Thermal Bridging in Facade Systems: Point, Linear and FEA-Based U-Value Analysis
From Fragment Selection to a Verified Report — A Complete Practical Framework for 3D Facade Thermal Bridge Modelling
Course Description
This comprehensive technical CPD course provides façade engineers and building envelope specialists with a complete, hands-on framework for calculating the thermal performance of real facade junctions and fixings using three-dimensional (3D) thermal modelling.
The course takes one real rainscreen facade — a solid wall with a light steel framing (LSFS) zone and a concrete-backed zone, both fixed with brackets through the insulation — and follows the complete workflow end to end: selecting a repeating calculation fragment, building an accurate 3D model in CAD, importing it into a specialist thermal modelling programme, assigning materials and boundary conditions, verifying the model, running the calculation, reading the results, and producing a report another engineer can reproduce. Simplified, layer-by-layer calculation methods work well for a flat, even wall. But wherever metal crosses the insulation — a rainscreen bracket, a steel stud, or both together at a single point — the heat loss becomes three-dimensional, and simplified methods can no longer see it. The course shows exactly when 3D analysis becomes necessary, and how to run it so the result can be trusted and defended.
The course is unusually direct about where this kind of modelling goes wrong. A 3D thermal modelling programme rarely warns you when something is wrong — a lost bracket, a misplaced boundary condition, a unit mismatch — the calculation simply runs and produces a plausible-looking wrong answer. You will learn the checks that catch these errors at each stage, before they reach a client report.
Presented by Eugene Korch (façade engineer and IAST Programme Director), the course combines a real worked example with the judgement behind every modelling decision, using international methodology and reporting conventions throughout.
Designed for professionals working across multiple markets, the course is built around ISO 10211 methodology, with UK, US, and Australian reporting and compliance conventions — giving you a framework that applies regardless of which regulatory system your project sits under.
Included in Facade Intelligence Professional Membership (FI PRO)
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
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Recognise when a facade junction or fixing requires 3D thermal modelling, and when a simplified layer calculation is still sufficient
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Select a repeating calculation fragment correctly, applying the line-of-symmetry rule and capturing every bracket type present
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Identify why zones with different constructions — light steel framing and concrete backup, for example — must be modelled and calculated separately, and confirm a chosen fragment against its neighbours
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Assemble the three groups of input data a 3D thermal model needs before any software is opened: drawings and element geometry, material thermal conductivity, and boundary conditions
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Build a simplified but faithful 3D model of a facade fragment in CAD, keeping every element — insulation, bracket, stud, thermal break, fixing — as its own separate body
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Export a CAD model correctly for import into a thermal modelling programme, avoiding the unit and geometry errors that cause a silent, wrong result
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Assign materials by colour, set a calculation grid fine enough to keep thin metal elements from disappearing, and prepare a model ready to calculate
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Set correct boundary conditions for a steady-state heat-loss calculation, including the special case of a ventilated cavity and where its outer boundary belongs
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Verify a 3D thermal model before calculating, catching the fragment, model set-up, and boundary errors that never trigger a warning
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Run a 3D calculation, confirm it has converged, and apply the three checks that separate a trustworthy result from one that only looks trustworthy: heat balance, temperature picture, and system versus base U-value
What's Covered
Part 1 — Why 3D Analysis, and Selecting the Right Fragment
Why simplified, layer-by-layer calculation cannot see a bracket or stud crossing the insulation, and when the applicable standard recommends or requires 3D analysis.
Reading a real façade: separating zones with different constructions before choosing a fragment for each.
The rule for finding a repeating calculation fragment: cutting along a line of symmetry, and capturing every bracket type that appears.
Confirming a chosen fragment truly repeats by checking it against its neighbours.
Part 2 — Collecting Input Data and Building the 3D Model
The three data groups every 3D model needs: drawings and element geometry, material thermal conductivity (λ) values, and boundary conditions.
Where to source thermal conductivity values, in order of priority, and how to handle a bracket with an unconfirmed metal grade.
Building the fragment in CAD as separate bodies, layer by layer, and where the model boundary stops — the outer face of the insulation.
Simplifying real bracket and fixing geometry without losing the dimensions that control the heat result.
Exporting to a 3D file format correctly: matching units, one body per file, and closed surfaces.
Part 3 — Importing, Materials, and Boundary Conditions
How a 3D thermal modelling programme sees a model: blocks, overlap order, and why the fixing system is added after the insulation.
Assigning materials by colour, and the coarse-grid error that makes a thin bracket or stud disappear from the calculation.
Setting boundary conditions correctly: indoor and outdoor conditions, and why the side faces of a fragment are left untouched.
The special case of a ventilated cavity, and where its outer boundary belongs.
Part 4 — Verification, Calculation, and Reading the Results
Why this kind of programme never warns you when something is wrong, and the checks that catch it before you calculate.
The single most dangerous error in 3D façade modelling, and the one setting that fixes it.
Running the calculation, watching it converge, and the three checks that confirm a result can be trusted: heat balance, temperature picture, and system U-value versus base U-value.
Reading temperature-field and heat-flow images correctly, and what a system U-value comparison actually tells a client.
Part 5 — Reporting, Common Errors, and the Bigger Picture
What a defensible calculation report must contain, so another engineer can reproduce your result from scratch.
Building a comparison table when more than one fixing option is calculated.
The errors that hide in fragment selection, model set-up, and results reading — and how to catch every one of them.
Where 3D façade thermal bridge modelling fits alongside simplified U-value calculation and linear and point thermal bridge methods, and what comes next.
Your Instructor
Programme Director, IAST Eugene Korch
Eugene is a façade engineer and educator with extensive experience in building envelope design and technical specification. Through the Institute for Architectural Science and Technology (IAST) and Facade Intelligence, he delivers CPD training to architects and construction professionals across the UK. His teaching approach emphasizes practical application and accessibility, making complex technical subjects understandable for design professionals.
Course Schedule
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Course Overview
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Course Objectives
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How to Navigate the Learning Materials
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Introduction Video
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Lecture
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Technical Seminar with Q&A
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Post-Lecture Reading List
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Knowledge Check
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Certificate: Download & Share
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About this course
- £120.00
- Practice test questions
- CPD Certificate: 2 hrs
- Interactive 3D models
Who Should Enrol
This course is designed for:
Façade Engineers building foundational and practical skill in 3D thermal bridge modelling.
Junior Façade Engineers developing hands-on modelling competence, start to finish.
Architectural Technologists and Envelope Designers specifying rainscreen and framed façade fixing systems.
Façade Specialist Contractors requiring technical knowledge of 3D calculation methods and verification.
Building Envelope Consultants reviewing or producing 3D thermal bridge calculations for regulatory submission.
Thermal and Building Physics Consultants working across multiple markets and modelling programmes.
CAD/BIM Technicians producing the 3D geometry that feeds a thermal model.
Project Managers and Design Managers overseeing façade packages where 3D thermal compliance is a deliverable.
Course Details
Format: Self-paced online course with video lectures.
Duration: Approximately 75 minutes.
CPD Points: 2 hours structured CPD / 2 Learning Units.
Access: 12 months from enrolment.
Certificate: CPD certificate issued upon completion.
Prerequisites: Recommended — a working understanding of basic U-value calculation, layer terminology, and cavity classification (covered in our foundational thermal analysis course).
What Makes This Course Different
Hands-on, not theoretical: one real façade fragment, modelled start to finish in CAD and a specialist 3D thermal modelling programme — not a slideshow of formulas.
Honest about the traps: the invisible errors a 3D thermal modelling programme never warns you about, and exactly how to catch each one.
Built-in verification at every stage: a checklist after every workflow step, so an error is caught where it is cheapest to fix.
International scope: worked using ISO 10211 methodology, with UK, US, and Australian reporting and compliance conventions.
A result you can defend: ends with a report structure built for independent verification, not just a number.
Join the Facade Intelligence Professional Membership (FI PRO)
Membership fees start from £320 per year
Gain access to all upcoming seminars and a wide range of the most sought-after short courses.
Corporate discounts are available for teams of 10 or more.
For a bespoke quote, please contact our team at [email protected].
