BTC's Principal Awarded US Patent for New Masonry Anchor Design

Continuing the long tradition of innovation at Building Technology Consultants, Inc. (BTC), BTC’s principal, Kami Farahmandpour, was recently awarded United States Patent Number 9010064 for his invention of a unique masonry anchor that solves many installation and thermal bridging issues in exterior masonry walls with continuous insulation.

Continuous insulation in exterior walls is mandated as a prescriptive requirement of recent energy codes.  Although continuous insulation provides far better overall thermal and moisture performance, it poses some challenges.  These challenges include securement of the insulation, thermal bridging of cladding anchors and their fasteners, the ability of the anchor to span large cavity widths and thick continuous insulation layers, and maintaining a proper water drainage plane between the insulation and back-up wall’s air barrier.  Kami Farahmandpour’s invention solves all of these challenges in a simple device that is easy to install. 

During the development process, Mr. Farahmandpour worked with BTC’s in-house resources to design the device using solid modeling software, and to perform 2-dimensional thermal analyses that confirmed the device’s critical advantage over conventional metal anchors.  He also worked with other experts who performed finite element analyses of the new anchor, and to select a suitable plastic compound for the device that would be durable in use.

Other patents are currently pending for related devices that allow attachment of various cladding systems such as conventional lap siding, stucco, and metal wall panels.