The popular Terraco EIFS Polar System uses XPS (Extruded Polystyrene) board as the insulation material.
XPS (Extruded Polystyrene) is ideally suited to countries which, while being hot, also have high humidity and use airconditioning units inside the building where XPS's low vapour permeability is a distinct advantage reducing condensation.
Furthermore, because of the Polar System's enhanced mechanical properties, it can also be used in high traffic areas or in areas where a 'thinner' insulation material is required. For example, around an opening such as a window or door.
INSULATION MATERIAL
To determine the thickness of the insulation material required in your Terraco EIFS System you need to determine the Thermal Resistance (R) value required to achieve the required U-Value. The lower the U-Value, the better insulation and performance you get from the system.
Terraco EIFS uses insulation materials with low thermal conductivity (λ) to get low U-values and reduce thermal bridging.
| Insulation Board | Thickness (mm) | Thermal Conductivity K-Value [W/(m.K)] |
Thermal Resistance R-Value [(m².K/W] |
Thermal Transmittance U-Value [W/(m².K)] |
 |
50 100 150 200 |
0.030 | 1.67 3.33 5.00 6.67 |
0.60 0.30 0.20 0.15 |
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
The XPS is fixed to the substrate using a combination of adhesives, mechanical fasteners, reinforced with a basecoat and glass fibre mesh, and finished with a decorative wall coating.
The Terraco Polar System consists of the following system components:
| POLAR SYSTEM | ||
| Product Name | Description | |
|
Standard Components |
||
| Terraco Styrofix | An adhesive used to fix the XPS to the substrate. | |
| XPS Insulation Board |
The insulation material thickness is determined by the thermal performance required. | |
| Mechanical Fasteners | Plastic fasteners with plastic or steel pin dowels are used to fix the XPS to the substrate, which also assists with wind shear at higher levels. | |
| System Profiles | A range of accessories required for strengthening and finishing the system - for finishing around window and door openings, and window sills. | |
| Terraco Styrobond DP | The basecoat that is reinforced with a layer of EIFS Glass Fibre Mesh. | |
| Terraco Terramesh | A reinforcing EIFS Glass Fibre Mesh. | |
| Primer | A basecoat substrate penetrating primer - Terraco P Primer. | |
| Decorative Finish | A high performance, decorative wall coating which is sometimes finished with a clear or pigmented top coat. | |
INSTALLATION
The installation of Terraco EIFS needs to be done by an Approved Terraco EIFS Applicator to ensure the validity of the Terraco International EIFS Guarantee. The installation process is fundamental to achieving the best possible results from Terraco EIFS, and failure to follow these requirements could lead to problems with the system or ultimately failure of the system itself.
