Unintended consequence

A common example of poor detailing we see are thermal breaks that are too thin. Although a bit counterintuitive, including a structural thermal break that is too thin can actually worsen the thermal performance of a connection.

This is because to introduce a  structural thermal break, you typically have to introduce end plates into what was previously a continuous beam. Introducing end plates increases the surface area of a connection. If the thermal break is too thin, the increased surface area introduced by the end plates can result in an increase in the total heat transfer across the connection rather than a reduction!