Paper poised to fill new gaps as insulation

 
Buildings account for 40% of energy usage in the United States. Wood has long been the material of choice for framing, walls, and floors, but designers often fall back on conventional foam insulation to keep the heat in and the elements out. New research however, published in Forest Products Journal, introduces an insulation system that may help give forest products the green light to fill in new gaps.

The article proposes a new type of insulation called Mirrorpanel. Mirrorpanel takes advantage of the low thermal conductivity of still air, and is made of closely spaced layers of coated paper in a wood or fiberboard frame. It has been fabricated and tested at the laboratory, wall, and building scale and was found to perform as well as its foam counterpart.

Adding to Mirrorpanel’s appeal is its comparatively small environmental footprint. Conventional foam insulation is made using fossil fuels, and can have up to 24 times the environmental impact of natural insulation materials like cellulose or cork. A paper-based insulation like Mirrorpanel would mitigate this energy usage, and could even be made from recycled materials or low-value woody biomass clogging our nation’s forests and increasing fire danger.

Although Mirrorpanel has been tested in house-sized structures, researchers caution that further development is needed for it to become a viable insulation system. More testing needs to be done, especially in regards to its moisture-storage characteristics, and economic feasibility. It may not be ready for prime time yet, but ideas like Mirrorpanel represent a step in the right direction for insulation systems.



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