This paper discusses the various types of insulation materials, their technical properties, and their potential for energy conservation in buildings. It presents a comparative analysis of building insulation materials properties, including thermal, hygroscopic, acoustic, reaction to fire, environmental, and cost. The paper also reviews the latest developments in building thermal insulation systems, life-cycle analysis, and potential emissions reduction.
The principle of thermal insulation is to install insulation using energy-efficient materials that reduce heat loss or gain, leading to reduced energy consumption. The paper also discusses the importance of following building energy conservation design standards, finding suitable thermal insulation materials in various climate zones, and promoting innovation in external wall thermal insulation.
Bio-based insulation materials can replace conventional ones to improve energy efficiency. The article reviews the features, benefits, and limitations of bio-based insulation. In the residential sector, air conditioning systems take up the majority of overall energy consumption to fulfill thermal comfort needs.
Several state-of-the-art insulation materials, such as closed cell foam, vacuum insulation panels, gas filled panels, aerogel, and phase, are reviewed. The paper also discusses the life-cycle analysis and potential of these materials. The insulating materials market is currently dominated by inorganic fibrous materials (glass and mineral wool) and polymeric foams (expanded polystyrene).
The paper aims to increase the energy efficiency of buildings through thermal insulation, providing a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of sustainable thermal insulation systems.
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The only problem with those houses is that you become very dependent of mechanical cooling during summer especially for houses on tropical climes. In tropical climes you have 3 choices. Built a house with as little isolation as possible and with a lot of air circulation making mechanical cooling very inefficient, with a lot of isolation to save energy with mechanical cooling but you become dependent on it or a middle ground between the two. In the house with little isolation and lots of air circulation some summer days can still be hot but bearable but the usage of mechanical cooling is very energy inefficient. In the house with a lot of isolation if the mechanical cooling fail the house becomes inhabitable due to the high temperatures. The middle ground house the mechanical cooling will not be as efficient as the house with a lot of isolation but you could make some mechanics that can increase the efficiency during very hot days by letting you close some of the air passages and other things. Heating the house isn’t usually a concern in tropical climes since we rarely go below 10*c and can easily solve it by using thicker clothes.
I like the idea of a Passivhaus or Earthship design, but also like the idea of building a tiny house of my own design. There are some Passivhaus design features you can’t apply to a tiny house of wheels, but the ones you can I’d like to. Also with allergies I’d love to eliminate potential for mold and have an airtight house for the many benefits that comes with!
Good article. But sadly the money part is not good enough. You said ca. 8% more cost of building the house. In my case this would be 8% of 400k€ = 32k more in a Good case. My energy bill is ca. 800€ Bio-Gas and 800€ electricity from 100% renewables. 1600€/year. This means 32k/1,6k = 20 Years if the passive house would get me to 0€/year energycost. I want to build greener and this should be mandatory for new buildings IMO but the cost factor is not a good point to get one to this route. I have an older house and it needs much more energy like a passive house for sure but the money to get it there is nearly half the value of the whole house and that would take more than 50 years realistically to get me to 0€ spent… sadly. I would rather build pv on my roof or invest that money in bigger more effective ways of generating green energy which I use right now. So that my money has more value for more people and my return is much better too. When I will build a new home some time, I will use this technology for sure but financially it is not even close to break even and there are so many problems with passive houses that I know of. Mold is one of the worst problems that I know of, because the air does not circulate properly in many cases. And when I am honest, the health of my child and my family is worth more for me personally then the harm that a worse insulated house could produce with renewables as powersource. IMO the housing should be thought through with health in mind and if it needs more energy for that, that is in my favor, when the energy is produced green, that is a much smaller problem for me.
I’ve recently had a new house built in the UK, not a passive house just a regular build and I’ve had to remove all 9 thermostat cavity wall mounting boxes and seal seal the air gap behind them with expanding foam. The cold air blows in from outside following the cable runs from the loft and floor void such that the thermostats get cold and they turn the boiler on. Its very disappointing that I have had to seal this myself but I figure the only way I’d be happy is to do it myself as the builder, electrician and plumbers all failed to seal the the holes they made. The air blows in through the sockets and light switches. By the way, watch out and never use ordinary foam sealer where there you have CPVC fire sprinkler pipes, the foam attacks the pipe over time and that’s potentially a real big problem. In Wales where I live we have to have fire sprinklers to meet building control regulations and nobody knew about the incompatibility of the foam and sprinkler pes, not even the Building Control guys!!! There is a special foam to use with the sprinkler pipes. All the best . . . Andy
The zero energy house is that kind of academic idea that really don´t work as well in practical reality that the creators thought it would, there is several drawbacks. * With very thick insulation the thermal gradient is very low, that means that the force to push moisture out of the wall is lower, this tend to give those houses moisture problem specially if there are several winters in a row that is fairly warm. *Environment friendly is a bussword, not a fact. Everything takes energy to produce, even sheep wool. Also sheep wool being a decent insulator, its not the best. Making a passive house of sheep wool in any but the milder climate is really not a option. * There really don´t exist any passive house, pretty much all of the one exist uses FTX heat echanger with built in electric heaters. While yes, those only run a few hundred hours a year usually, they are well less efficient. * A majority of the heating in passive houses comes from appliances. A normal small (100-120m2) home use about 4000kWh/year in appliances power, this might sound a lot compared to the 15-20MWh that house need in Scandinavia, or 10-15 in central Europe, but that is primary power compared to secondary, not a to compare. The thing is, less efficient appliances make the house look better. This is a dangerous trap. (the house is really using 5MWh more per year, but this is where the passive part comes in, it also have an effect on normal houses, actually the effect is higher in a poorly insulated house) * Water needs to be heated.
Passive House needs to be the new BASE standard, not LEED, not EnergyStar, not bullshit builders association codes written into local government laws for ease of construction. 90% HVAC bill reduction for 5% more cost is ONLY possible with PH via pure efficiency regardless of low VOC or sustainable material choices. Now, what I want to know is, when did YOU get interested in Passive House? Do you remember when you first heard about it and how? I went to free classes on it at a California utility about 10 years ago.