ᐅ Building with Concrete vs. the 2016 Energy Saving Regulations

Hello everyone!

My issue is basically in the topic title...
We are currently planning a house on a slope with our architect and just received the first draft yesterday, which we really liked.
We had previously discussed that we would like to build with concrete – he wasn’t opposed to it.
Yesterday, we came back to this topic and he mentioned that the energy saving regulations here will be problematic.
He said that Liapor (expanded clay) will not be sufficient at 50cm (20 inches) thickness. Alternatives mentioned were sandwich panels or reinforced concrete with external polystyrene insulation.
Regarding polystyrene on the outside, the thing is that we actually wanted exposed concrete both outside and inside.

I am now looking for input or suggestions on how this could be done within a financially reasonable framework. Any experience, etc. The costs for the whole thing should be comparable to a "normal" quality brick with necessary work like painting, etc.
So, no exorbitant costs just to have concrete... I think it’s clear what I mean.

Do you possibly have any ideas? Maybe also pictures of alternatives and in general m

So, you would like exposed concrete for architectural reasons, which is already a challenge for monolithic solid construction when combined with modern insulation standards. If you also want "not excessive costs," I see this turning into a difficult balancing act.

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Yeah, this will probably fall into the extravagant category, both in terms of cost and taste (finding a development area where this would even be allowed!). Concrete offers virtually no insulation by itself. You will need to find a way to create a suitable wall structure with an insulating layer; otherwise, the project won’t comply with energy-saving regulations and therefore won’t be approved.

alegend schrieb:
and yesterday we received the first draft, which we really liked.

Then you should post it here (in the idea forum). We could figure out how to achieve the concrete house look.

alegend schrieb:
We had talked beforehand that we would like to build with concrete - [...] Liapor (expanded clay) will not be sufficient at 50cm (20 inches) thickness.

I can’t quite make the mental leap from concrete to expanded clay here (?)

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

11ant schrieb:
I don’t make the mental connection from concrete to expanded clay aggregate (?)

Liapor lightweight concrete is made using expanded clay aggregate.

Caspar2020 schrieb:
Liapor lightweight concrete is produced using expanded clay

Liapor is a manufacturer offering various products. Liapor lightweight concrete is not expanded clay itself, but a concrete that uses expanded clay as an aggregate.

From this, there are blocks that resemble pumice stone; or cast walls/wall elements (technically concrete walls, although somewhat more favorable in terms of thermal insulation, and with an appearance similar to terrazzo). I assume you are referring to the latter.

I further assume that you are interested in this surface look (and thus something quite different from what I initially thought with "building in concrete," namely a uniform stone-gray surface with the impressions of the formwork boards used).

So, such a terrazzo look can also be achieved with plaster, without having to use the material desired basically only as a surface in a solid form as the structural wall material. In the "core," this would mean something like expanded clay (e.g., "Poroton") or aerated concrete (e.g., "Ytong").

This approach would allow both: a (lightweight) concrete surface and, at the same time, avoiding thick wall bases that consume too much floor space in order to achieve acceptable thermal transmittance (U) values.

Furthermore, it is also possible to run slots and installations in or under plaster, instead of having to embed them in massive concrete walls or lay them in shafts in front of the walls.

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/