What is ETICS?
known as SATE in Spain

Humidity, condensation and thermal bridges can bring two significant problems to buildings, as well as to our life inside the building. The first problem is the damage caused by condensation and consequently the development of moulds. Yes,  we all hate moulds as they can cause severe respiratory and health issues for the people living inside the building. The second problem is the building's energy loss that results in increased demand for heating in winter or cooling in summer. Of course, we can resolve these issues with a renovation plan focus on insulation and energy consumption, but how about taking a preventive measure? 

To avoid significant loss of time and money in renovation and renewal work, we can alternatively think about the ETICS system (External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems). ETICS offers a methodology for applying insulation to the exterior that allows us to protect and insulate the building envelope. It also helps us achieve the desired internal comfort.  External insulation increases the thermal resistance of walls, which reduces external humidity as well as allowing water vapour to pass through. This method significantly reduces condensation. In general, ETICS provides a series of benefits to the envelope of the building. Consequently, it increases the external composite performance and energy consumption. Benefits of using ETICS: 

• Thermal bridges: it helps to avoid the creation of thermal bridge points in corners or encounter between different elements, like between walls and slabs, where thermal infiltrations take place. 
• Condensation: the system positions the condensation plane outwards so that the building is well ventilated and problems with fungal growth are avoided. 
• Sustainability and comfort: the absence of energy loss means saving energy and money. Also, as cold infiltrations are avoided in winter and hot infiltrations in summer, we will have a positive feeling of well-being at home.

Automatic creation of ETICS in BIM 

We all know that in different BIM authoring solutions, we can quickly create ETICS composite, such as composite function in Archicad. Since Archicad 17 (2013), Archicad uses customisable composites using real-life construction materials. The software ships with many predefined materials and composites, but with few clicks for creating new building materials, you can easily create many market available composites. In addition to this standard functionality, the Baumit company, that internationally is known for its ETICS composite materials, developed an add-on for different BIM authoring solutions (Archicad, Allplan, Revit). This add-on allows architects to create building solutions based on real market materials (i.e. mainly Baumit materials). It also enables them to generate guidance reports on compliance with ISO 13788. 

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Why is it essential to comply with ISO 13788? As it says inside this international standard, the ISO 13788 "lays down simplified calculation methods, which assume that moisture transport is by vapour diffusion alone and use monthly climate data". It means that with some mathematic formulas and attention to some recommendations offered in ISO 13788, it is possible to prevent future damages by controlling or monitoring the humidity of the composites. The simplified calculation methods in ISO 13788 enables us to estimate the condition of building composites for the following important reasons:

• To avoid the appearance of moisture that wet and unhealthy appearance to the walls.
• To avoid the internal or external condensation that gives that wet and unhealthy appearance to the walls.

This ISO standard takes many factors into account to ensure composites comply with defined values such as the type of material performances, ambient, environment, the month of construction, etc. In case the composite is not suitable in the evaluation of interstitial condensation, the standard provides even examples of how to modify a composite to reach the standard level.  An example can be the utilisation of a vapour barrier inside a composite as a waterproof material that avoids the humidity to enter into the structure.

Although the add-on limits the users to many products of Baumit, it allows the designers to use real-life materials and run a simulation on building composites used in their designs. This add-on provides the possibility to choose between several existing construction materials such as insulation, concrete, adhesives, etc. For instance, in Archicad, many construction solutions can be downloaded in Archicad library to be used or be assembled inside Baumit tool to create custom composites. In addition to custom composites, with Baumit tool, we can use many ETICS that already exist in the market. The excellent point is that all these  ETICS systems (composites) can be modified corresponding to project needs. See the short video to learn more about this method using Baumit tool and Archicad: 

In any case, although Baumit Tool add-on generates reports on ISO 13788 compliance, it is essential to highlight that this add-on is not intended to create condensation calculations. The report provides useful guidance as to whether or not the components chosen by the user for the given composite complies with the requirements of ISO 13788 or not. 

Benefits for Archicad users

Besides providing the vast catalogue of real-life market materials as well as technical performance reports, from now on, both Archicad users and Baumit customers, can take advantage of technical support offered either by BAUMIT (for ETICS) or SIMBIM (for BIM and Archicad). Therefore, we are pleased to announce that in summer 2020, SIMBIM Solutions (GRAPHISOFT distributor) and Baumit España signed a collaboration agreement and agreed to support each other end-users. 

Webinars
Baumit Tool for BIM with Archicad

• Webinar 1: 12 November 2020, 17:00 a 18:00 CET
• Webinar 2: 26 November 2020, 10:00 a 11:00 CET

Free Registration

About Baumit

Baumit is a European company founded in 1988 in Austria with main offices in 25 locations, among which there is Baumit Spain. Baumit is a manufacturer of construction materials and External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) that in Spain known as SATE Solution (Sistema de Aislamiento Térmico por el Exterior). SATE is a thermal construction technique to isolate walls, and it is used both for existing and new buildings. Baumit developed a software add-on (Baumit Tool) for major BIM authoring applications (Archicad, Revit and Allplan) to be able to integrate SATE into BIM-based architectural projects. 

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