Elastic sealants are indispensable for movement compensation in the building envelope and prevent damage. They ensure air and water tightness – and thus contribute to energy efficiency.
Contemporary facades are usually combinations of a wide range of materials – concrete, glass, wood, metals and plastics. Together, they fulfil a multitude of functional, aesthetic and energetic tasks. But at the same time, the mix of materials and components creates its own problems. After all, every building is subject to a variety of physical stresses, such as wind loads, vibrations or temperature-related expansions, where all parts may react differently.
That is why sealants are of essential importance for the building envelope. As an elastic material, they ensure the closure of component and connection joints and enable the necessary movement compensation of all components. Only by this, damage-free and durable facades are possible at all. Equally important is the energy function of sealants, which influences the energy consumption of the entire building.

Positive effects
Thus, building sealants increase the quality of buildings in terms of air and water tightness. Firstly, they prevent uncontrolled air exchange, which leads to energy loss and can cause damage due to condensation inside the structure. Secondly, they protect the building from weather and ensure the thermal insulation function of the building envelope. Finally, the use of high-quality joint sealants with a long service life contributes to effective CO2 reduction.
In figures
The calculation example for sealing windows of a single-family house shows the impact of the tightness of the building envelope on energy consumption. For example, the energy loss due to air exchange in leaking buildings in the calculation example is 108 MJ/m2 per window, while it is only 28 MJ/m2 (=7,8 kWh/m²a) in sealed buildings. In an example house with 32 m2 total glazed area, airtight window sealing thus results in energy savings of 2,560 MJ (=711 kWh/a).
In addition, an suitable sealant prevents energy losses through damp insulation. In the example house, this would result in a loss of 32 MJ/m2 (= 8,9 kWh/m²a), which does not occur with dry insulation. Thus, protected dry insulation would result in a further annual saving of 1,024 MJ (= 284 kWh/m²a).
In the case study, window sealing of a single-family house results in a total of 3,584 MJ per year, which corresponds to around 1,000 kWh annualy.
Conclusion
In the construction of building envelopes, joint planning and design as well as sealant selection are of great importance. The right construction sealant not only makes an important contribution to the service life and quality of the entire building, but also ensures significant energy savings and thus a reduction in CO2 emissions – on both bothlarge and small scale.
Sources
Gebäude-Energiebilanz, Prüfbericht Berner Fachhochschule Architektur, Holz und Bau, Biel 28.02.2012
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