Sustainable insulation material for post insulation of buildings

Important results from the project

The project will develop new sustainable insulation material for post insulation of buildings, primarily buildings from the 1960s’ and 1970s’ (miljonprogrammet). The concept will be developed, optimized and evaluated within the project. Process scale-up from lab to pilot production of panels. Evaluate the new panel on a house. A recycling plan and LCA will also be included. One essential raw material, Expancel Microspheres from Nouryon PPC, is based on fossil fuel. This project intend to evaluate Nouryon´s cellulose based microspheres produced at pilot scale.

Expected long term effects

A weather-resistant insulating building panel for exterior insulation of buildings has been developed. All desired material properties have been met and the panel contains <5% fossil-based material (expancel mikrosfärer). evaluations show that microspheres made from cellulose can be used in the material, to make 100% bio-based material in the next step. it was proved difficult to combine weather resistance and biodegradability. the developed panel material should instead be reused or disposed as carbon-neutral combustible material.>

Approach and implementation

Biweekly project Teams meetings. Each part has been responsible for various sub-projects with good cooperation. The number of physical meetings were limited due to the pandemic, but we have still met on 5 occasions. Two students and a postdoc have been engaged at LTU for recipe optimization and energy simulations with support from MoRe Research, HIPOR Materials and Nouryon PPC. LindePac manufactured a pilot plant for panel production. Synergies between two Vinnova projects have also made it possible for the development of new cellulose-based insulation materials.