Overview of new insulating materials: characteristics, advantages and disadvantages
The insulation materials market offers a wide choice, which often forces workers to be long undecided on the product to be preferred to another. When you consider that all insulation materials are positive in relation to the various applications, it follows that such choices, of course, are intimately connected with the use of a certain material that you intend to do. Some have higher values of conductivity, others are made from natural products, others are insensitive to moisture and water.
Since in the construction of a single building materials are different in that it uses, the choice of a specific material is conditioned by different factors, such as the use to which the building itself is intended, then the type of construction to be undertaken last but not the preferences of the designer and the client. Technological innovation plays a crucial role in the development of materials, especially because you can get the values of thermal conductivity extremely offering performance with very low thicknesses. Among these materials are the Vip - Vacuum Insulation Panels (vacuum insulating panels), whose basic principle is analogous to the thermos: the capacity of a heat insulating material can be increased significantly by replacing the still air enclosed between the pores and creating a vacuum. Although not very common for the high cost, they are the most efficient materials on the current scene. In fact, thanks to the vacuum that is created, these panels can reach very low values of thermal conductivity, even about 7 ≈ 10 times better than a normal thermal insulating material (thermal conductivity λ: 0.0045 ≈ 0.0080 W / mK) . The thermal properties of these vacuum insulation panels derive from the use of rarefied gases: an airtight aluminum encloses and seals a foam silicic acid, devoid of air.
Are also very innovative insulating thin multifoil, constituted by the assembly of complex technical multilayer film reflective metal alternating with layers of separation (wadding, foam, sheep's wool). From the thermal point of view, their main characteristic is the ability to limit the transfer of energy in the first place by radiation, but then also to convection, conduction and change of state.
The insulating multifoil, scientifically designed and developed in the laboratory, are the result of the combination of several components, such as the intrinsic properties of each of them and placing them in relation to the thermal performance and application (roofs, attics, walls and floors).
Another possibility is to use insulating nano technology-based aerogels and there are different companies that are dedicated to the development and expansion of such application solutions in the building.
The panels which use this type of technology are born with the intent to accelerate and simplify the initial stages of preparation of the insulating material before laying on the building structure. In this way the most challenging part of the installation, ie the preparation of the material to be laid, is eliminated by means of a product already drastically prefinished and ready for use.
It follows that the application of insulating panels based airgel in the building field is facilitated and provides several advantages compared to traditional types of thermal insulation, in particular in energy upgrading of existing buildings, especially in the case of buildings that arise in historical centers or subject to protection of cultural heritage, which is not always possible to work with a system of thermal insulation on the outside.
Finally it should be noted that prior to the selection of any insulating material, the user must use products with actual performance declared and certified, as required by the relevant regulations.
28/06/2012
----------------------------------------
Translated via software
----------------------------------------
Source:
Italian version of CercaGeometra.it