[Strawbale] comparing insulation materials

[Herbert Gruber]

Dear Martin, dear balers
I tried to send this email to the GSBN-list, but I dont know, if I am still
listed, because it came back.
So I do it this way, maybe its interesting for the European list too.

Responding to your idea to compare common building-products (insulation),
here is our calculation based on
* prices from local building-markets
* declarations and tests from insulation-manufacturers
* the values, Holger König (a well known Baubiologist in Germany) describes
in his books (e.g. "Das Dachgeschoß", Ökobuch-Verlag)
* added by the calculations concerning production energy with the help of
Gerd Zwieners book "Ökologisches Baustoff-Lexikon" (C.F.Müller).

(European) terms: 
You know: Lambda L= W/mK describes the amount of warmth going through a 1m
thick material in 1 second per squaremeter, when the temp-difference is 1°K
(=1°C); the lower L is, the better the insulation-capacity. L depends and
differs with the amount of waterdamp, which is in the material, so each
organic material has to have a 20% addiction to
LRTr10 (new after CEN = LNTr10): insulation value (Lambda) for a dry (tr)
material at a temperature of 10°C (for 1m, so L never depends on thickness
of wall)
k-value (new after CEN: U-value): k= W/m2K (Wärmedurchgangskoeffizient, dont
know the english word), depends on the thickness of the wall
PEI: amount of energy to manufacture/transport/.. a matarial

1) comparison of values

material        L      LRtr10         raw-weight    included prod-energy
           (W/m2K)                     kg/m3           (PEI: kWh/m3)

strawbales   0,045     0,038            100             5-30
                      (as proved in our official tests in Austria)

cellulose    0,045     0,038            35-70           110-190
(made from 80% newspaper)

EPS-W15      0,038     0,038            15-30           400-1.050
(polystyrol-plates: XPS or EPS)

XPS            0,020-0,035              15-30           400-1.050

fibreglass   0,038     0,038            100             100-500

reed         0,045-55  0,039-45         225             ? (maybe same as SB)
            (depending on the amount of wire to hold it together)

flax-mat     0,045     0,038            150             ? (prob. 30-50)
(Heraflax)

cork-plates  0,045     0,038            80              ? low, but long
(heat-expanded cork)                                    transport-ways

cocos-mats   0,045-51  0,038-42         50-125           95

sheep-wool   0,045     0,038            100              5-50 depends on
(Daemwool, washed and impregnated with Mitin)            transport to wash


Conclusion: energy-amortization-times of insulation-materials:

strawbale, reed, cellulose: 0-1 month
cork, sheep-wool: -2 month (depending on transport-distances to
manufacture/wash the material)
cocos-plates: 2-3 month
fibreglass (mineral- or stonewool): 8 month
polystyrol (EPS/XPS): 13- month
polyurethan (PU): 17-18 month (this is the ugly thing people spray between
window- and doorspaces)


2) insulation-price per squaremeter and for 150m2 low-energy house (150m2
living space means ca. 400 m2 wall and roof), all prices in EURO
The following values are necessary to guarantee a wall with U = 0,15 W/m2K
(standard for well-insulated low-energy-houses in Europe)

material    LRTr10    thickness of wall    price/m2   for 150m2

strawbales   0,045          30 cm           3,6        1.453,­

cellulose    0,045          30 cm          18,3        7.326,­

EPS-W15      0,038          24 cm          20,3        8.139,­

fibreglass   0,038          24 cm          23,5        9.419,­

reed         0,045          30 cm          25,6       10.232,­

flax-mat     0,045          30 cm          51,­       20.406,­

cork-plates  0,045          30 cm          87,2       34.883,­

cocos-mats   0,045          30 cm         144,6,­     57.849,­

sheep-wool   0,045          30 cm         163,5       65.406,­

prices for materials are from Austria and can differ with country.

You can combine 1) and 2), the conclusion will always be: strawbale and
cellulose are the ideal insulation-materials (even when you dont use more
parameters than price only). We have only problems in revitalisation of old
buildings, where you cant use these materials.

best wishes
Herbert Gruber
-------------------------------
asbn austrian strawbale network
herbert & astrid gruber
http://www.baubiologie.at
email: asbn at aon...
-------------------------------

> Von: "Martin Oehlmann" <martin.oehlmann at wxs...>
> Antworten an: "GSBN" <GSBN at lists....com>
> Datum: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 19:34:51 +0100
> An: "GSBN" <GSBN at lists....com>
> Betreff: GSBN:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> We would like to compare production energy and insulation values of regular
> walls (for example: brick + rockwool + cementelements, etc.) with sb-wall
> systems. So far as simple bale-builders we did gently overlook these
> aspects, but are challenged to respond.
> 
> Any idea where to find a list of specified common building materials
> including consumed production energy and insultion values???
> 
> Thanks a lot,
> 
> Martin Oehlmann
> Den Haag
> 0031-70-3650410
> 
> 
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