Insulation
From a full Passivhaus design to a simple loft conversion the effective use of insulation has never been more high profile. One of the key features of current renovation and new building design is the effective utilisation of insulation to minimise heating requirements. Whilst in the UK we historically tended to think of insulation in terms of carpeting lofts with fibre or pumping old newspapers into wall cavities, things have moved on.
In this series of articles, mbc will bring you an overview of the current technology and options that are available.
We’ll use four broad classifications for insulation materials:
Insulation manufactured from natural sustainable materials.
The most sustainable and therefore greenest category of insulators. Includes Sheep’s wool, Cork, Hemp and Straw-board.
Insulation manufactured from waste materials.
Closely on the heels of the sustainable materials come Wood fibreboard, Cellulose fibre and Foamed glass.
Insulation manufactured from natural materials.
These have been with us for sometime and use plentiful but finite resources and have production processes that lead to products with high embodied energy. Glass fibre & Mineral wool insulations fall within this category.
Insulation manufactured from petrochemicals.
Expanded and Extruded Polystyrene, Phenolic foam, Polyurethane and Polyisocyanurate. Being derived from oil and with production processes that lead to products with high embodied energy these are the least green category of insulators.
[Update: bear in mind that these types of insulation can be very efficient and therefore repay the embodied energy more quickly than a less well specified, less efficient, seemingly greener alternative.]
As articles on each type of insulation are added links will open up from the article - keep checking back!
If you enjoyed that post, then read these...
Insulation ~ Expanded Polystyrene on July 6th, 2008
Expanded Polystyrene insulation is made from small beads of polystyrene that are heated to expand them.
Insulation ~ Glass Fibre on November 26th, 2009
Similar to mineral wool insulation, glass fibre is one of the most common forms of insulation in the UK - everyone knows that rough, itchy,...
Insulation ~ Extruded Polystyrene on December 23rd, 2009
Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) is made by mixing polystyrene and a blowing agent under pressure and then forcing the resultant fluid through a die.
Insulation ~ Polyurethane on February 16th, 2009
Often abbreviated to PU, Polyurethane is usually applied as a foam insulation sprayed onto the underside of roof rafters.
Insulation ~ Phenolic foam on November 26th, 2009
Phenolic foam insulation is made by combining phenol-formaldehyde resin (note the presence of formaldehyde, a hazardous chemical and known carcinogen), a foaming agent and a...
Posted in Insulation |
July 15th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Wouldn’t it be better to classify cellulose fibre as being manufactured from waste material rather than from natural materials - most of it comes from recycled paper, doesn’t it?
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Ed,
I think you’re right … my classification between sustainable and waste was a bit woolly (nothing to do with sheep!) … moved!
Thanks
February 16th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Thanks for your introduction on the classification of insulation material.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Comments regarding Petro chemical derived insulants (least green) are correct only if the insulant you refer to saves more energy over the life of the building than a petro chemical one, eg. If you have a given thickness of wall or roof you are far better off using PIR or phenolic as insulation with improved lambder value, this will save far more energy than the emobodided energy, open to debate but roughly 1000 times over a 100 year life cycle. Yes i do work for a PIR manufacturer but i am reading this in my own time out of genuine interest! Very good site!
April 16th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Thanks for that Antony - an important point and well made… I’ve added an update to the text above.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
dare i say multifoil??? i now work for KDB although i have converted my own oak framed barn so im still impartial of sorts. Airflex is 100% recyclable as its 30 micron aluminium rather than pe film like most of the other “foils”
October 4th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Does anyone have any views on the best solution for insulating the internal side of external stone walls of a barn? The issue seems to be insulation performance v’s breathability of the existing walls. Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated.
October 8th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Anthony, not the most practical or encompassing advice, but in Eastern Europe fire wood can provide a partial solution >> http://www.mybarnconversion.com/2009/10/08/logs/
More practically I think a friend of mine has some advice on this - I’ll ask him next time I see him and pass on any information.
February 5th, 2010 at 10:38 am
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