04.02.2025
A modern home must be not only strong and comfortable, but also energy-efficient — because only then can we be reliably protected from the “headache” associated with the need to find resources: first for its construction, and later for insulation and upkeep in conditions of energy scarcity and constantly rising energy costs.
Even at the design stage, it is important to understand that the choice of construction materials largely determines future success — the foundation must be solid, the walls must retain heat, the windows must not let in drafts, and the roof must not leak. Given the diversity of the building materials market today, it is fair to say that our physical and psychological comfort depends entirely on the choices we make.
In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of the importance of energy-efficient solutions in everyday life, and are therefore ready to be especially responsible during the period when such decisions are being made. The very concept of responsibility includes seeking answers to important questions and acquiring new knowledge related to what might seem like a familiar endeavor — building a home.
Building a solid, comfortable, and energy-efficient home is a process of implementing complex decisions. You will need to think through and decide on the foundation structure, the wall materials, the type of windows required, and the roofing for your home. Finding answers to all these and other questions will take considerable time, but a responsible approach to the task will inevitably lead to success.
Everyone understands that the primary purpose of a home’s walls is to reliably protect the interior from the adverse effects of the external environment. External walls (enclosing structures) must, above all, ensure a comfortable microclimate inside the building. The interior of the home must be reliably protected from wind, cold, precipitation, and noise, while simultaneously and efficiently maintaining warmth. At the same time, the walls of the house must be strong and durable.
One of the important characteristics of the structural elements used, which further affects the “economics” of a home, is thermal resistance (R) — the higher it is, the greater the structure’s ability to retain heat inside the building. This value is determined by the thermal conductivity coefficient of a given building material and its thickness within the structure.
The thermal resistance coefficient of enclosing structures (including external walls) during construction is established (regulated) by special building codes (DBN) and depends on the temperature zone of the country in which the building is being constructed. Ukraine currently has two such temperature zones.
The thermal resistance for external walls in Temperature Zone I must be at least 4.0 m²·K/W, and for Temperature Zone II — at least 3.3 m²·K/W.
Therefore, the higher the thermal resistance of the enclosing structure, the more heating costs in winter or cooling costs in summer can be reduced. However, when making a decision, it should be kept in mind that an excessively high thermal resistance will require unreasonably high capital expenditures that will not pay off over the building’s service life. It is therefore important to settle on the optimal characteristics of the wall material for our climatic conditions.
A graphical representation of the relationship between heat loss and the thermal resistance of the enclosing structure (R) is shown in the figure below:
Dependence of heat loss on the thermal resistance of the enclosing structure R
As can be seen from the graph, the relationship is not linear. Heat losses are significant at low thermal resistance values and decrease sharply as resistance increases. Beyond a certain resistance threshold, further incremental increases in R have a considerably smaller effect on heat loss.
In the red zone (1), our “traditional walls” of the past are represented — from silicate or ceramic brick, cinder block, expanded clay concrete panels, and similar materials. The R values of such walls range from 0.7 to 1.2 m²·K/W, meaning heat losses are significant. Such walls can and should be thermally modernized with additional insulation. The cost of insulating them to the standardized values in the green zone (2) will pay off through savings during operation.
The blue zone (3) — enclosing structures with R values of 6.5 m²·K/W and above — represents the concept of the so-called “passive house,” with zero or very low energy consumption. In addition to high thermal resistance requirements for structures, many costly investments will need to be made. For now, this concept is not suited for mass construction; rather, it represents a future to strive toward — “green” construction, a contribution to environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources. However, the increased capital costs during construction are unlikely to be recovered through energy savings over the entire service life of the building under our conditions.
In summary, it can be said that the standard values established by DBN fully align with the trends of energy-efficient construction. For walls made of traditional wall materials, such values are achievable only with additional thermal insulation of appropriate thickness (for example, mineral wool or expanded polystyrene boards).
The most optimal solution for new home construction is the use of modern structural and thermal insulation materials, such as UDK aerated concrete blocks, which will allow you to ensure a comfortable thermal environment with optimal energy efficiency. Such a home will not require additional thermal insulation (see the R-value markers on the graph for UDK aerated concrete block walls at thicknesses of 400 and 500 mm), will be reliable in operation, and will not require insulation replacement over time — meaning it will not require additional financial resources.
Aerated concrete blocks manufactured by UDK LLC are a unique building material that, on one hand, provides sufficient strength for constructing load-bearing walls of multi-story buildings, and on the other, offers excellent thermal insulation properties that allow for the construction of reliable single-layer walls requiring no additional insulation. Blocks made from autoclaved aerated concrete with an average density of 400 kg/m³ are 1.5 times warmer than timber or hollow ceramic blocks, nearly twice as warm as foam concrete or expanded clay concrete blocks, and six times warmer than solid brick walls.
An additional factor: the precise geometry of UDK aerated concrete blocks allows for laying with adhesive mortar at a joint thickness of just 2–3 mm, eliminating thermal bridges in the wall and thereby further reducing the building’s heat losses.
