A brief history and presentation about using insulation in buildings.

1. Insulation: Wrapping it up
By Shelly Shinevar

2. Pay attention and you may hear the answers to
these questions during the presentation.
 What is the most dangerous substance
used for insulation dating back to the
Ancient Greeks and Romans?
 Insulation reduces average home heating
and cooling costs by around what
percent?

3. Which country banned insulation
in 1980?

4. What is insulation?
The term insulation refers to a substance that slows or retards
the transfer of heat or sound.
 Building insulation
 Acoustic insulation
 Thermal insulation
 Electrical insulation
 Insulated glass

5. Cross-section of home insulation.

6. We will focus on building insulation.
 Building insulation materials are thermal
insulation used in the construction or retrofit of
buildings.
 The materials are used to reduce heat transfer
and are used in varying combinations to achieve
the desired effect (thermal comfort with reduced
energy consumption).

7. Common insulation application inside an apartment.

8. Thermal insulation in buildings is an important
factor in achieving thermal comfort for
its occupants.
 Insulation reduces unwanted heat loss or gain
and can decrease the energy demands of
heating and cooling systems.
 In cold climates, the main aim is to reduce heat
flow out of the building.
 In hot conditions, insulation can reduce the heat
from solar radiation.

9. A Brief History of Insulation
 There is evidence that the Ancient Mayans
constructed homes with thick walls to insulate
against the heat.
 The Ancient Egyptians built homes
characterized by low roofs, small windows and
thick brick walls so heat couldn’t easily enter.
 The Ancient Greeks used cavity walls to insulate
their homes.
 The Ancient Romans also used cavity walls and
insulated heated water pipes with cork.

10. Cavity walls

11. Ancient Mayan buildings

12. An example of an ancient Egyptian villa.

13. Drawing of an Ancient Greek home.

14. Ancient Roman buildings

15. History continued…
 Vikings and other northern Europeans insulated
their homes with mud chinking. When mixed
with horse or cattle dung and straw, the mud
was called daub and was better than plain mud.
 In the Middle Ages, large ornately embroidered
or woven tapestries were hung on interior walls
to block drafts and soak up dampness.
 During the Great Depression, residents of the
“Dust Bowl” used strips of cloth coated in flour-
based glue or paste. City dwellers would stuff
newspapers in cracks to keep out the winter
chill.

16. Viking home

17. Medieval castle tapestry

18. History continued…
 Asbestos was the main source of industrial and
residential insulation throughout the 19th and
mid-20th centuries.
 In the 40’s & 50’s, mineral wool or rock wool
started to become popular for insulation.
 In the mid-70’s, the harmful health effects of
asbestos let to a swift decline in its use.
 With the decline of asbestos, other forms of
insulation were found.

19. Building insulation materials are
thermal insulation used in the
construction or retrofit of buildings.
The materials reduce heat transfer by
conduction, radiation or convection.
They are used in various combinations to
achieve thermal comfort with reduced
energy consumption.

20. Other types of insulation:
 Fiberglass – Considered to be the “traditional” choice in
home insulation (glass wool/batts & blankets). Batts
are precut. Blankets are available in continues rolls.
 Rock wool/slag wool/mineral wool/stone wool – Made
from rock, iron ore, minerals or recycled glass.
 Styrofoam sheets
 PVC wraps (Polyvinyl Chloride)
 Spray polyurethane foam (SPF)
 Insulating concrete forms, rigid panels & structural
insulated panels (SIPs)
 Paper cellulose (loose-fill)
 Recycled cotton denim
 Sheep wool
 Straw bales
 Wood fiber

21. Rock Wool and Slag wool

22. Natur al Fiber
Insulation includes:
 Cork (including recycled wine bottle corks)
 Cotton
 Recycled tissue/clothes
 Hemp & flax
 Lightweight wood fiber
 Cellulose
 Seaweed
 Nut shells
 Corn cobs
 Straw

23. Insulation may be categorized by:
 Composition (material)
 Form (structural or non-structural)
 Functional mode (conductive, radiative,
convective)
 Non-structural forms include batts,
blankets, loose-fill, spray foam & panels.
 Structural forms include insulating
concrete forms, structured panels &
straw bales.

24. Factors affecting which
insulation to use:
 Climate
 Ease of installation
 Durability
 Ease of replacement
 Cost effectiveness
 Toxicity
 Flammability
 Environmental impact and sustainability

25. Insulation no longer used:
 Urea-formaldehyde foam (UFFI) & panels –
releases formaldehyde gas.
 Asbestos – Can cause cancer in friable form,
when fibers are released in the air.
 Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) – Often uses
hazardous chemicals with high toxicity.
 Fiberglass – Potential cancer risk.
 Loose-fill cellulose – Low-level toxicity and mold
potential.

26. What is a building envelope?
 The building envelope is the physical
separator between the interior and the
exterior environments of a building.
 The physical components of the envelope
include the foundation, roof, walls, doors &
windows.
 The thermal envelope (or heat flow control
layer) is usually different than the building
envelope.

27. For windows, Insulated
Glass Units (IGUs) ar e most
often used:
 Insulated glazing (IG) also known as double glazing
are double or triple glass window panes separated by
an air or other gas-filled space to reduce heat transfer
across a part of the building envelope.
 Laminated or tempered glass may also be used.
 The maximum insulating efficiency of a standard IGU is
determined by the thickness of the space containing
the gas or vacuum.
 Gases used include oxygen, nitrogen, argon, krypton
or xenon.
 The double-glazed window was invented in the 1930s
and was commonly available in the U.S. in the 1950s.

28. A sectioned diagram of a fixed Insulated Glazed Unit (IGU):
Surface #1 is facing outside, Surface #2 is the inside surface of the
exterior pane, Surface #3 is the outside surface of the interior pane,
and Surface #4 is the inside surface of interior pane. The window
frame is labeled #5, a spacer is indicated as #6, seals are shown in red
(#7), the internal reveal is on the right hand side (#8) and the exterior
windowsill on the left (#9).

29. Contractors are installing new energy efficient windows in
the Calhoun County Building as part of the EECBG project.
Calhoun County received $351,450 for this Multi-Purpose
project.

30. What is Building Envelope
Thermography?
 It involves using an infrared camera to view
temperature anomalies on the interior and
exterior surfaces of the structure.
 In passive thermography, the features of interest
are naturally at a higher or lower temperature
than the background.
 In active thermography, an energy source is
required to produce a thermal contrast between
the feature of interest and the background.

31. Thermogram of a traditional building in the
background and a “passive house" in the
foreground.

32. What is building science?
 Building science is the collection of scientific
knowledge that focuses on the analysis and
control of the physical phenomena affecting
buildings.
 It traditionally includes the detailed analysis of
building materials and building envelope
systems.
 This concerns energy consumption,
environmental control-ability, sustainability,
maintenance and occupant comfort & health.

33. The U.S. Dept. of Energy has a Building Technologies Program (BTP)
to develop technologies, techniques, and tools for making buildings
more energy efficient, productive and affordable.

34. Facts about Energy Efficiency
and Insulation
 Insulation reduces average home heating &
cooling costs by around 20%.
 Insulation currently in place in U.S. buildings
reduces the amount of carbon dioxide by 780
million tons each year.
 For every pound of carbon dioxide emitted in the
production of insulation, 330 lbs are avoided by
the use of insulation.
 Insulation saves over 600 times more energy
each year than all of the CFLs, Energy Star
appliances, and Energy Star windows combined.

35. What is the most dangerous substance used for
insulation dating back to the Ancient Greeks and
Romans?
Asbestos
The Greeks named asbestos. They also had a
common name for it – crysotile (means gold
cloth). Both the Greeks & Romans used it for
napkins, tablecloths and dressed their slaves in it.
The Greeks first noticed it caused a “lung
sickness” in their slaves.

36. Insulation reduces average home heating and cooling
costs by around what percent?
20%
For residential and commercial buildings,
energy efficiency through insulation is the
simplest and most cost-effective way to
reduce energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions.

37. Which country banned insulation in
1980?
Canada
About 100,000 people had insulation in their homes.

38. The End