ᐅ Porous bricks (thermal conductivity 0.09 W/m·K) / Meier M10 insulation block (thermal conductivity 0.10 W/m·K)

Hello,

regarding this final remaining question (which exterior wall), I registered in this forum and have already read various answers. Unfortunately, without success, as mostly different or even all types of bricks were compared together.

Our / my problem is that we will be building next year. The general contractor has already been selected (there was a long period of comparison and contract review), but I simply don’t know which brick to use for the exterior wall.

The plan is a gable roof house with a basement (140 sqm (1507 sq ft) living area) in a quiet corner location (for sound insulation). We have not planned for mechanical ventilation. I think it will work without, and as for the exterior wall, we have also ruled out sand-lime bricks and ETICS (external thermal insulation composite system).

However, the only question left is: which brick should it be?

• - Porous brick (Lambda 0.09) or
• - Meier M10 insulation block (Lambda 0.10 and €3600 more expensive compared to the porous brick)
• The Meier M10 insulation block is a solid block made of lightweight concrete based on high-quality washed pumice and expanded clay Liapor

Do professionals (I really have no expertise at all) have a recommendation based on the above facts? It is clear that there is no single best brick or a standard solution for this.

But unfortunately, I have no indication of which way to go, and so far it could be decided by a coin toss.

A little about me for a brief introduction: I am 31 years old, married, and have two children—a daughter (3 years old) and a son (3 months old).

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

Best regards,
Chris Braun

In my opinion, the downside of porous bricks is that their sound insulation is not very good. However, that might not be important for you since you live in a quiet area. Which type of brick are you planning to use for the interior walls?

It’s also difficult to fix things securely to porous bricks. Filled bricks are better in that regard.

What about calcium silicate bricks and facing bricks?

Hello, thank you very much for the quick response. The interior walls will be made of limestone.

It is helpful to know about the fixing method. I was just googling what sand-lime brick and facing bricks mean, as these topics have not come up before since they were not the focus and I wasn’t familiar with them.

The following types of exterior walls were always discussed with basically all general contractors / main contractors:
- Sand-lime brick + ETICS (External Thermal Insulation Composite System)
- Insulated block
- Porous brick

All other types of bricks or materials were neither considered nor mentioned during the discussions.

Since we are not experts, our frame of reference in conversations with a developer was always colleagues or friends who recently built, and only the types of bricks listed above were used there.

Thank you very much.