Tilt Up Concrete Wall R Value

The standard r value of ready mix concrete used in the tilt up industry including the air film is 1 49 for an 8 inch wall panel.

Tilt up concrete wall r value.

Astm c1363 effective r value testing typical physical properties wall assembly description eff. The 3 most common insulation methods for tilt up concrete construction. As we said before the r value measures the thermal resistance of a material. As building codes require greater energy efficiency the thickness of insulation increases.

The steady state thermal analysis shows the total isothermal r value for the wall with the ability to factor in thermal breaks such as metal ties or solid concrete sections. The r value of an uninsulated 8 inch thick basement wall built using normal weight concrete is 1 35 based on data from the 1993 american society of heating refrigeration and air conditioning engineers handbook. Walls can range from r values of about 2 for uninsulated panels up to about 32 for walls containing thicker layers of insulation. What s the r value of a tilt up concrete wall the simple answer to the question is solid tilt up concrete panels have very little r value 0 08per inch.

But like all concrete systems tilt up offers high thermal mass and airtight construction. By doubling the thickness of the wall to 16 inches the r value only increases by 0 50. You will notice in the findings shown in the isothermal analysis that the thermomass wall panel has a material r value of r 11 49. In fact concrete allows energy to flow through it roughly 60x faster than insulation.

However insulation can be added easily to any tilt up panel.