An Innovative Low-Emissivity Insulation to Improve the Building Energy Efficiency

Sustainability covers many issues, but none is as important as energy. More than any other factor, the energy consumption of buildings is destroying the planet. Buildings use about 40% of all the energy consumed. This energy is mostly derived from fossil sources that produce the carbon dioxide that is the main cause of global warming. We must replace these polluting sources with clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar energy, and biomass, or we must increase the efficiency of our building stock so that it uses less energy, or we must do both. Of course, we need to do both, but decreasing the energy consumption of buildings is both quicker and less expensive. To fight global warming, we must understand what our energy options are. By far the most important option is efficiency, which is the easiest, quickest, and least expensive way to fight global warming. The most efficient way to decrease the energy consumption of buildings is to increase the insulation of thermal envelopes such as the roof and exterior walls. Low-E insulation is an innovative material which is developed in Korea using the principle of reflective insulation. Its insulating efficiency is almost twice or three times as much as that of polystyrene foam board and glass wool. So the thickness of Low-E insulation to meet the building insulation code can be reduced as half as that of existing insulations. Low-E insulation has the reflective air spaces between the aluminum foils which have very low surface emissivity. The reflective air spaces are composed of optimum-sized air cells which are enclosed by polyethylene foam. The process of its development and the test results of its U-value will be discussed. Besides, its applications in building envelopes will be presented. Low-E insulation is believed as an innovative material to lead the next generation of building insulation to improve the building energy efficiency