lllustrated Guides to Insulation Materials

According to our research, insulation materials offering a high decrement delay and a low carbon footprint are biobased such as straw (21 hr, 6.5 kg CO2e/m2 wall), cork (16 hr, 7.8 kg CO2e/m2 wall), wood fibre (11.4 hr, 5.6 kg CO2e/m2 wall), paper wool (11.1 hr, 8.6 kg CO2e/m2 wall) and hemp (9.5 hr, 8.1 kg CO2e/m2 wall). In the opposite scenario, there are mineral and fossil fuel-derived insulation materials whose use in buildings is paradoxically the most conventional, such as foam glass (8.8 hr, 69.6 kg CO2e/m2 wall), PUR (3.5 hr, 31.5 kg CO2e/m2 wall) and XPS (5.4 hr, 33.1 kg CO2e/m2 wall).

Analysing the GWP and other environmental indicators through the whole Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of building materials helps us understand the consumption of resources, energy, and water involved in the manufacturing process, hence its environmental impact and contribution to Global Warming. Based on around 2200 EPDs (Environmental Products Declarations) compiled in 2050 Materials database and free-use platform, we have studied the carbon performance of 17 thermal insulation products of different resource origins.

You can read the full piece we wrote on the matter that includes all the details in this article.

• Guide to Insulation Materials: carbon and thermal performance
• Guide to Insulation Decrement Delay: carbon and thermal performance
• Guide to Thermal Insulation Materials: classification per resource origin

“Fast growing bio-based agricultural materials can store carbon in less than a decade and provide a realistic solution for building materials. Positive change can be created quickly by creating both supply push (agriculture) and demand pull (public procurement and regulatory demand)”, explains Guillaume Habert in this article.