What was researched?
The study compares aluminium, stainless steel and plastic spacer bars: In two modern, conventional low-energy houses with triple and/or double glazing and one passive house – each with a living space of 156 m², in different climate zones, in relation to opportunities for saving heating energy and reducing CO2.
The key results at a glance
For the first time, the independent Passive House Institute in Darmstadt calculated the influence of the spacer bar in the insulating glass in windows on the overall energy requirements of buildings in different climate zones. Compared with aluminium spacer bars, highly efficient plastic spacer bars result in significantly lower energy consumption, CO2 emissions and heating costs in buildings both in the cool/moderate climate and cold climate.
The sample locations chosen were Frankfurt (Germany) for the cool/moderate climate and Helsinki (Finland) for the cold climate. They therefore represent the climate zones in the following countries: UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Benelux, Northern Italy, the Baltic states, Austria, Switzerland.
Here are the key results:
In a second study, concrete figures now also show how much heating and cooling costs South European home-owners can save with plastic spacer bars.
Therefore, three French reference cities that represent three different climate zones in Southern Europe were chosen: Nancy for the cool/moderate climate, La Rochelle for the warm/moderate climate and Nice for the warm climate zone.
They therefore represent the climate zones in the following countries: Italy, Spain, Balkans, Turkey and Middle East.
Here are the key results:
Climate zones at a glance