Natural insulation materials survey

[Santajo]

First, I will present the purpose of my request.

I am a student atIUT Biological Engineering of Caen optional Environmental Engineering. I decided to carry out a project on ecological houses, which I must present to validate my course. This project is very serious and should lead to the production of a brochure on the ecological houses. For this I need a maximum of contact with people who have already built a ecological house or who know a lot about it. For that, I would like to do a survey. The best way to carry out this survey is to target the public, and for that the door to door would have been too long. I therefore decided to carry out my surveys on forums dealing with ecological houses.

I hope to have a very representative participation rate.

My question is very simple:

What is the most effective and profitable natural insulation material for you?

You will answer the survey and give an argument to your request.

Thank you beforehand.

[stone-ernest]

Insulation materials can be classified according to their performance.
For example, their coefficient of thermal conductivity. The smaller it is, the more the material is insulating.

From most effective to least effective
Sheep wool 0,032
Linen: 0,037
Liège: 0,038
Cellulose wadding: 0,040


Whatever the price of the insulation, there comes a time (more or less distant, of course) when the most profitable becomes the most effective.

Polyurethane foam has an even better coefficient than that of wool: 0,025; but maybe it is not very "ecological"?

So the most effective and profitable product is sheep's wool.

[RolCopter]

Hello everyone

Speaking of natural insulation, a little comparison with other insulation is not inappropriate.

What materials to insulate your home?

https://www.econologie.com/les-isolants- ... -3168.html

[Christophe]

Polyurethane foam has an even better coefficient than that of wool: 0,025; but maybe it is not very "ecological"?

No it is wrong. PU foam is not as insulating as that. .
The absolute limit of an insulator (except special insulators which are not air-based) is that of the air lambda which is approximately 0.026 at 20 ° C and 0.024 at 0 ° C (see table http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air#Propri ... ophysiques ).

So the most effective and profitable product is sheep's wool.

The most profitable is surely not the PU foam because it is the one which needs less gray energy and which pays for itself faster.

In this case, cellulose wadding is best placed in natural insulation.

[RolCopter]

Hello everyone

Stop me if I'm wrong, all I remember in my little brain is that the best thermal insulator is the one that traps the maximum dry air in its texture while having the best temperature transfer inertia .
I'm wrong

[jcf]

Well!
And the straw ????
Isn't straw ecological?
Just go get it in the fields next to it, a straw bale wall is equivalent to a wall with 30 cm of glass wool insulation!
Do not forget the straw ....
A+
Jean-Christophe
Ps: besides there is a builder of straw house in Carcagny, near Bayeux: you must be able to find his address on the site of the compaillons.

[Christophe]

If straw is very ecological but not (yet?) Proposed for the general public unlike cellulose ...

It is perhaps because it is precisely too green (not industrializable enough) that it does not interest the "big" companies?

[jcf]

Ah okay, the problem related to green industrial houses
That said, it seems to me that in terms of industrial only hemp is CSTB approved, right?
Well, well here it is, I can't vote because my favorite is straw, not expensive at all, waste from some and isolation from others!
A+
JC

[jcf]

Even though I think about the moment I said something stupid, there are panels of compressed straw (> Stramit international).
JC

[Santajo]

Thank you for all the answers.
My subject compares synthetic and mineral insulation materials compared to natural materials from an ecological (by life cycle analysis) and economic point of view.

Whatever the price of the insulation, there comes a time (more or less distant, of course) when the most profitable becomes the most effective.

Thank you pierre-ernest for making me think of this aspect of the economy.

Otherwise, finally in general, the insulating materials are more ecological (except cotton), and sometimes very economical as in the case of straw. But when you build a house you have to adapt the materials to your region and to local products. So there are not really more ecological or more economical insulating materials, when you build a house, it ultimately depends on your needs.