Exterior Walls

Exterior Wall Performance Criteria

• Aesthetic
– Views, controlled visibility of external environment
– Architectural design intention
– Allows easy maintenance, repair, replacement and disassembly
• Structural and safety
– Carry vertical load, protect the building
– Resist wind forces, seismic loads
– Minimize fire hazard
– Basic security
• Environmental control
– Control heat flow
– Control water vapor migration
– Control/admit daylight
– Control air movement
– Minimize sound transmission
 Selection Considerations

• Function of the building and its imposed requirements

• Form/height of the building
• Structural frame; short/long span, spacing of
horizontal members
• Ground conditions
• Structural stability and integrity under loads
• Durability under environmental factors
• Economy in initial and maintenance costs
• Aesthetic quality
Wall Assembly Classifications

1. Bearing walls
2. Nonbearing walls
3. Curtain walls
4. Grid type walls
5. Wall panels
6. Faced walls
7. Masonry walls
8. Shear walls
1. Bearing walls = superimposed load + its weight

2. Nonbearing walls = its weight + foundation/ground

support
 Curtain walls =
nonbearing + frame
support

Grid type walls = vertical +

horizontal frame + floor,
roof assembly + infill panels
Wall panels = prefab panel
spanning between floor to roof or
floor as whole wall assembly

Faced walls – functioning as facing or backup for

facing + backup walls (bearing/nonbearing or curtain,
prefab, metal, composite, ceramic, stucco
Masonry walls – composite or cavity

Shear walls – any of the

above when it is designed
to resist horizontal forces
in the plane of the wall
 Curtain Wall Panels
Materials Construction system
1. Metal 1. Extends from foundation to
2. Concrete roof
3. Glass 2. Floor to floor
4. Plastics 3. Window header to window
5. Preassembled bricks sill of the floor above
4. May incorporate windows
Types
1. Formed panels
2. Composite panels
3. Monolithic
4. Preassembled
 1. Formed Panels
1. Single thickness panels – generally
corrugated of metal, plastic, cement-bound
mineral fiber in various configurations
2. Sandwich panels – single thickness metal
panel connected to inner face through
structural steel framing, fire-resistant rated,
surface be unfinished when nonferrous,
treated or coated
 2. Composite Panels
1. Composite laminated – metal or cement-
bound mineral fiber outer face, rigid board,
rigid insulation, fiber or metal honeycomb
interior core, structural steel frame.
2. Composite cast – polymer or regular
concrete, structural frame: steel or concrete
 3. Monolithic Panels
1. Regular concrete – with normal or
lightweight aggregate; outer face of different
textures; supported by structural steel clips,
directly on foundation, laterally braced by the
frame; structural frame: steel, concrete
 4. Preassembled Panel Systems
• Total envelope and structural system with
prefinished facing panels attached to
preassembled framing ready-to-be-installed
units; structural frame: steel or concrete
 Intelligent Surfaces

• Photocatalysis – light absorbing

• Superhydrophilicity – spreads water evenly
• Photovoltaics