Patent Application
20200277780
This energy conservation house with energy-saving curtain wall, decorative wall, and plastered wall pertains to the construction industry.
1) With modern buildings, consumption of energy includes lighting, heating, air-conditioning, cooking, television, etc., among which the consumption of heating and air-conditioning takes more than half. At the same time, buildings in fashion mostly use curtain walls, whose rate of heat-loss is several times that of brick walls. If this type of buildings are constructed too much, energy shortage will soon occur. As a consequence, energy conservation of building has come to a point of urgency.
The roof of building, if exposed to the sun, can be over-heated in summer. For this the technology of roof insulation has been well-developed: with insulation layer, water-proof layer, etc. installed onto the roof.
In the past, insulation of external wall relied on thickness of brick wall or tamped wall, which is not feasible with modern buildings for reasons of weight and saving of materials. So solid brick wall or tamped wall are being phased out. Currently there are mainly three types of external insulation: 1. Insulation layer added outside of the wall; 2. Insulation layer in the wall; 3. Insulation layer inside of the wall. If the insulation layer is set outside of the wall, a protection layer has to be installed onto the insulation layer, and, as the latter is always soft or bubbled material, its appearance and firmness always cannot be ensured. If the insulation layer is set inside of the wall, the same problem exists. If the insulation layer is set in the wall, the Face-brick Techniques (patent no. ZL201520197548.X) can be applied, and the problems of insulation, appearance, and firmness can be effectively solved.
Insulation of floor is similar to that of roof, also needing installation of insulation layer, water-proof layer, etc. The floor needs to be put on trusses, so that people and furniture can be loaded on it.
As far as insulation is concerned, the door and window of a building take a role as important as the external wall, because the area of doors and windows always takes approximately half of the total area of external wall. Ordinary wooden doors, metal doors, hollow-glass windows, etc. all have heat transmission coefficients much higher than insulated external brick wall or cement wall, forming a bottle-neck to the over-all insulation. To boost insulation of doors and windows to the same level as the latter is a challenging problem. Only when this problem is well-solved, can insulation of doors and windows match that of Face-brick external wall, roof, and floor, and realize high insulation of house in the real sense, at the same time realizing a low construction cost, making the technique applicable for general use. On the contrary, if there exist such a bottle-neck in the whole enclosure of the building, no matter how high insulation performance other parts have, that for the whole building can never be perfected. Meantime, if insulation is solely pursued without consideration of construction cost, although the aim is attainable, its general application is not possible. In the walk of construction, none of the above challenges and problems is solved yet.
2) Modern curtain walls include glass curtain wall, stone curtain wall, ceramic curtain wall, metal curtain wall, and curtain wall of other materials. The advantage of these curtain walls is their beauty and grand style, which have become a feature of modern cities. Their disadvantage is the high building cost, and poor insulation performance. Modern framed glass curtain wall mostly use hollow glass, whose insulation performance, in comparison with single-layer glass, can be increased for a number of times, but is still far from that of insulated brick wall or cement wall, because its metal frames transmit heat too fast, even if thermal broken-bridges are added, the problem cannot be essentially solved. Talon glass curtain wall does not use frames, but its techniques do not support multiple-addition of hollow glass, thus also can not provide the desired insulation performance.
With stone curtain wall, the stone panels can be mounted through different techniques, but mostly through the “short-groove” connection: short grooves are made on the upper and lower sides of the stone panel, then metal plates are used to fix their positions. This technique and the current “back bolt” connection, “thorough groove” connection all rely on high-strength metal frames to support the great weight of stone panels. These frames and the connecting gadgets between them and the panels consume a lot of metal materials, forming the huge building cost. If insulation material is filled between the stone panels and the external wall, its insulation performance can be boosted but is limited, as the metal frames connect everywhere to increase heat transmission, and the metal frames have to be connected to the house frame in such a strong way as to make thermal broken-bridge difficult to be added.
Ceramic curtain wall and metal curtain wall also have the disadvantage with cost and insulation performance, similar to that of stone curtain wall.
If problems in these two aspects are solved, that's to say, if their construction costs are greatly decreased and their insulation performance is boosted to a large extent—then construction of curtain walls will be sustainable, fund and energy will be saved tremendously.
3) With decorative wall, decorating materials like tiles are glued to the external wall. With plastered wall, cement, sands, paint, etc. are added to the external wall. These two types of wall have low construction costs, but not high insulation performances. In comparison with high-insulation house, their insulation functions are far behind. If the Face-brick Techniques mentioned in the above text are combined with these two types of walls, there would occur a problem of proportion between brick-wall appearance and decorative wall, plastered wall appearance: the amount of walls with the face-brick appearance is limited, so the former can only replace the latter in a certain range, restraining application of the Face-brick Techniques. This is also a problem needing solution.
By means of boosting door and window insulation to a great or even unlimited extent, the bottle-neck problem of house insulation can be solved and the aims of high insulation can be attained; Through structural improvement of all types of curtain walls, decorative walls, and plastered walls, their insulation performance can be made controllable to will, and their features in appearance and feasibility of construction cost can be maintained; By renovation of already-built houses in comparatively easy ways, general use of high-insulation house can be realized. The details of these three aspects are as below:
1) High-insulation House:
A) Thermal insulation of buildings shall be done from the whole so as to greatly cut their heat transmission (their heat transmission coefficient can be far below 0.2 w/m2·k).
B) On the basis of current techniques, insulation of doors and windows can be done per the following method:
a) As in
b) Make two or more glass panels with the same shape, area, and holes as in a). At the same time, make air-holes near the positions of upper and lower pivots (except with the outermost glass panel, on which there shall be no air-hole).
c) On glass panels and near the edges, bar 6 of low insulation material and square cross-section (which can be made from glass or wood etc.) shall be stuck, and on bar 6 bolt holes 7 shall be made.
d) Assemble all the glass panels directly with bolts 8 put through the holes near the edges. Bolt 8 shall pass through holes 2 and 7 (in the figure bar 6 and bolt 8 are enlarged for purpose of clarity); Bolt head 9 shall be put on the outer side of the door or window, bolt nut 10 shall be put on the inner side; Insulating covers 11, 12 shall be respectively put on bolt head 9, nut 10; If necessary, the covers can be glued to be made firm. When bolts 8 are tightened, it shall clamp bars 6 at the edges, forming the sides of the door or window as well as the cavities between the panels. The panels shall be thick enough to ensure firmness of the door or window (including structural strength and anti-burglary functions). The number of glass panels and the distances between them shall ensure that insulation of the door or window be boosted to the desired level.
e) Mount parts of hinge at the position of pivot on the door or window panels; Mount parts of lock at its corresponding position.
f) Seal the seams between the glass panels with sealant. Then fill the cavities between glass panels with inert gas via the air-holes, and seal the holes. If the door or window does not need to be transparent and inert gas is not to be used, insulation plate or fiber etc. can be filled between the glass panels.
g) Manufacture and install a door or window frame matching the door or window panel. As in
h) Mount parts of hinge at the position of pivot on the door or window frame; Mount parts of lock at its corresponding position.
i) Install the door or window on the frame.
j) All the steel or iron products used above shall be galvanized or be stainless steel (this is also applicable to the text below. For convenience, it would not be reiterated).
C) Features of the above door and window: a) The door or window is made of multiple layers of glass panel, which are assembled with bolts put near the edges clamping the bars (of glass or wood etc.) between the panels to form the sides and cavities, and to avoid heat-transmitting bridges; b) Distances between the glass panels and number of the panels' layers can be selected freely without affection to the structural strength; c) Through control of the distances between glass panels and number of the panels' layers any desired insulation level can be attained.
D) Key joints for realization of the above functions of door or window:
a) Connection of fasteners: Thickness of the above door or window can be increased freely. With the increment of thickness, the multiple layers of door or window's panels may be easier to dislocate. To avoid this problem, fasteners must be installed. As in
By turning of metal bars 8c and 7c, the direction of metal rings 8d and 7d can be adjusted so as to enable bolt 87 pass them. Then fix metal rings 8d and 7d onto bolt 87 with nuts at each side of the metal rings. When the nuts touching mental ring 8d on bolt 87 are turned, the distance between fastening plate 8 and 7 can be expanded or reduced, thus the positions of every layer can be finely adjusted or fixed in the vertical direction, and dislocation or deformation from gravity or other reasons can be avoided. On the side of every glass panel grooves shall be made along bolts 87 and/or 47 (the bars at the sides clamped by the glass panels shall be thick enough at these positions, so when the grooves are made they won't penetrate into the cavities between the glass panels. On glass panel 5 and 6 there shall be no groove made along bolt 47). The cross section of the grooves shall be shaped with a narrow opening but wider bottom, and with a depth enough to totally hold the bolts. Then embed rubber bars into the grooves to seal bolts 87 and 47. The innermost glass panel 3 can be thicker than other glass panels, so as to increase strength and save material.
b) Connection of hinge: As in
If two fasteners or two hinges are installed at one side of the door panel or window panel, their positions can be set in symmetry and opposite to each other, as shown in
c)Sealing with door frame or window frame: As in
E) Besides glass, the above door or window panel can be made of other low heat-transmission and high strength materials (this is also applicable to glass curtain wall and glass roof). This kind of door and window, when used together with insulated roof, insulated floor, and Face-brick external wall, can make the insulating structures cover every part of the house and reach the aim of high insulation. However, as far as appearance is concerned, if the external wall is only of face-brick, it's not feasible with modern buildings. Only when the insulation performance of all types of curtain wall, decorative wall, and plastered wall are boosted to the same level as Face-brick wall, and costs of construction are greatly reduced—can high insulation house be put to general use. What follows are ways for solving these problems.
2) Insulated Curtain Walls, Decorative Wall, and Plastered Wall
A) Glass curtain wall: The above mentioned insulated door and window can freely add hollow glass and freely select distances between glass panels, hence its insulation level can reach or surpass insulated brick wall. Regarding this, as in
Glass curtain walls constructed in this way (especially when the glass wall is totally installed outside the floor) can not only completely solve the problem of thermal insulation, but give an appearance not second to the traditional glass curtain wall. And their strength and durability can beat the latter. As for their weight, as indicated in
The amount of glass used in this kind of insulated glass curtain wall is more than talon glass curtain wall, but they are self-supporting structures and the stronger materials for talon glass curtain wall can be mostly saved (the cable and connecting rod are used as a safety measure to prevent the glass blocks from falling, but not to fix their positions), thus the cost will not rise but fall. The amount of glass used is also more than framed glass curtain wall, but the expensive frames of the latter are saved, thus the cost can be considerably reduced.
B) Stone curtain wall: As per
The above parts need to be pre-embedded while the external wall is being built. In the later stage for installation of the stone panels, metal plate g1, which has two bolts f11 and f22, shall be connected to part g by inserting bolts f11 and f22 through part g's horizontal guiding holes h1, h2, and its turning nuts d4, d5 in the back (which have the same structure as d, d1). Then metal plate g1 can be moved left and right by turning nuts d, d1, be moved up and down by turning bolt heads d2, d3, be moved outward and inward by turning nuts d4, d5. The outer part of this metal plate can be made into a right angle and form a step-shape, so as to hook the stone panel via the short groove at its side. As the metal plate can be moved 3-dimentionally, and can be finely adjusted by turning the bolt nuts or heads, the stone panel can be precisely installed in the desired position.
A stone panel can be fixed with four step-shaped metal plates. After these four metal plates are installed, when fine adjustment is to be made, extended or transmission sleeves and spanners need to be used for turning the bolt nuts or heads on metal plates at the lower and inner positions.
Each of the above stone panels is directly installed onto the pre-embedded pieces of the brick or cement external wall, sparing the huge metal frames, saving a great deal of materials, and can lower construction cost to a large extent. At the same time, the distance between the stone panel and external wall is shortened, which can improve strength and service life.
On the inner side of brick or cement wall, as per the Face-brick Techniques, a cavity can be set, in which insulating fibers can be filled, and metal pieces can be added to connect the innermost face brick. This technique is the same as in the Face-brick External Wall but in an opposite direction: The face brick is put on the inner side. For convenience, in the following text it will be called Face-brick Internal Wall Technique.
By virtue of this face-brick internal wall, insulation of stone curtain wall can completely meet the requirements. At the same time, the face-brick internal wall can directly be put to use in interior decoration.
C) With ceramic curtain wall and metal curtain wall, the installations are still easier than stone curtain wall due to their plasticity. Short grooves can be made on the sides of ceramic panel and metal panel (or on their inner side near the edges). Then they can be directly installed onto the pre-embedded pieces of the brick or cement wall. At the same time, insulation layer and face-brick can be installed per the Face-brick internal wall technique.
D) Insulation of decorative wall and plastered wall can also be done completely in accordance with the Face-brick internal wall technique: A cavity can be set inside the external wall, in which insulation fibers are filled, and metal pieces are used to connect the innermost face-brick. Through this way, the problem of proportion between brick-wall appearance and decorative wall, plastered wall appearance can be totally solved: Its face-brick is set in the inner side, so won't affect the decoration or plastering of external wall, thus the proportion of its use won't be limited in any way. At the same time, the face-brick internal wall can be put to use in interior decoration. When a new decorative wall or plastered wall is being built, the Bolt type or Steel Bar type of Face-brick Techniques can be selected at will, so that the connection of external wall and face-brick can be done in a best way. When using the Face-brick internal wall technique to add an insulation layer onto a decorative wall or plastered wall that has already been built, the Bolt type is more convenient, and some adjustments need to be done: As in
In the later stage for laying face-brick, steel bar 11 can be moved up and down and be smoothly embedded into the joints of face-brick, completing a firm connection.
When newly building high-insulation decorative walls and plastered walls, if the construction costs need to be lowered to a great extent till they become lower than un-insulated single walls of same materials, it can be done that after the decorative walls or plastered walls are built, all the interior plastering and decoration be spared, and proper insulation and decoration be completed through selection of suitable materials and installation methods. See the details in the part of Concrete Implementation Methods.
3) Insulation of Houses Already Built
When doing high-insulation and decoration on all types of houses that are already built, the multiple-layer and freely-controllable insulation structure described in the previous text (Technical Solutions-1) can be applied, and suitable materials can be selected for direct installation onto the original wall, roof, floor, door, window, etc. so that the desired insulation aims and cost control can be attained. See the details in the part of Concrete Implementation Methods.
1) Implementation of the Insulated House:
A) For thermal insulation of the roof, if the roof is flat, a common way is to firstly install a water-proofing and sealing layer on the roof to ensure that it would not leak water or air; then a ventilating layer is set above the water-proofing and sealing layer to let out the expanded air when heated and also let out the water in case water enter it; then an insulation layer (which can be of various materials) is set above the ventilating layer; On top of the insulation layer is set a water-proofing and protective layer.
Another common way is to firstly install a water-proofing and sealing layer on the roof to ensure that it would not leak water or air; then on top of the water-proofing and sealing layer an insulation layer (which needs to be of non-water-absorbing materials) is directly installed; then an air-permeable protective layer is set above the insulation layer.
These techniques of roof-insulation have been in use for many years. Their main purpose is to prevent too high temperature from the roof's exposure to the sun in summer and to avoid quick loss of heat in winter. They prove very effective, the thicker insulation layer, the better effect. Materials of the insulation layer must not be inflammable or explosive, and a reflective layer should be installed on the insulation layer to prevent heat radiation and further boost the insulation (all the insulation layers mentioned in the following text must also meet these two conditions. For convenience, they would not be reiterated one by one).
For slanted roofs, the insulation layer can be installed under the roof. Thanks to protection of the roof, the insulation layered would not be directly exposed to the sun and not wetted by rain. Therefore the ventilating layer, water-proofing layer, and protective layer mentioned above can be spared (but the sealing layer at the bottom cannot be omitted), and can be of various materials. The insulation layer needs to cover the whole of the roof's under-layer. If the roof has strong enough supports, the insulation layer can be directly installed on them, otherwise supports need to be set up beforehand.
B) As the walls are vertical, the insulation materials cannot be laid as on the roof, increasing difficulty of installation. At the same time, modern buildings are comparatively tall, if the insulation materials are installed outside the wall there can be caused potential dangers, nor can the visual effects be ideal. If the conventional insulation materials are installed inside the wall, although the potential dangers are decreased, the protective layer's strength, performance, and visual effects are still big problems.
If the insulation layer is installed in the wall, then the above problems of safety, strength, performance, visual effects, etc. can all be solved. Yet when the insulation layer is set in the wall, there must be a cavity, and if the wall has a big area the cavity's strength and seismic resistance are also problems that must be solved. The techniques of Face-brick External Wall mentioned earlier can provide well solutions for them. Further, these techniques can freely adjust width of the cavity and thickness of the insulation layer, making the external wall reach any needed thermal insulation performance. When applying these Face-brick External Wall techniques, under extreme weather conditions and temperature differences, the house's frame may form a disadvantageous thermal bridge. At this time, a reinforcing insulation layer needs to be installed at positions of the frame. As this installation is for part and small areas, it can be duly done through interior design.
When applying the Face-brick External Wall techniques for insulation, the techniques can be extended as follows:
a) With the type of Bolt Connection, for every certain height when the concrete blocks are being laid, a thinner block can be laid which height shall be just a little bigger than a layer of face-brick (alternatively a number of layers by bricks can be laid, which height shall be just a little bigger than a layer of face-brick); At the same time, the bolt shall be pre-embedded directly at the thinner layer, thus it can be avoided to use longer bolt at bigger blocks, and the material can be saved, strength raised.
b) With the type of Bolt Connection, around the bolt can be put a sheath of low heat conductivity coefficient and of enough strength and hardness (which can be made of glass etc. Dimension of the sheath shall make it exactly fit the bolt without gap. The thicker sheath wall, the better insulation). Then a loop of steel bar can be put around the sheath, forming a thermal broken-bridge to further reduce heat conductivity.
c) Widen the face brick to around 20 cm, so that it can be independently laid with enough strength and not needing to be connected to the inner wall (but the top and bottom of the bricks need to be connected to the house's floor or frame, and it shall be avoided to make too high a wall at the lobby etc. without connection or away from the house frame. With items d, e, f below, it's the same). In this way the total width of the external wall is bigger, but the heat conductivity of metal connectors is prevented (although the amount of heat transferred by them is not much), further boosting the insulating performance.
d) Use concrete blocks for both inner and outer wythes, and spare the connection between them. In this way the outer wythe needs to be decorated, but the cost of building will be reduced and the speed of construction will be raised. For buildings not needing visual effects of real bricks, this method has an advantage.
e) Use hollow bricks around 20 cm wide for both inner and outer wythes, and spare the connection between them. If the visual effect of bricks is to be used, the outer wythe does not need to be decorated; If other visual effects are to be used, the outer wythe still needs decoration. In districts where hollow bricks are of low price, this method also has an advantage.
f) Use concrete blocks to lay the outer wythe, and bricks of enough dimension to independently lay the inner wythe, sparing connection of the two wythes. Under certain conditions, this method is feasible (For instance, if the interior decoration needs brick effects, this method is advantageous over that of d).
g) Use hollow bricks for both inner and outer wythes (if the house is not tall, technically solid bricks can also be used. But they consume more material and are heavier), one of which can have smaller width. Use metal connectors to tie the inner and outer wythes, reaching enough strength. Alternatively, bricks can be used to directly connect the inner and outer wythes as illustrated in
h) Use thin concrete block to replace face-brick, and connect it to the main wythe through bolt etc. With the structure of Face-brick External Wall, decoration needs to be done on this thin concrete block; With the structure of Face-brick Internal Wall, decoration also needs to be done on it. However, besides providing well protection to the insulation layer between the inner and outer wythes, and making the external wall strong enough, this thin concrete block can further reduce the cost of building and the lower its weight. If it is used for thermal insulating renovation on already-built decorative wall, plastered wall, stone curtain wall, ceramic curtain wall, metal curtain wall, etc, the connection method in Technical Solutions-2D (
The face-brick external wall, all sorts of brick walls, and concrete block walls, etc, which have cavities, will form a breathing mechanism: When the wall is heated, air will be expelled from inside, when cooled air will be sucked in. To prevent vapor from being sucked into the wall to affect insulating effects, the wall can be sealed with only a number of air-filtering pipes set inside the house: As in
Besides the face-brick external wall, the insulation house can also use various types of curtain walls (glass curtain wall, stone curtain wall, ceramic curtain wall, metal curtain wall, and curtain walls of other materials), as well as insulated decorative wall, plastered wall, etc. Besides the above conventional insulated roofs, the insulated house can still use roofs of multiple glass panels (see details at Implementation Methods of Insulated Glass Curtain Wall-A in the following text), or roofs of other low-thermal-conductivity materials with same structure as the glass panels.
C) With installation of the door or window, if the conventional wood door, glass door, metal door, aluminium alloy window, glass window, etc. are used, none of them can attain a high enough insulation level. Then the controllable multiple-layer glass door and window (which glass shall have treatments with low heat-radiation membrane etc. All the glass walls and glass roofs in the following text need to have this sort of treatments; At places where there are special requirements of view, movable reflective membrane can be used instead) described earlier (Technical Solutions-1) or door and window of other low-thermal-conductivity materials with same structure and technical principles as the multiple-layer glass must be used to achieve the same thermal performance as the insulated roofs and external walls.
The fasteners for reinforcement at sides of the door, window, and external wall etc's glass panels or panels by other low-thermal-conductivity materials can be made of metal or other materials with high strength.
Between the glass panel and the bolt or other metal connectors there shall be set a gasket to prevent the glass from being harmed (this shall apply with all glass panels in the following text. For convenience, they would not be reiterated).
This type of door and window uses thick glass and firm installation, thus its strength and anti-burglary function can be much higher than conventional doors and windows, and its service life won't be shorter than them.
At places of exit, entrance, etc. where the door is frequently opened and closed, a transitional room can be set as in
In the hinge connection of door frame or window frame (see
If the door or window is set at the inner side of the house, when the sealing device of the door or window's frame is installed (see Technical Solutions-1Dc, and
When the door or window is closed, the gap between the door or window panel and the frame may infiltrate water in rainy days. On all doors or windows opening outward and inward, at the bottom of their frames water-collecting channels and drainage tubes shall be set, which channels and tubes are connected to the drain-pipes in the house or are directly connected to outside the wall.
D) Insulation of the floor at the lowest storey of the insulated house can be done with reference to the insulation of the roof, and as per this solution: a) Install the water-proofing and sealing layer at the bottom; b) Lay the insulating layer of non-water-absorbing materials on top of the water-proofing and sealing layer; If other insulating materials are used, a water-proofing layer needs to be set on the insulating layer; c) Set joists above the insulating layer and the water-proofing layer with a space under the joists to form a ventilating layer with outlet; d) Install the floor on top of the joists.
Insulation of floor needs only to be done at the lowest storey of the house. If the house has multiple levels of basement, and the soil around the basement is dry, then there is no need to do insulation on floor of the lowest basement or on its walls. If the house's basement is used as a garage without insulation, then on the first floor above ground insulation needs to be done.
E) Determination of thickness with the roof, external wall, door, window, and floor: According to different climatic conditions, the house's planned insulation level (or heat transmission coefficient), and choice of materials at each part, the structure and thickness of materials (not just those for the insulating layer) shall be determined. Due to different heat conductivity coefficients of different materials, when there are multiple materials for choice, determination of material shall be done before that of thickness; When the material has been decided on, preliminarily determine its thickness according to requirements of insulation; Then do theoretical calculations and actual tests to ensure that the heat transmission coefficients of every location are similar or matching each other without forming a bottle-neck. At the same time, the exposure to heat at different locations of the house need to be thoroughly examined (for instance, the roof is directly exposed to the sun, its requirements on insulation is higher than that of the external wall; The part of external wall near the stove also has a higher requirements on insulation than other parts), and adjustments shall be done accordingly.
F) As the insulated house is tightly sealed, its rooms in which people live and its public areas must be ventilated at fixed time everyday by opening the door and window. It shall be avoided to save a little energy of temperature adjustment by bringing stale air or potential danger. The rooms where nobody lives shall have the windows closed and the movable reflective membrane spread so that they would not affect insulation of the whole building. Ventilation of the stair case etc. shall be done by connection to the public area of lobby etc. rather than directly opening to the outside; Small rooms shall keep air-circulation with the public area (louver for ventilation can be set). Ventilation of kitchen, toilet can be done with direct opening to outside, but its internal wall and door must have an insulating layer (this insulating layer can have a lower level than the external wall because the ventilation of kitchen needs to be done only when cooking is being done, and that of the toilet needs not to be done at too high a speed, resulting in temperatures of these rooms different from that of outside. This insulating layer shall be set on the basis of temperature in the rooms), and its performance shall match that of the whole building predetermined.
In very cold or hot areas (or areas with fickle whether), there must be adequate anti-cold or anti-heat equipment in the insulated house in case the door, window, roof, etc. of the house get damaged and frostbite, heatstroke, or other dangers be caused. In areas of milder climate the preparation must also be done in cold and hot seasons.
2) Implementation Methods of Insulated Glass Curtain Wall
A) When the glass wall is installed outside the house's frame, if the frame is reinforced concrete, supports need to be pre-embedded. As in
If the above supports 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, 6, 7, 8 cannot be well aligned horizontally when being pre-embedded, then each support shall be made vertically adjustable: Two vertical threaded holes can be made in the support at the part of contact with the glass wall; Then turn two vertical bolts (the bolt head facing upward) into the threaded holes respectively, and turn the bolt heads to align them to the same level for the same storey; Then tighten the bolt nut at the lower end of the bolt; Lastly put a rectangular metal box-cover onto the two bolts (thickness and width of the box-cover shall be adequate to bear the glass wall and reduce the load per unit area); at the same time increase diameter of the horizontal bolt nut and its gasket to prevent the glass wall from moving off the bolt and gasket's covering range.
Between two horizontal glass walls there shall be set an expansion joint also. The gap between two horizontally or vertically neighboring glass walls shall be sealed. At places where there are people passing or staying tempered glass needs to be used.
The joint between an upper and a lower glass wall can have the section as in
Anti-burglary devices shall be installed inside the glass wall at positions where necessary. In
At bolt 2's end there shall be set a pin to prevent bolt nut a1 from falling off the bolt if the bolt head outside the wall is turned; At the same time, a stopping block shall be set on the house's frame or floor to prevent anti-burglary rod 1 from turning together with bolt 2 (If bolts 2, 3 are set very near to the house frame or floor, this can also prevent anti-burglary rod 1 from continuously turning). If the force from anti-burglary rod 1 onto the glass wall needs to be made more even, the rod can be set in a symmetrical pair (with a shape like turnbuckle). In addition, for better visual effects, position of metal plates 7, 8 needs to be accurate; Dimensions of anti-burglary rod 1, bolt 2, 3 need to be uniform. After the above connectors have been installed, insulating caps need to be installed on bolt 2 and its nut a1 (see Technical Solutions-1Bd and
If steel structure is used for the house frame, the above pre-embedded components of glass wall can be directly installed on the steel structure, and the rest of installation is just the same. As the insulation layer is set outside the house, the disadvantage of steel structure's insulation can be eliminated.
The above glass wall can also be horizontally or obliquely installed at the roof for skylight. Meanwhile, the supporting structure must be strong (being able to bear the total weight of roof and the maximum possible rain and snow loads, wind load, earthquake impact, etc.; It must also meet requirements of planned performances with rust-proofing, corrosion resistance, and aging resistance. All the roof supporting structures in the following text must be the same as these); Its specifics vary according to the specific shapes and structures of different buildings. Also, movable reflective membranes need to be installed to prevent a disadvantageous greenhouse effect or heat radiation. Installation of the movable reflective membranes can be done as per
If a reflective membrane of very big width needs to be installed, it can be done as in the front view of
The above reflective membrane installed by Connection With Pivots and Connection With Folding can be applied on the roof as well as other positions.
For the purpose of drainage, the roof usually needs to have a slope, and between the glass panels there shall be well overlapping or sealing.
If the visual effect of conventional framed glass curtain wall needs to be made on the above glass curtain wall (and on all the other glass curtain walls mentioned in the text below), holes can be made in the outermost glass panel and metal bars can be installed at the holes (The different thermal expansion coefficients of different materials and firmness of installation need to be fully considered. For materials with different thermal expansion coefficients, expansion joints shall be set; For firmness of installation, bolts and nuts shall be used for connection). This method can also be used for other visual effects (including using whole metal panels to make the visual effect of metal curtain wall. When doing this, it must be prevented that dark face panels absorb the sunray and get overheated, for which an isolating layer shall be set).
Thick glass and firm installation are applied on this type of glass curtain wall, whose strength is not second to any other glass curtain walls, yet with a much longer service life.
B) If the glass wall is installed between the floors, it is not advantageous for insulation of the whole house. However, in comparison to the above installation method which puts the glass wall outside the house frame, this way of putting them between the floors can use glass walls of smaller dimension, and also spare the fasteners at the glass wall's sides. Under many circumstances (e.g. in areas not too cold or too hot) this way has the feasibility for use. Now, as dimension of the glass wall block can be smaller than the distance between the floors, the glass wall blocks can be laid one upon anther (According to dimensions of different wall blocks, one layer or multiple layers can be laid. The smaller wall block, the less advantageous insulation); Meanwhile, each wall block shall be connected by bolt to a pulling cable or pulling rod. As the position of pulling cable or pulling rod can be set very near to this bolt, their connection can be done as per
The strength of this type of glass curtain wall is also not second to any other glass curtain walls, yet with a much longer service life.
When the glass wall is continuously laid in the horizontal direction, an expansion joint shall be set at every curtain distance. In the vertical direction, the structure and materials of the house, as well as climatic conditions shall be examined before deciding whether to set expansion joint. If the block-laying joint has a curtain thickness and elastic structural silicone adhesive is used, it can bring a curtain function of expansion joint. If the expansion of house frame is greater than that of the wall, then more detailed calculations and experiments need to be done.
The gap between two glass blocks and that between glass block and floor need to be sealed. At places where there are people passing or staying tempered glass needs to be used.
Motionless glass walls (whether they are installed outside or between the floor) usually won't be shaken or impacted like the door or window. In this case the house needs only to set a layer of thick glass on the outside at its ground floor (for anti-burglary purpose), and other storeys of the house need only to set a layer of thick glass at the inner side; at the same time, all the other layers can have the thickness of glass greatly reduced while keeping thickness of the bars clamped between the glass panels unchanged. In this way the weight of the glass wall can be minimized without reducing its whole strength and insulating performance. In a house possible to get impact to the inside of room at the ground floor, a layer of thick glass can also be set at the inner side. In an area with strong wind or at the higher storeys of a building, if the outmost layer of glass is of thin and big glass panel, calculations of wind load and experiments need to be done in emphasis, so as to prevent the glass from damage by the wind; If the wind is too strong, glass of corresponding thickness and strength must be used (All the external walls with thin glass in the following text shall be the same as this). When the glass wall block is horizontally or obliquely installed at the roof, the bottom layer of glass cannot have a reduced thickness; The intermediate layers of glass can have thickness reduced; At places where it is possible to be impacted by hail etc. or have loads of rain or snow, the top layer of glass also must have corresponding thickness and strength (this also fits all the roofs in the following text and roofs of other materials).
C) For the glass wall installed outside the house frame, if it is desired to omit the fasteners at its sides, the pre-embedded supports at the floor under the glass wall need to be set stronger; at the same time, each of the four bolts at the four corners of every wall block needs to be connected to the anti-burglary rod. The anti-burglary rods shall be able to hold the total weight of the wall block and provide the dual functions of preventing burglary and increasing structural safety. At storeys above the ground floor, if there is no impact of external forces or strong wind, all the glass except that of the door or window can be set as thin tempered glass, cancelling thick glass.
The whole glass external wall has the function of light transmitting. A window set in the internal wall is needed only when there is no door in the wall and ventilation is desired.
For the glass wall laid between the floors, at storeys above the ground floor, if there is no impact of external forces or strong wind, all the glass except that of the door or window can also be thin glass. Assemblage of the wall block of thin glass between the floors can be done as per
This type of glass wall laid between the floors needs not to use bolt, pulling cable, pulling rod, etc., thus the probability of its falling off is increased. However, if tempered glass is completely used where people may pass or stay and railing or protective net is installed inside the room near the glass external wall (For thin glass wall installed outside the house frame, the railing or protective net must also be installed), the problem of safety can be solved.
The strength and expected service life of this type of glass curtain wall by laid blocks are similar to those of framed glass curtain wall.
The advantage of the above glass walls installed outside the house frame and between the floors is that the cost of building will be reduced further and to a great extent, even lower than that of decorative wall or plastered wall; At the same time, its visual effects won't be second to any other curtain walls. With another advantage of thermal insulation in addition, it is possible to gain popularity.
For a conventional glass curtain wall already built, if renovation for the high insulation needs to be done, the thin glass curtain wall can be laid inside the original glass curtain wall and at the edge of the floor. As the weight of the whole wall is increased, calculation shall be done on the building's structure and the foundation's loads; If necessary, reinforcement shall be done.
The wall block of thin glass can also be used for internal partition wall. At this time, the number of glass layers can be reduced, and smaller glass wall blocks can be laid at the lower part of wall, bigger glass wall blocks laid at the upper part of wall. This type of partition wall has a limited strength, yet has many advantages in terms of low cost, light weight, thermal insulation, sound insulation, attractive appearance, fast construction, etc.
In areas with extreme temperature difference from inside to outside of a house, if the glass wall is installed between the floors, an insulating layer can be set inside the house at locations of the house's structural frame, so that the effect of thermal bridge can be well reduced; However, the best way is to install the glass wall outside the house's frame, or to install a short and narrow wall outside the house's frame, which short and narrow wall shall have the same structure as the glass wall and completely cover the house's frame. At the middle part of these short and narrow wall there can be set two or more holes for connection (a ring-shaped bar shall be set around the hole to prevent the inert gas in the cavity from leakage, also to ensure strength at the hole's location), and these holes for connection shall be put onto the bolts pre-embedded or installed at the house's frame; Then, at the end of the bolt shall be installed gasket, bolt nut, and insulating cap.
The above thin-glass wall block can also be horizontally or obliquely installed at the roof for skylight. However, as a block of thin-glass, besides completely using tempered glass, the block yet needs to be installed on a fairly dense supporting structure. If it is needed to install a big-size glued glass block onto a comparatively sparse supporting structure, the bottom layer of glass must be replaced by thick tempered glass, the intermediate layers can be thinner, the top layer's thickness shall depend on the possible impact it may receive and the loads of rain, snow, and wind.
D) In areas with great temperature change, if thick glass is used for the above insulated glass curtain wall, roof, door, and window, the change of temperature will have a negative effect on the sealant: The difference of air pressure may break the sealant; If thin glass is used for the above insulated glass curtain wall, etc., the change of temperature will have a negative effect on the glass: The difference of air pressure may damage the glass. If these happen (in many areas they may), the air-holes of every glass panel (including the air-holes in the short and narrow walls installed outside the house frame. During installation of the short and narrow wall, its air-hole shall be connected to inside the house by ageing-resistant and not-easy-to break tube) shall be connected to air-bags. The air-bag can be put at a convenient place and connected to the air-hole facing the inside of room or to the tube connected to the outside of room. At the position of the air-hole facing the inside of room a round tube can be glued using structural adhesive; Then put the air-bag's tube onto the tube of the air-hole tightly. When the inert gas in the glass cavity is heated and expelled, the air-bag will be expanded; When the glass cavity is cooled and sucks the gas, the air-bag will shrink. If there are many air-holes on the wall, the air-bag's tube can have branches. The air-bag and tube should be sealed to prevent leakage of the gas.
To save space, the air-bag can be put in a hollow partition wall. The glass partition wall described in Implementation Methods of Insulated Glass Curtain Wall-C can do the job: As in
The air-bags and air tubes need to be inspected at fixed periods to avoid blockage or leakage.
If insulating panels not permeable by water or vapor are used in the cavity of the above insulated glass curtain wall, roof, door, and window at locations where transparency is not required, and the insulating panels are fully filled in the cavity, then the air-hole, air tube, air-bag, etc. can all be omitted; at the same time, the cavity does not need to have multiple layers and all the intermediate layers of glass can be spared. But this method is based on the loss of glass's transparency, thus its range of application is limited.
For the breathing mechanism of face-brick external wall, all sorts of brick walls, and concrete block walls, etc. with cavities described in Implementation of the Insulated House-B, their air-hole can also be connected to the above air-bag. But in areas with great temperature change and strong sunray, the amount of air expelled by their cavity may be enormous. If the air-bag cannot hold the expelled air, then the air-filtering pipe still needs to be use, and moisture-absorbing materials shall be put in the cavity.
When filling inert gas to the cavities of glass in every layer of the glass curtain wall, roof, door, and window, the gas-filling tube shall be inserted to reach the bottom, and holes shall be set on the tube at the position of each layer's cavity, so that the gas-filling can be done simultaneously at every layer. If different layers need to be filled with different gases, the air-holes of the panels need to be set separately, and ring-shaped bars shall be set around the holes to prevent the gases in the cavities from mixing. Meanwhile, around the bolt holes where every layer of glass panels are connected by the bolts, the same ring-shaped bars must also be installed at each layer.
E) Besides glass, the insulated glass curtain wall, roof, door, and window can also use other materials with low heat conductivity coefficients (For instance, in areas not too cold, acrylic can be used; In places where transparency is not needed, ordinary plastic panels can be used; With materials of limited service time, replacement can be done periodically). In addition to the assemblage methods by bolts or adhesive as described earlier, other methods like welding and direct molding can also be applied, so that the structure with any layers of panel and any distance between the panels can be formed to reach any insulating level.
For walls made by light or soft materials, their installation can be done in the way of suspension as per
Connectors 1, 2, 3, 4's part outside wall block 5 shall have the shape of a spherical cap 5a (whose bottom faces the wall block and is dented. See the enlarged side view in
In addition to the above connectors, insulating block 10 (see the front view in
In
Wall block 5, insulating block 10, as well as insulating block 10's extended part covering the pre-embedded connectors shall all have a drainage groove set at the top. This drainage groove shall be set along the inner edge and edge of the two sides, bending outward along the latter, so as to let the rain flow to the outer side. At the same time, wall block 5, insulating block 10, and insulating block 10's extended part covering the pre-embedded connectors also need to have a vertical drainage groove set at each of their two sides. This drainage groove shall be set along the inner edge, connecting the groove at the top, bending outward with an obtuse angle at the side's bottom and with a brim set at the groove's bottom, so as to let the collected rain flow to the outside. The depth of the drainage groove at wall block 5 and insulating block 10's sides shall be greater than that of the groove for installation of the above blocking strip. The bottom of wall block 5 and insulating block 10 shall have an angle to level, so that their inner part will be higher than the outer part, preventing the rain from flowing inward. Besides, if gas is filled in wall block 5 and insulating block 10, then their air-holes must be connected to air-bags; When the wall block and insulating block are being replaced, water can be filled to expel the inert gas from the older blocks into the new ones. If the cavities are filled with insulating materials not permeable by water or vapor, then the air-holes, air-tubes, and air-bags can be omitted.
Installation and removal of the above wall block 5 and insulating block 10 are much simplified in comparison to conventional methods with scaffold and framework, and they are stronger; Furthermore, installation and decoration of the external wall can both be done from inside the room, greatly improving the speed of construction. There is no limit to the height of building for this way of construction, but all the people working at the edge of the floor must be securely protected by safety belt, and the range of work on the ground must be isolated.
For roofs made by light or soft materials, the above Installation by Suspension can be changed to Horizontal or Oblique Installation: Connecting rods pointing upward or obliquely upward can be installed to the frame of roof; Then the above wall block can be horizontally or obliquely put onto the connecting rods; Next install the gasket, bolt nut, and insulating cap at the end of the connecting rod. The horizontally or obliquely laid wall block (for convenience, it will be called the Roof Block in the following text) should have a convex set at the position of each connecting hole's upper side, and the root of this convex should be set with a groove, so as to prevent the rain from entering the connecting hole. Between two roof blocks a small gap shall be set; At the same time, multiple tiny cylinders (whose head is thicker than root) shall be set along the gap between two roof blocks, and a removable sealing elastic strip with two rows of tiny holes (whose inner diameter shall be bigger at the upper part than the lower part, corresponding to the cylinder) shall be press onto the cylinders for sealing of the gap. Meanwhile, a drainage groove shall be set on each roof block along the gap; The contact surface of the sealing elastic strip and roof block shall be inclined toward the drainage groove. Between every two neighboring roof blocks water conduits connecting the drainage grooves shall be set (cross section of the water conduit shall be the same as that of the drainage groove, which can be a U-shape or V-shape. The water conduit can be welded or glued to the drainage grooves at its two ends. To get a smooth surface of the water conduit and drainage's connection, a dent of same cross section as the water conduit's outer contour can be set in the drainage groove and then the end of the water conduit can be put into the dent), and the rain would eventually be drained to the gutter of roof or to outside the eave. For better drainage, the roof shall not be set completely level, but have a certain slope. For roofs with parapet, the roof shall be put above the gutter, which needs to have an adequate volume and be connected to enough down spouts so as to prevent heavy rain or snow from spilling. For roofs without parapet, the roof shall be put above the top of external wall and go beyond it for drainage. For roofs with other shapes and structures, the specifics shall be determined accordingly.
If gas is filled in the cavities of the above roof block, each layer of its cavities also need to be connected to air-bags through air-holes; If materials not permeable by water and vapor is filled in its cavities, the air-holes, air-tubes, air-bags can also be omitted.
Installation of the above roof block can be done from inside the room, the constructors needing not to climb to the roof: At the floor of the top storey the roof block can be lifted (or hung by temporary rig), then moved to the position of connecting rods, next laid down to be put onto the connecting rods; Afterwards all the subsequent installation work can be continued. The last roof block shall be installed at the highest position and have a smaller dimension so that the gap between it and the neighboring roof blocks would be bigger for convenience of installation. At the bottom of this last roof block there shall be set horizontal slots in which plates can be inserted to fix insulating materials put in the gap around this block. The gasket, bolt nut, and insulating cap can be installed to the end of the connecting rod through the gap (If the gasket, bolt nut, etc. fall to the roof by accident, the roof block must be removed to fetch them, so that any potential danger can be avoided); Next the water conduit can be put to position and welded or glued; Then a wide sealing strip with multiple pulling strings and dents (the pulling strings and dents need to be set near the connecting holes in the sealing strip) shall be pulled by the strings and installed to the tiny cylinders set along the two sides of the gap (when adjusting position of the sealing strip, a bar can be put into the dents. For convenience with the sealing strip's installation, the tiny cylinder can have a smaller diameter at the top, bigger one at the middle part, and be tapered at the lower part); Lastly, insulating sheets without dust or packed loose insulating materials shall be put into the gap around this roof block, and the plates by light materials of plastic etc. at the bottom shall be inserted to the slots (a fastener should be set on the plate to prevent it from slipping out), hence the insulating materials would not fall.
This way of installation from inside the room can make construction of the roof more convenient. With multiple-storey buildings' courtyard, lobby, etc., if the courtyard has a roof, the lobby is directly connected to the roof, and the supporting structure of the roof can bear the weight of people, then installation of the roof at these locations can be more suitably done from above the roof (When installing, all the constructors must be protected by safety belts and multiple layers of safety net must be set underneath); If the supporting structure of the roof cannot bear the weight of people, then a platform needs to be built under the roof.
The above way of roof installation can also be changed to Installation by Inverted Hanging: Connecting rods pointing downward or obliquely downward can be installed to the frame of roof; The root of the connecting rods can be set in the shape of a spherical cap (whose bottom faces downward and is dented); Then lift the above roof block vertically or obliquely, letting the connecting rods enter its connecting holes, and letting the convex at the upper side of the connecting hole touch the spherical cap at the root of the connecting rod so that the rain won't be able to flow along the connecting rod into the connecting hole; Next install the gasket, bolt nut, and insulating cap at the end of the connecting rod. The connecting rods must be able to bear the whole weight of the roof block and be set in pairs near its sides (if one connecting rod in a pair fails, the other must be able to bear the whole weight for them). The last roof block also shall have a smaller dimension and be installed at the highest position by the same installation method as that of the roof block described above; Yet the gap around this roof block can be set smaller, because the gasket, bolt nut, etc. do not need to be installed on top of the roof block through the gap. This Installation by Inverted Hanging can make the roof block's installation and removal more suitably done from inside the room; Also, except for the roof at the building's courtyard and the roof directly connected by the lobby, the installation and removal can be conveniently done at any other places.
If acrylic, ordinary plastic, etc. are used to produce the above wall block, roof block, door and window (these materials must not be of types that release hazardous substances, and must fully meet requirements of fireproofing. All the products used indoors in the following text shall be the same as these; For convenience, it would not be reinstated), they will have very light weight, very low cost, and abundant colors. Moreover, their structural strength and insulating function will not be second to other materials at all; But their service life is limited (usually not more than 10 years, and shorter on the roof). If these materials are used for the external wall and roof, the above ways of Installation by Suspension, Horizontal or Oblique Installation, and Installation by Inverted Hanging can be applied, so that their change would be much easier to do. Meanwhile, at the edge of floors of the second storey and above, protective railing or net must be installed; And the roof block, wall block, insulating block, door and window must be changed at fixed periods. In addition, all the materials shall have the producing time and service time molded at a uniform conspicuous place (like the lower edge of roof block, the inner face of the wall block's two sides, the upper edge of the insulating block); At the same time, inspection must be done at fixed periods on the service time of the materials as well as their transparency, color, and strength, so that any danger by the aging of materials can be prevented. If the above maintenance work cannot be ensured, then the materials can only be use for a short term or temporarily, and must be removed in time. On the other hand, as they can be easily melted and have a limited anti-burglary function, anti-burglary nets need to installed at the house's locations where they are required (the protective net and anti-burglary net can be combined to one); Also, anti-burglary door and window need to be installed where required.
For installation of hinges on their door and window (see Technical Solutions-1Db, and
If the above wall block, roof block, door and window, etc. produced by acrylic, ordinary plastic, etc. are used for thermal insulating renovation on houses already built, except for the addition of anti-burglary door and window installed at places where necessary, their installation and removal are very convenient, and the thermal insulating function can be not second to any other insulated houses; Furthermore, due to the cover and protection of the original building, the service life can be prolonged. The cost of this renovation is very low and it can bring good effects to interior decoration (During their service life, acrylic, ordinary plastic, etc. have an advantage in terms of optical performance, color, plasticity, etc.). Except for the door and window, the house can have very thin cavity walls for its wall block and roof block. The whole building needs only to have the wall block suspended at the inner side of external wall, have the roof block laid on a rack under the sloped roof, have the roof block reversely hung under the level roof, have the same block reversely hunger under the lowest floor (which block has the same structure and materials as the roof block. For convenience, it will be called the Floor Block in the following text), and have the door and window changed to this type of insulated door and window (or have this type of insulated door and window added to the original door and window). In comparison to a new building using these materials, in the thermal renovation of a building already built, the water drainage groove, the blocking strip to prevent rain, etc. can be spared, but the sealing elastic strip must be kept. In its installation by suspension, or installation by inverted hanging, etc, chemical bolt or welding can be used; In the installation by laying, chemical bolt and welding can also be used to fix position of the roof block etc. The chemical bolt can fix the connecting rod through bolt nut (The connecting rod can be set in a L-shape; And at its lower part a hole can be set to be put round the chemical bolt); Then the connecting holes of the wall block, roof block etc. can be put onto the connecting rods and the rods shall go through the holes; Next the gaskets, bolt nuts, insulating caps can be installed at the end of the connecting rods.
Two neighboring L-shaped connecting rods can be combined to one U-shaped connecting rod with a hole set at the bottom, sharing the same chemical bolt. It shall be prevented to make the chemical bolt enter the house's structural frame; If the width of the external wall's frame is big, the chemical bolt can be set farer away from the wall's edge, and the connecting hole in the wall block can be set at a corresponding position. In the installation by inverted hanging, if the roof and floor are cast-in-situ reinforced concrete panels, holes can be made in them, and bolts can go through the holes and be connected to horizontal light steel bars underneath (When a hole is being drilled on the floor, the space for bolt nut shall be made, so that the bolt nut would not bulge above the ground to make it unlevel); Meanwhile, light connecting rods pointing downwards shall be connected to the horizontal light steel bars by loops at their top ends, which loops are put around the horizontal bars; Then the connecting holes of roof block or floor block can be connected to the horizontal bars with the light connecting rods going through them (at the low ends of the light connecting rods there shall be set light bolt nuts etc. to prevent the blocks' falling). When holes are being drilled in the concrete panels, devices like steel bar detector must be used to avoid position of the steel bars. Before bolts are put into the external wall, devices like steel bar scanner must be used to see if there are electric cables, water pipes etc. inside (Positions of connecting holes in the wall blocks can be set in a number of types, so that if there are facilities in the wall, a corresponding type can be used to avoid them). At the same time, when making holes in the external wall or reinforced concrete panel, the workers must wear insulating gloves; After the holes have been made and before installation, devices like electricity-detecting pen must be used to ensure the safety.
If very light materials like plastic membrane are used to make blocks for thermal insulating renovation with the walls, roofs, doors and windows of houses already built, their installation and removal are more convenient than blocks by the above acrylic or plastic etc. panels. If an insulating panel is filled into the cavity of the plastic membrane, thickness of the cavity's wall needs only to make it strong enough for bearing of the insulating panel's weight, and the insulating panel needs to have a certain rigidity to keep the needed shape; If gas is filled in the cavity of the plastic membrane, thickness of the cavity's wall needs only to prevent leakage of gas, and the shape would be determined after the gas is filled. By filling gas the cost would be lower than filling solid materials but the insulating effect and visual effect won't be reduced. For the wall block filled with gas, its structure and installation need to be adjusted as follows: In
If there is a wide structural beam at the top of original wall, or there are electric cable, water pipe, etc. in the wall, then a L-shaped connecting rod with a long bottom side can be used, on which bottom side two bolt holes can be set for connection to the wall, so that the bolts need not to enter the structural beam and can avoid other facilities in the wall; Also the connecting rod's turning can be prevented. In the gap between ribbed panel 1 at the top of the soft wall block and the original ceiling materials like sponge can be filled. The sponge should not totally seal the gap, but leave a certain space for the small amount of air at the original wall to expand or shrink when the temperature changes.
Sealing for the gap between two neighboring soft wall blocks can be done through a zip. Sealing strips can be set at the two ends of the soft wall block where they reach the partition walls; At the back of the sealing strip a double-sided adhesive tape can be used to stick it to the partition wall. At the bottom of the soft wall block where it reaches the floor, it can also be stuck to the floor in the same way. Decorative fringes can be set at the zip and sealing strip.
At the inner side of the soft wall block there shall be set a reflective membrane to prevent thermal radiation. At the outer side of the soft wall block there can be set multiple colors, frames, patterns, etc. so as to bring good interior visual effects. Where necessary, it can also be set transparent. Besides, this soft wall block can easily apply diffused lights and make different atmospheres.
When the soft wall block has been installed in place, gas can be filled into it. Different gases need to be connected to different air-tubes. When the gas is filled, the other end of the air-tube needs to be connected to an air-bag, which can be set as the pressure air-bag in
With soft roof block or floor block made of very light materials like plastic membrane, filled with gas, and inversely hung under the house's roof or floor, their structure and installation shall be adjusted as follows: As per
Sealing for the gap between two neighboring soft roof blocks or floor blocks can be done through a zip. Sealing strips can be set at where they reach the external walls and be stuck to the inner side of external walls in the same way as with the above soft wall block. Decorative fringes can be set at the zip and sealing strip. If the house's roof or floor is an air-tight structure, the roof block or floor block under them shall not be fully sealed, but with a small number of holes set in the sealing strip for the air above to expand or shrink when the temperature changes. At the same time, reflective membrane, multiple colors, frames, lighting effects, etc. shall be set in the same ways as with the above soft wall block.
Insulation of door needs only to be done on doors in external wall or other doors directly connected to outside. Inmost cases the original door needs not to be replaced. What's needed is just to set up L-shaped connectors at the back of the original door and then install the above membrane insulating block (i.e. the above soft wall block, soft roof block, etc.). If the door is easy to be bumped, materials like foamed panel can be filled in the membrane insulating block instead to provide better performance against the impact than gas. The L-shaped connectors can be set near both the top and bottom of the door, so that the membrane insulating block can be better fixed. At the end of the L-shaped connector there shall be set an insulating cap, so that it can both do insulation and buffer occasional bumping. On the membrane insulating block, a void shall set at the position of door lock and handle for operation; If necessary, the void can be set as a hole with a removable insulating plug. For insulation of window, usually the original window also needs not to be replaced. What's needed is just to install the above membrane insulating block. A frame can be set on the inner face of the wall along the original window's sides, with the top side of the frame connected to the wall. The L-shaped connectors shall be set near both the top and bottom of the frame and the membrane insulating block shall be installed in the same way as with the door described above. When fully opening the window, the frame can be pushed or pulled up to an angle greater than 90 degrees). The frame needs only to support weight of the frame, thus it can be set light. Its connection to the external wall shall be strong enough (Two or more bar-shaped connectors can be fixed to the wall above the window through chemical bolts. At the lower end of the bar-shaped connectors a horizontal hole can be set; Meanwhile, holes shall be set at the top side of the frame, which holes shall match holes of the bar-shaped connectors and be connected to them, forming a structure of hinge). At the lower side of the frame can be set a handle, and a void for operation can be set on the membrane insulating block in the same way as the door described above. If the hinge structure is vertically set at the left or right side of the frame, the frame needs to be set stronger to avoid deformation.
The above gas-filled membrane insulating blocks are all connected to pressure air-bags. If the pressure air-bags need to be spared, each cavity in the membrane insulating block can be set as an inner flexible air-bag: As in
If it is needed to spare the sliding rods at the top of the membrane insulating block suspended on the wall, the inner flexible air-bag can be changed to inflexible compressed air-bag: Divide each layer of cavity in the membrane insulating block into small air-bags, in which air-bags the air is filled at the lowest temperature of the area where the membrane insulating block is used, or is filled and compressed to the same density as at that lowest temperature; Then seal the air-bags. These air-bags must not be connected and open to each other (even at the same layer of cavity). The smaller volume of the air-bag, the bigger ratio of the air-bag's wall thickness to its volume, thence the better ability of the air-bag to compress the air and the lower possibility of its breakage. The air-bag's wall thickness, volume, and air density shall be set according to the conditions of the area where it is used, so that the air filled at the lowest temperature of that area won't be able to break or deform the air-bag when the temperature rises to the highest temperature of the area while the air is compressed into the same volume.
For convenience of transportation with the membrane insulating block of compressed air-bags, the work of air-filling and sealing can be done on site: The air-bags can be set in the shape of long bars which are connected to the side or other surfaces of the membrane insulating block; Air-holes shall be set at the membrane insulating block's side or other surfaces; Then the air shall be fully filled into the air-bags with a pressure corresponding to the temperature of the construction site, and shall be sealed.
This membrane insulating block of compressed air-bags can also be used at the roof, floor, door, and window.
The membrane insulating blocks can have various types, but the membrane structure of any layer and any distance between the layers will remain. Among the types, those with external pressure air-bags have the advantage of saving materials; those with inner flexible air-bags come second in this aspect; Those with inner insulation panels have the advantage of stable shape; those with inner compressed air-bags come next in this respect. Each type has its features, advantages, disadvantages, and suitable scope of application.
The above soft wall block, roof block, floor block, door, and window all use membranes instead of panels, thus they have the overwhelming advantage in terms of weight and cost while keeping the ability to reach any level of thermal insulation. Also, they can provide good effects with interior decoration. Therefore, the membrane insulating blocks can play an important role in the popularization of high insulation buildings.
When newly building a house, if it is needed to save cost, the above membrane insulating blocks can be used to completely or partly replace the permanent insulating facilities. Then, connectors for the membrane insulating blocks can be pre-embedded during construction of the house.
If the membrane insulating blocks are not to be used in houses already built, insulating panels may take their place. But when the insulating panels are directly installed in the house without being put in the membrane blocks, their material and appearance need to meet higher standards than the insulating panels for filling, thus the cost will be raised, and renovation of appearance would be far less convenient than changing of membranes. Yes for some houses with certain requirements, this way of directly using insulating panels can also be applied. Then, sealing between the panels may be done through concave and convex channels (one side concave, the other side convex, so that they can seal when pushed together).
When doing all the above types of thermal insulating renovation on houses already built, it should be avoided to do each user's area separately. The renovation should be done together, so that materials and labor won't be wasted for insulation of partition walls.
If glass is directly moulded into the above wall block, roof block, door, and window, they are weightier than acrylic and ordinary plastics. But their weight can be greatly reduced by making the inner layers of glass much thinner. For these glass blocks, the above installation by suspension, horizontal or oblique installation, installation by inverted hanging, etc. can also be applied; and the protective railing and net, the same sealing and drainage methods therein can be applied as well. By this means, a lot of labor and materials can be spared during their assemblage and installation, lowering the cost of house construction to a large extent (If mass production of the glass blocks is done, their cost may be lower than the assembled thin glass wall block and roof block described earlier in Implementation Methods of Insulated Glass Curtain Wall-C), yet their insulating performance, strength, and appearance won't be second to the other materials and installation methods described above, and can be put to permanent use. This type of glass wall block, roof block, door, and window may be more popular.
To reduce the weight of glass wall block, roof block, door and window as much as possible, it can be done to combine the ways of directly moulding, welding, gluing, etc. (for example, the sides may be produced by directly moulding; then the ultrathin inner glass layers can be installed to the sides by welding or gluing). As the door and window may be shaken, each of their layers must be able to withstand the impact and vibration.
The glass wall block, roof block, door and window produced by directly moulding and welding etc. can avoiding deformation by virtue of their sides that are made as one body. At the same time, the installation by suspension, horizontal or oblique installation, installation by inverted hanging, etc. can be applied on the wall block and roof block. Therefore, the fasteners described earlier (in Technical Solutions-1Da, and
The hinges on the door and window (see Technical Solutions-1Db, and
If the above glass wall block, roof block, door and window produced by directly moulding etc. are used for thermal insulation of houses already built, their installation and removal are rather convenient, and the insulating performance can be not second to any other insulated houses; Furthermore, they can be put to permanent use. At the same time, their face panels of thick glass can make installation of anti-burglary door and window unnecessary. However, they can be weighty. Thus it's better to combine them with the above acrylic, ordinary plastics, etc., and be mainly used for the door and window.
F) When glass wall blocks are installed between the floors, the outside of house frame needs to be decorated. For this, bolts can be pre-embedded at the corresponding positions in the concrete frame (the head of bolt can be buried inwardly in the concrete), so that the insulated short and narrow walls, and decorative panels can be installed with convenience. It shall be avoided to put many chemical bolts into the concrete frame. If the frame is of steel structure, the bolts shall also be installed beforehand.
In areas of mild climate, if the desired insulating levels can be attained without insulation of the house frame, then the short and narrow walls can be omitted. For the decoration, connectors of decorative panels can be fixed to the pre-embedded or pre-installed bolts. This method can bring convenience to installation of metal decorative panels, as the connectors can be easily welded to the back of the panels. If panels of stone or ceramic etc. are to be installed, the pre-embedded pieces in
Decoration of the house frame needs to be done before installation of the glass wall blocks, so that it can be more convenient to convey their materials and to install.
3) Implementation of Stone, Ceramic, Metal, etc. Curtain Walls:
A) Bearing of these curtain walls must be done by main walls of high strength, especially in the case of stone curtain walls, which are usually quite heavy. If the metal, etc. curtain walls are much lighter, the requirements on strength of the bearing mains walls can be lowered. Whether hollow bricks or light concrete blocks can be laid to reach the needed strengths must be determined by their specific dimensions and by testing.
When building walls of bricks or concrete blocks, among the bricks or concrete blocks of greater thickness can be laid ones of smaller thickness at every curtain height, while parts a, b, and parts a1, b1 in
B) Every face panel can be fixed by 4 step-shaped metal plates. Positions and installation order of these metal plates can be as follows: In
Step-shaped metal plate g1's two bolts f11, f22 (see
During installation of the face panels, extended sleeves or transmission sleeves, transmission spanners need to be used for adjustment of bolt nuts and bolt heads located at the lower layer or at the inner side.
As in
The transmission sleeve can have a structure as follows: In
When operating the transmission sleeve, one hand of the operator can hold handle 7, the other hand hold rotating disc 5, then turn rotating disc 5. If the part of bolt shaft beyond a bold nut is long, then a sleeve 6 long enough needs to be assembled for the work, so as to avoid that the sleeve cannot reach the bolt nut or that it be pushed out when the bolt nut is being turned.
If the space between the curtain wall's face panel and the main wall is not wide enough to hold the transmission sleeve, then a transmission spanner of the following structure can be used: In
This transmission spanner can also have a sleeve assembled at its metal disc c, which sleeve can be set in a opposite direction to that of sleeve 6 in
If it is needed to reduce the noise made by this transmission spanner's sliding of metal at its hollow gear 1's groove, a bearing can be installed (This can also be applied with the other transmission spanners in the following text).
If it is needed to turn two bolt nuts or bolt heads of the face panel's connectors at the same time, double extended sleeves, double transmission sleeves (or spanners) can be used. Compared to single sleeve (and spanner), double sleeves (and spanners) can speed up the operation. However, for some fine adjustment, the former still needs to be used.
The double extended sleeves can turn vertical bolt heads. Their structure can be as per
The horizontal double transmission spanners can turn bolt nuts in the outward-inward direction (the bolts perpendicular to the wall). Their structure can be as per
The vertical double transmission spanners can turn horizontal bolt nuts. Their structure can be as per
When turning rod 6 is turned to be perpendicular to metal bar 3, groove 6a at each end of rod 6 shall fully push chain 7 apart so that gear 2 breaks away from the chain and can be moved up and down; At the same time, the turning rod's fastener 8 shall be put against metal bar 3 so that the turning rod won't be able to move back; and stopping piece 8a shall prevent the turning rod from continuing to turn. When gear 2 has been pulled to the position of its corresponding bolt nut and put around it, release fastener 8 and rotate turning rod 6 to a position parallel to metal bar 3; Then push fastener 8 onto stopping piece 8b to be fastened. When turning rod 6 is parallel to metal bar 3, pivot d is pushed to the high-most position; When turning 6 is perpendicular to metal bar 3, pivot d is pulled to the low-most position. A different position of connecting point between connecting rod 5 and turning rod 6 can make pivot d move along rails dl for a different distance. This distance shall equal the needed descending distance of pivot d to let turning rod 6 fully push aside chain 7 and let chain 7 never break away from gears 1, 4. Rotating disc 9 is fixed on gear 4 (In the front view of
Fastener 8's section is in
The double transmission sleeves can turn horizontal bolt nuts, and can be set in the same way as double spanners. But they usually do not need to be used.
In addition, when the turning bolt nuts d, d1, d4, d5 and turning bolt heads d2, d3 in
In
C) When the curtain wall's face panels have been installed to position, the gap between two adjacent panels shall be sealed, so as to prevent rain from going to the inside and rust the metal connectors.
The strength and service life of this type of curtain wall won't be second to any other types of curtain wall.
D) On traditional stone, ceramic, metal, etc. curtain walls already built, if renovation for high insulation needs to be done, a cavity, insulating layer, and inner wall can be set behind the original wall. Metal connectors can be installed with reference to what's described earlier in Technical Solutions-2D (
Meanwhile, every item of the Face-brick External Wall's extended techniques described earlier (see Implementation of the Insulated House-1B) can be applied, and the direction shall be reversed (the face-brick shall be set at the inner side), so that the insulation can be further boosted, the weight can be decreased, and the construction simplified. On the whole, as the wall's overall weight will be increased, calculations on the house's structure and the foundation's load need to be done, and reinforcement shall be made for the structure and foundation if necessary.
If light steel frames and gypsum panels are used for the inner wall, the strength will be greatly decreased, and the cost has no advantage. But it will be lighter than inner walls of many other materials (excluding inner wall of thin light concrete); then it can be applied on houses with limited strength of structure and foundation.
4) Implementation of the Insulated Decorative Wall and Plastered Wall : When newly building a house with insulated decorative wall and plastered wall, as the weight of the face materials is lighter than that of stone curtain wall, the Face-brick External Wall's extended techniques described earlier (see Implementation of the Insulated House-1B) can be applied with more convenience, and the direction shall be reversed. After the external wall, inner wall, and insulating layer have been built and installed, the work of sticking decorative ceramic tiles, plastering, etc. can start on the external wall of light concrete (or other materials). If the external wall has the Bolt-type Connection with the inner wall, then the work of building the inner wall and installing the insulating layer can be started after the external wall and the external decoration have be completed.
If thermal insulating renovation on already-built decorative walls and plastered walls is being done, the methods described earlier (see Implementation of Stone, Ceramic, Metal, etc. Curtain Walls-D) can be fully applied.
5) Construction Cost and Economic Benefits of High-insulation House: The high-insulation house (including its door, window, curtain wall, decorative wall, plastered wall, etc.) built with the above techniques has an insulating layer added at its external wall, floor, etc., which insulating layer's cost is not high; The Face-brick External Wall has the hollow face bricks added, whose cost is also rather low; The stone, ceramic, metal, etc. curtain walls can spare the huge metal frames, thus the cost can be lowered greatly; The door, window, and glass curtain wall apply multiple-layer glasses, greatly reducing the amount of metal for use, thus the cost can also be lowered to a large extent; The insulation by membranes instead of panels can decrease the cost for many folds and make the general use of high-insulation house just one step away. In conclusion, the construction cost of the high-insulation house would not rise, but fall to a quite big extent. On the other hand, it can greatly reduce the need of air-conditioning and heating, cutting a lot of expenditure for users, saving considerable energy for the society (with general use, the energy it can save each year is equal to multiple times what's yearly generated by the Three Gorges Power Station), contributing what it could for the development of economy and society.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201610000457.1 | Jan 2016 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2016/113458 | 12/30/2016 | WO | 00 |
