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Insulating materials in rehabilitation
This is an article where we are going to try to understand graphically and of course quite simply the world of Insulating materials in rehabilitation, providing us with knowledge for the works or any construction from the perspective of thermal insulation (We leave aside the acoustic and electrical insulators) that the home or building will need.
To understand it, we are going to rely on two guides that are undoubtedly exceptional and that every architectural professional should have in their repertoire of notes. Two documents, which together will provide us with valuable information about what insulating material we need to put in a house before a rehabilitation of a roof, facade or vertical or horizontal partition.
To limit energy consumption we have to start from the thermal envelope:
Remembering that to reduce energy demand in an existing building, five factors affect us:
- Isolation
- Sun protection
- Thermal inertia
- Natural ventilation
- Lighting and natural light
So determine the types of insulating materials that we have in the market, understanding their properties or when we can put them in a home, is a key point about energy saving.
Properties of insulating materials
Although it is evident that properties against insulating materials they evolve day by day (we can see an article of innovative materials here) yes there is a "standard catalog" and that everyone should know given its easy access and usefulness for energy rehabilitation projects.
Three factors are necessary to know their capacities and understand their way of acting: The Thermal conductivity, the thermal resistance and the thermal transmittance.
According to the manufacturing process, the materials are distinguished and organized into:
- Materials of organic synthetic origin: For example, all those that come from raw materials such as oil (Plastics).
- Materials of inorganic origin: Are those that do not come from plant or animal cells, or related in the field of carbon (For example, the glass wool blanket).
- Materials of natural organic origin: Those that come from animal or plant compounds (For example, hemp fiber)
The guide book focuses on the following thermal insulating materials:
| Rock wool | Cork | Cotton |
| Expanded perlite | Expanded polystyrene | Linen |
| Cellulose | Sheep wool | Polyurethane |
| Glass trowel | Coconut fibers | Hemp |
| Cellular glass | Extruded polystyrene | Wood chips |
The table that we can see below lists the properties of thermal insulators most common in buildings, which are:
The document also adds a Breakdown of values in a more complete table on thermal resistance in relation to its thickness and a comparison between numerical range on the most usual conductivity according to the type of insulating material. (We can also see the guide to glazing and glass curtains)
Types of insulating material
We remember that acoustic materials and electrical are not contemplated in the insulation guidelines in rehabilitation, and the type of material that we have previously verified is assigned. The thermal insulation formats considered in the document are:
Types of insulators according to their shape
- Panel
- In bulk
- Injected
- Roll
- Projected
- Inflated
Types of insulation depending on its location
The classification of the tables of the materials are based on their location (Facade, roofs and partitions) before the different types of thermal insulation, classified into four charts:
- Recommended type of insulation depending on its location for roof interventions.
- Recommended type of insulation depending on its location for interventions on facades.
- Recommended type of insulation depending on its location for interventions in horizontal interior partitions.
- Recommended type of insulation depending on its location for interventions in vertical and party interior partitions.
To determine whattype of insulating material In the home we need and when to use it in the building to be rehabilitated, we only have to see the following exceptional graph (We only add the number "1"):
As we have seen, the two informative notebooks provide very valuable knowledge, advice and in a synthesized way that will surely come in handy in our daily work.
- Thermal material properties guide for energy rehabilitation consult from HERE
- Guide to recommended types of insulation based on your location for energy rehabilitation consult from HERE
Both documents belong to the Valencian Building Institute, where you can visit the portal from FIVE. Highly recommended!… Given technical information on the construction and works sector.
And by the way, we want to contribute a Final Degree project at the Polytechnic University of Madrid that we find interesting from HERE, with explanations, comparative graphs at the end of the report and what the subject of the insulators and their selection by energy requirements.
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