Architects, contractors and building owners require durable products that can withstand climate extremes for optimal thermal performance. Learn more about our Thermal Barrier Technology and how it can enhance the energy efficiency of our systems and products. You can also view the wide range of products in our portfolio.
Kawneer designs systems and products to optimize occupant comfort, energy savings, structural performance, sustainability and condensation resistance.
Since aluminum has a high level of heat transfer via conduction, a thermal barrier must be integrated into the system to minimize heat transfer. Without additional thermal barriers, weather extremes can permeate under-designed fenestrations, lowering the comfort of occupants and raising operating costs. Made from low conductive materials, our resilient Thermal Barriers are used within framing systems to separate the interior metal from the exterior metal and reduce heat loss.
We have a wide range of thermal barriers and products that cater to the structural load of different projects and consider the impact of tension, torsion and sheer. All three load conditions are transferred through the thermal barrier; therefore, a barrier must withstand these forces. Kawneer façade systems with thermal barriers carefully consider the type of thermal barrier that is required. By accounting for internal and external forces they might encounter, Kawneer enables architects, contractors and building owners to advance architectural design by improving the performance, productivity and protection of the buildings they design, construct or remodel.
To assist architects and designers in understanding the product thermal performance with warm-edge spacers, simply switching from a metal spacer to a warm-edge spacer without changing the framing system or glazing package, could reduce the overall product U-factor significantly, improve condensation resistance and potentially help to meet project requirements without incremental cost.
Warm-edge spacers are lower conducting edge bonding systems made with either non-metallic, foam or composite materials. Their usage has increased overtime as more commercial glazing fabricators have incorporated warm-edge spacer technology as part of their glazing offering.
Kawneer provides the overall fenestration system’s thermal performance data with various center of glass and spacer system types. All leading glazing fabricators have incorporated warm-edge spacer technology into their offering. Spacer manufacturers have been creating awareness in the industry about the availability and benefits of warm-edge spacers.
Download our White Paper on Warm-Edge Spacers:
Warm-Edge Spacer White Paper
The patented IsoPour™ Thermal Break technology merges industry-proven pour and debridge, and polymer isolator technologies, creating thermally broken assemblies for enhanced building energy efficiencies with high structural performance.
IsoPour™ Thermal Break technology helps eliminate cold spots, reduce condensation and provides dual finish options for design flexibility. The unique thermal break allows for more complex aluminum extrusion shapes and a wider choice of locking option hardware for thermally broken doors.
Related products:
A continuous polyamide thermal break applied vertically and horizontally helps provide ultra-thermal performance levels. Extruded polymer inserts allow a great deal of flexibility – changing the depth of the infill from a double insulating glass unit (IGU) to a triple IGU is as easy as changing the depth of the thermal separator. Depending on the depth of the separator and IGU type, the performance can be thermal, high-thermal or ultra-thermal.
This technology offers design flexibility for different exterior and interior finishes and allows architects and designers to take their vision to a new level, regardless of climate or location.
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Pour and debridge (P&D) thermal breaks offer a cost-effective solution with superior thermal performance and a single-piece extrusion. Options are available in single and dual pocket designs.
Factory-supplied P&D products involve pouring liquid urethane into a cavity or thermal pocket, allowing it to harden and cutting away a small section of aluminum opposite the pour area to fully separate the exterior aluminum from the interior aluminum. This thermal barrier enables to reduce labor and costs as there are fewer parts to cut and assemble.
Kawneer’s P&D thermal products utilize an IsoLock® process to eliminate expansion and contraction of urethane. The IsoLock® process can be achieved by one of two means. Prior to the pouring operation, the aluminum is either lanced into the cavity at increments of 1-1/2”, or the interior of the thermal pocket is abraded. The lanced or abraded surface creates a mechanical lock in the urethane before it hardens, eliminating any potential for shrinkage. The mechanical locks, combined with the adhesive bond of the urethane to the aluminum, creating a composite section used to meet design wind loads.
Related products:
Trifab® 451T Framing System, Trifab® 601T Framing System, IR 501T Framing System, 8400TL Thermal Windows, MetroView® FG 501T Window Wall
Related products with dual IsoLock® lanced pour and debridge thermal breaks:
Trifab® 451UT Framing System, Trifab® 601UT Framing System, IR 501UT Framing System
Thermal separators are typically made from engineered polymers or EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) and used in curtain wall systems.
The low-conductance separator is positioned within the gutter of exterior-glazed curtain wall systems to separate the pressure plate and cover simply and effectively from the inside. This allows the interior mullion to carry the load for high structural performance and the exterior snap-on cover to have a different finish from the interior.
Systems with this thermal break method can be leveraged for both double and triple pane insulating glass.
Related products:
1600 Wall System®1 Curtain Wall, 1600UT System™1 Curtain Wall
The thermal isolator clip method used on curtain walls efficiently isolate the interior trim from the structural mullion, improving the U-factor and CRF (condensation resistance factor) of these products.
This cost-effective thermal barrier is typically considered to be thermally improved and provides the capability for different interior and exterior finishes.
Related products:
2250 IG (Inside Glazed) Curtain Wall System, 1600 Wall System®5 Curtain Wall
The patented IsoStrut® Thermal Break method achieves a high-strength bond between the aluminum and the thermal break material, which creates a composite assembly suitable for use in monumental curtain walls.
With the assembly comprising of two separate aluminum extrusions, different exterior and interior finishes are possible at very competitive prices.
Related products:
1600 Wall System®3 Curtain Wall, 1600 Wall System®4 Curtain Wall
Engineered polymer clips are placed intermittently to separate the face and gutter of low-rise curtain walls and other framing systems. The clip eliminates contact between exterior and interior aluminum, reducing the transfer of heat from the inside to the outside or vice versa and helping prevent interior condensation.
The dual-purpose clip separates and connects the two extrusion halves, providing a variety of combinations that can be joined for economy and strength. The two-piece system also allows different finish combinations for design and cost flexibility.
This thermal barrier is typically considered to be thermally improved.
Related products:
2250 L-R Wall System, EnCORE® Framing System
Consisting of two parallel glass-reinforced nylon strips installed continuously along the length of the extrusion, the IsoWeb® thermal break system improves the U-factor and CRF.
The depth of the thermal break can accommodate standard insulating infills of 1” thick or it can be increased to accept high-performance, triple-sealed insulating units.
Like the IsoStrut thermal break, two separate extrusions are used in the assembly, allowing for different finishes on the interior and exterior. The mechanical lock at the nylon/aluminum interface provides a stiff composite section which is used in windows and framing systems.
Related products:
5500/5525 Thermal Windows, AA®6400/6500/6600 Thermal Windows, OptiQ®AA®4325 Series Windows, OptiQ®AA®5450 Series Windows, AA®250/425 Thermal Entrances, 2000T Terrace Doors, AA®3200 Thermal Sliding Doors, PG 123® Framing, 7500 Wall® Curtain Wall System
For decades, Kawneer has utilized its leading-edge knowledge of materials and manufacturing to design innovative products for increased thermal performance and energy conservation.
Kawneer incorporates invaluable decades of experience with its philosophy of providing only the highest-quality products for the manufacture of thermal products.
Drawing on a long history of innovation, Kawneer creates next-generation technologies that inspire architects, contractors and glaziers to build better a better future. Our complete line of thermal framing, curtain walls and windows are designed with two principles in mind:
In today’s highly competitive new construction and retrofit markets, we recognize the importance of quality assurance. And a large part of that assurance comes from delivering the right product for your specific project.
Kawneer’s thermal products offer a legacy of quality and a product line precisely engineered to solve most thermal challenges, supported by strict quality control during the manufacturing process. All products are manufactured and tested according to applicable NFRC, AAMA and ASTM procedures.
Hurricane Resistant products protect people and property from the impact of hurricanes, storms and wind-borne debris.
Blast Mitigation products are designed to strengthen the defense against damage and devastation and protect what’s inside.
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