How to construct a domestic pitched roof with high thermal quality?

The paper at hand collects research findings on the impact of air flow on the thermal performance of pitched roof assemblies. Air flows in these components are typically a mixture of: 1) in/exfiltration, 2) natural convection and 3) wind-washing. In the current building practice the necessity of an air barrier to guarantee the thermal and hygric performance of roofs is well established. Yet the need for a continuous wind barrier to avoid wind-washing of the insulation layer is still often underestimated in practice. In addition the literature review shows that already small leakage paths around the insulation layer may induces an important reduction of the thermal performance due to buoyant driven air loops which is often overlooked in today’s building methods. Based on the findings in the literature the present article puts forward guidelines on how to construct pitched roofs with a robust high thermal performance.