Insulation types?

[Anonymous]

I recently completed a design assignment of providing proposals to a primary school. I reccommended using recycled newspaper over rockwool as it had low emboddied energy.

I was wondering if anyone had used recycled newspaper as insulation in walls or rockwool and what they think about them, in terms of emboddied energy, easy to use, cost etc ???

[Paul Kent]

Recycled newspaper is a relatively low embodied energy product however it can only be used where it never gets wet. timber frame walls etc not as a cavity fill

Given that embodied energy of all insulants is insignificant compared to energy saved by using them. I would argue that effectiveness and ease of use and cost are more important.

ps I have used rockwool in walls and roofs and newspaper in roofs.

[Mark Siddall]

Mohammad
A couple of case studies that I have read suggest that as a fraction of the Cumulative Energy Demand (embodied energy+energy in use) the mineral wool insulation equated to 7-9% of the CED.

Material
Cellulose fibre insulation 13KWh/m3
Mineral wool 230KWh/m3

Using the above data you could extrapolate the impact that changing to from mineral wool to mineral wool may have upon the CED (not totally accurate but a reasonable approximation).

NOTE: These buildings were designed to the Passive House standard (as case studies link on the other posting), as a consequence embodied energy plays a larger role in the CED than it would in what could be described as a conventional house. Though the total CED is less than half that of the reference house i.e. a 50-70% reduction in CED .

Mark

[Anonymous]

Mark,

Can you point us towards the case studies please?

Thanks

[Mark Siddall]

Russell,
Check out the book Sustainable Solar Housing.
NOTE: The embodied energy of the insulation types is from the web.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Have you investigated an insulation material called Thermafleece? We are currently in the middle of insulating our loft using Thermafleece. It has been treated though so that it conforms to building regulations. We bought ours from The Green Shop http://www.greenshop.co.uk but it's also available from Natural Deco http://www.naturaldeco.co.uk

Tamara Galloway

[David Olivier]

As matter of interest, has anyone checked the total greenhouse gas emissions of wool insulation? Sheep (ruminants) produce a lot of CH4 which is a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2.

D.

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