Exterior building cladding having rigid foam layer with drain channels

Abstract

A novel building construction is described for exterior building walls. The construction comprises an interior frame formed of a plurality of laterally spaced studs or beams, a layer of rigid insulation adjacent to the exterior side of this steel frame, exterior building cladding adjacent the exterior side of the rigid insulation and a plurality of low conductivity connectors, e.g. insulating plastic connectors or thin metal strips having an insulating plastic foam coating, extending through the layer of rigid insulation and connecting together the exterior cladding and the interior steel studs or beams. Vertical channels are formed adjacent both the inside and outside faces of the insulation layer to remove moisture. This provides the required structural strength with a minimum of thermal conductivity from the warm side to the cold side of the building envelope, while providing exterior drain channels and interior moisture removing channels.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.