ᐅ Solid Wall House: Which Type of Block? Poroton, Liapor / Expanded Clay, Ytong?

Thanks for the comment – it pointed us back towards calcium silicate brick... we will make a final decision once the energy saving regulation calculation is done or depending on the type of heating system (for an air-to-water heat pump, more likely aerated concrete; for a ground-source heat pump, more likely calcium silicate brick).
An alternative to external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) is clinker brick with mineral wool insulation. No issues with woodpeckers (and if they do appear, the woodpecker has earned it).

From a purely ecological perspective, I would prefer the red Poroton. In my view, it is a stone that still comes from nature, unlike the other options, which are mostly chemical-based.

BeHaElJa schrieb:
An alternative to ETICS (External Thermal Insulation Composite System) is clinker brick with mineral wool. No problems with woodpeckers (and if there are, the woodpecker has earned it)

If the money is there... but maybe the woodpecker will make money somehow
I’m also not sure how far you actually get with thermal performance in this case. Because if you use an insulated brick on the outside or inside, the basic building physics principle at least partly becomes irrelevant.

derstefanm schrieb:
I would prefer the red Poroton brick from a purely ecological point of view. In my opinion, it is still a natural material, unlike the other competitors which are mostly chemical products.

And what exactly is ecological about Poroton? None of the modern building materials come directly from nature, except the raw materials they are made of, and I don’t see why that would make it better. If you’re worried about organic materials, you can also build an ETICS with stone wool insulation. On the other hand, I would (perhaps unjustifiably) be concerned about moisture build-up with that.

There is a lot of advertising and almost religious talk around this. That’s why I always prefer to focus objectively on physics and technology. The claim that “each component has a function” from the sand-lime brick advertising is just as meaningless a priori as the “monolithic is better” from Ytong or the “everything is ecological” claim from Poroton (or all the wood-based stories). In the end, what matters are the characteristics of the masonry and the cost, and how both suit the builder’s needs.

0.2 W/m²K with 17.5 cm (7 inches) of sand-lime brick and 16 cm (6 inches) of mineral wool. It’s borderline but acceptable. That results in about 700 kWh per year compared to 0.15 W/m²K here (which would be aerated concrete) – so roughly 40 €. It would just be annoying if this caused the KfW55 standard to fail... hence the wait for the calculation. HT could probably calculate it themselves, but I would definitely mess something up somewhere.

BeHaElJa schrieb:
0.2 W/m²K with 17.5cm (7 inches) calcium silicate block and 16cm (6 inches) mineral wool. It’s borderline but acceptable. This results in about 700 kWh per year compared to 0.15 W/m²K in our case (which would be aerated concrete) – so roughly €40. It would only be annoying if this caused the building to fail KFW55 certification... that’s why we are waiting for the calculation – HT could probably calculate it themselves, but I would definitely mess it up somewhere.

If the budget allows for clinker bricks and a brine heat pump, I would rather consider a well-executed external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) with PUR foam and a high-quality render system, or a rainscreen facade (in sandstone look *dream*), as an alternative to clinker bricks instead of using aerated concrete.

I definitely won’t be gluing polyurethane foam panels to the wall—and clinker bricks aren’t that expensive here anyway.