Which facade is better?

And the strip is exactly the same material as the facing brick, just a slice of it. The external properties, including weather resistance, should then be roughly the same, right?

In terms of weather, probably yes; in terms of frost resistance, the layer thickness might make a difference, or also the "method of installation." The facing brick is traditionally mortar-laid and built up, whereas with the strip, I don't know to what extent a special thin-bed variant might be used. However, I assume there is a significant difference here: the facing brick lies "stone on stone," one layer on top of another, while the strips are more like pre-glued and adhere to the façade. However, I haven’t heard of significantly different susceptibility to damage. Here in RLP, stiff winds hardly ever whip around the houses anyway.

Hello, I am completely new here, so please say if the question is inappropriate here, but what would the other alternatives be and why do you want to choose between the two options? Or is there really no other possibility. Aren't there also great new ecological alternatives? Or is it too costly? Sorry for the many questions.

but what would the other alternatives be and why do you want to choose between the two options? Or is there really no other possibility.

That someone does not consider alternatives A to Z, but only asks about A or B, usually has the simple reason that a provider essentially says: "I can only offer (for example) Poroton, but you have the choice at the same price to take fries instead of croquettes." So the prospective builder then asks in the forum: "Poroton with croquettes or Poroton with fries, is it 'six of one, half a dozen of the other' or what would you choose and why?"

The answer, "beyond the seven mountains with the seven dwarfs there is also sand-lime brick (just to name one example)" would indeed be correct—but in view of the possible choices, it would be little encouraging for the questioner.

Not gratifying for the questioner, but actually still sensible. Because not only the questioner reads this thread. In three years, someone will find this here via Google search and read that there is only A and B. What a pity ... especially since A would also be only a suboptimal solution that combines many disadvantages ...

Hello again,

First of all, I deliberately chose the Porotontile because I don’t think much of aerated concrete. It was already difficult enough to find a supplier offering Poroton, since aerated concrete is easier and cheaper to work with in almost every respect. As a result, most of them also offer aerated concrete... Sand-lime brick is almost even harder to get than perforated brick, but I don’t necessarily find it as attractive as, for example, Poroton...

So I decided on this stone. And as with almost all other options, the question now arises: rendering? Clinker slips? Bricks?... And the latter two are my top choices.

Regards

In three years, someone will come here via Google search and read that there are only A and B.

No, he reads that only two alternatives were asked about here – not that there are only two in the world. Google would not make anyone believe that.

First of all, I consciously decided on the Poroton brick because I

Exactly: "because I" – after all, you are the builder, so you are allowed to make an "objective" decision "subjectively". That’s why I limited myself to taking that as the starting point for the answer and assumed that you have already heard of other building materials and have personally ruled them out.

And as with almost all other variants, the question now arises here as well: plaster? cladding bricks? facing bricks?...

If you now expand the initial question to the triangle facing brick – cladding bricks – plaster, I will also present the answer a bit differently:

a) Facing bricks regarding the building material (i.e., solid facing bricks vs. cladding bricks) are two things made of the same material. The difference lies in the application: solid facing bricks as facing masonry form an independent masonry shell. Here, thermally but not also statically constructive, yet still classically masonry: one layer of bricks follows the next on the bed joint, "brick on brick". Cladding bricks, on the other hand, are a surface material; thus, it would be mistaken to consider them, for example, from the point of view of a total wall thickness budget as a thinner masonry shell (whose thickness gain you might then assign to an insulation layer). Practically speaking, they are small-scale rough wall tiles and are glued on, "brick on wall".

b) Facing bricks regarding the surface accordingly do not distinguish the weighing between solid facing bricks vs. cladding bricks, but rather make more sense in considering facing bricks vs. plaster. And then naturally see the facing brick as a wall covering, which is available as cladding bricks. This naturally makes a significant difference in taste, which is why – as with the example of aerated concrete vs. expanded clay bricks – rarely both variants are equally liked by the same viewer. Nevertheless, they can also be objectively differentiated: both can get dirty and thus lose their appearance. Plaster and facing bricks come in different roughness and different susceptibility to soiling. The more northern the weather, the better the facing brick tends to suit the weather stress.

c) Facing bricks seen as claddings, however, I would then not weigh solid facing bricks vs. cladding bricks, but rather against other veneer stone materials that would also be masonry: such as bricks, sand-lime bricks or facing bricks in different surface qualities and colors.

Do not forget that your original question is structured very differently, where I omit the aspect of "total thickness":

2.) is a classic wall construction, building-physically conservative; 1.) is a fashionable wall construction, from the lab of the U-value calculator, and building-physically questionable without an air layer in my opinion. That they both "fulfill" KfW55 only means that both are already too good for KfW70 and still not good enough for KfW40 – but not that both lie equally in between.

If you want to join the belief in the U-value as the new messiah, then 1.) would be your thicker friend; and for 2.) however marginal to neutral, whether you then clad with plaster or cladding bricks.