Thermal Conductivity of Metal Studs - Metal Stud Wall R-Values

What are the thermal conduction values for metal stud walls?
- What are the R-values of metal stud insulated walls
- Heat flow through walls built using metal studs
- Metal stud thermal short-circuiting studies and heat loss data
- How to save on building energy costs: heating, cooling, electricity usage & cost reductions where metal stud framing is used
- Test data giving effective R-values for nominal 2x4 and 2x6 metal stud walls
Questions & Answers about the effects of metal stud framing on building heating or cooling costs & energy efficiency
Solar Age Magazine Articles on Renewable Energy, Energy Savings, Construction Practices
References

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Metal framing studs & building energy efficiency: this article discusses the thermal properties and heat loss characteristics of metal stud framed walls, including metal stud wall R-values. We include test data giving effective R-values for nominal 2x4 and 2x6 metal stud walls.

Metal Stud Thermal Performance & Thermal Conduction Data

Our page top photo shows a metal stud-wall framed building (Dunkin Donuts) being constructed in Freedom Plains, NY. The question-and-answer article below paraphrases, quotes-from, updates, and comments an original article from Solar Age Magazine and written by Steven Bliss.

Thermal Properties of Metal Stud-Framed Walls

Question:

Commercial buildings are often required by code to be constructed using metal studs. I have been unable to find accurate thermal conduction values for metal studs in exterior building walls.

Do you know of any test data giving effective R-values for nominal 2x4 and 2x6 metal stud walls framed on 16- and 24-inch centers with fiberglass batts in the wall cavities? - Thomas Anderson, IKM SGE, Inc., Architects, Engineers, and Interior Designers, Pittsburgh, PA.

Answer: Two Studies Report on Thermal Properties and Heat Loss Characteristics of Metal Stud Walls

We found what we think are the only two papers on thermal properties of metal stud framed walls. They draw different conclusions.

In the first, written in 1972, J.R. Sasaki of the International Research Council of Canada concluded that metal stud wall R-values were 9 to 13 percent less than the R-value as calculated by the ASHRAE Zone Method. The ASHRAE Zone Method uses a weighted average of the U-Values (see INSULATION R-Values & Properties and see HEAT LOSS R U & K VALUE CALCULATION) of individual elements to calculate the thermal resistance of a multi-component system such as a stud wall.

Sasaki attributed the differences to convective heat transfer in the stud space or convective air exchange through the insulation. The walls in his test, however, were unlike more recent insulated building walls: they had only 2 inches of fiberglass insulation in a 3 1/2" stud cavity.

[That design leaves an open air space that invites in-wall-cavity convection currents. The very large heat losses that can occur with in-wall convection currents is discussed at ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT CASE STUDY and "solved" at ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT LEAK SEALING GUIDE - Ed.]

The second study of metal framed stud wall thermal properties was completed in the 1980's and used modern materials. Donald Larson and Bakhtier Farouk at Drexel University in Philadelphia measured heat flow through a wall built of foil-faced R-11 fiberglass, 1/2-inch drywall, and 0.02-inch-thick steel studs spaced at 16-inches on center.

Using a portable 4-foot-square test plate, they found the wall R-value to be 43-percent lower than that determined by a simple one-dimensional calculation.

The discrepancy, they speculate, was due to increased lateral heat flow through the flanges of the metal stud.

Thermal short-circuit ng was made worse by the foil facing on the insulation.

Larson and Farouk concluded with a note of caution, saying that the test method needed further assessment.

Standard design booklets for metal-stud buildings list R-values for the insulation only - they ignore the metal studs altogether. -- S Bliss.

The question-and-answer article about the thermal properties of metal stud-framed walls, quotes-from, updates, and comments an original article from Solar Age Magazine and written by Steven Bliss.

The link to the original Q&A article in PDF form immediately below is preceded by an expanded/updated online version of this article.

Q&A on Metal-Stud Performance - PDF version, use your browser's back button to return to this page. Original article, Solar Age Magazine, September 1985, adapted and updated for InspectAPedia.com November 2010.

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Technical Reviewers & References

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Solar Age Magazine was the official publication of the American Solar Energy Society. The contemporary solar energy magazine associated with the Society is Solar Today. "Established in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation's leading association of solar professionals & advocates. Our mission is to inspire an era of energy innovation and speed the transition to a sustainable energy economy. We advance education, research and policy. Leading for more than 50 years. ASES leads national efforts to increase the use of solar energy, energy efficiency and other sustainable technologies in the U.S. We publish the award-winning SOLAR TODAY magazine, organize and present the ASES National Solar Conference and lead the ASES National Solar Tour – the largest grassroots solar event in the world."
Steve Bliss's Building Advisor at buildingadvisor.com helps homeowners & contractors plan & complete successful building & remodeling projects: buying land, site work, building design, cost estimating, materials & components, & project management through complete construction. Email: info@buildingadvisor.com
Steven Bliss served as editorial director and co-publisher of The Journal of Light Construction for 16 years and previously as building technology editor for Progressive Builder and Solar Age magazines. He worked in the building trades as a carpenter and design/build contractor for more than ten years and holds a masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Excerpts from his recent book, Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, Wiley (November 18, 2005) ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, appear throughout this website, with permission and courtesy of Wiley & Sons. Best Practices Guide is available from the publisher, J. Wiley & Sons, and also at Amazon.com
Advanced Energy Design Guides for Commercial buildings, developed by ASHRAE, DOE, AIA, IESNA, USGBC
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Christmas in April program - see Rebuilding Together at their website, rebuildingtogether.org or contact Rebuilding Together National Headquarters, 1899 L Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington DC 20036 - 800-473-4229,
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