Insulation system is one of the most effective methods to realize energy conservation in buildings. Anchor incorporation into building insulation system increases its mechanical property, while results in the negative influence on its thermal property. In this study, the effect of the anchor on the effective thermal conductivity (lambda(e)) of the insulation system was systematically investigated. The results show that both of lambda(e) and building energy consumption increase with the increase of the anchor's application. For example, the use of aluminium alloy anchors in mineral wool insulation system increases lambda(e) from 0.04 to 0.1007 W/(m K), which results in the increase of energy consumption of 7.4%. Moreover, the result also suggests that lambda(e) and building energy consumption can be effectively reduced by the reasonable selection and optimized design of anchors application. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.