way
Build a heat-loss total in the correct order: areas and their U-values first, then thermal bridges found by calculating a fragment with and without the bridging feature
Explain why a thermal bridge carries two costs at once — extra heat loss and a cold, condensation-prone surface — and why that connects heat-loss analysis to condensation risk
Recognise the four linear thermal bridges that appear on almost every project: the floor-slab edge, opening surrounds, the parapet, and the base junction
Recognise the four point thermal bridges that appear on almost every project: rainscreen brackets, balcony connectors, through-insulation fixings, and precast panel connectors
Explain a geometric thermal bridge as a consequence of shape rather than material, and describe how its accounting depends on whether a building is measured by internal or external dimensions
Distinguish a repeating thermal bridge, folded into an equivalent U-value, from a one-off bridge entered as its own separate item in the total
Match the correct calculation tool to each form of heat loss — hand calculation or spreadsheet for surfaces and totals, a two-dimensional model for lines, and a three-dimensional model for points — and describe what each tool does under the surface
Explain the essential divide between a calculation tool and the engineer using it: the tool provides the arithmetic, while the engineer provides the judgement of what to model and whether the result is believable
Who Should Attend
Architects, Architectural Technologists, Junior Façade Engineers, Envelope Designers, Façade Specialist Contractors, Building Envelope Consultants, Project Managers, and Design Managers.
This session is designed for anyone who needs a complete map of heat-loss analysis before working through the detailed calculation methods, and assumes only the earlier groundwork courses as prior knowledge.
Speakers
Eugene Korch
Programme Director, IASTEugene is a façade engineer and educator who leads educational initiatives through the Institute for Architectural Science and Technology (IAST) and Facade Intelligence, delivering training to construction professionals.
Course Schedule
Format: Online
CPD Points: 2 hours structured CPD / 2 Learning Units
Certificate: CPD certificate provided upon completion
MC024-5.1
Terminology, methodology, thermal bridges, and an overview of calculation software
Surfaces, Lines, and Points — A Complete Framework for Measuring Every Way a Building Loses Heat
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
