Not all insulators are the same
There is insulation which has excellent thermal performance in winter, terrible in summer and a low acoustic value, but it is an economical material and therefore attractive for the customer’s wallet. This type of insulation generally belongs to the petrochemical nature, i.e. as an insulating material it does not exist in nature and is produced by chemical manipulation of substances which, taken individually, derive from nature, but, when combined together, create an artificial work with an environmental impact.
However, there are other insulators that have fair, but not excellent, winter thermal performance, excellent summer thermal and acoustic values, but which are a little more expensive for the customer’s wallet. This type of insulation generally belongs to vegetal or animal nature, it is therefore a renewable and sustainable product, which does not impact the ecological footprint of the Planet and which at the end of its life returns to the biological cycle of natural transformation.
Then there is a third category of insulators, those which, like plant and animal ones, have fair, but not excellent, winter thermal performance, fair summer thermal values and excellent acoustic performance, the same ones that come from the manipulation of natural resources from quarries, which erode mountains, indelibly modify ecosystems and impact the ecological footprint of the Planet. They are materials with which thermo-acoustic panels are made which are economically a middle ground between the previous ones: less expensive than renewable ones, but much more expensive than those derived from the manipulation of oil.
Price as the only criterion of choice
There are those who, as technicians or building contractors, adopt them, include them in the project estimate and in the special specifications and finally, as contractors, purchase them, or as construction managers have them purchased. The discriminating element that determines the choice of the specific product is always the price, evaluated according to the parameter of the lowest cost or maximum possible discount, combining the economic factor with a summary technical evaluation of the product, based on a few parameters, or rather just one parameter in general, which is the thermal conductivity (measure of the ability of a material to transmit heat, with symbol ʎ and value expressed in Watts per meter kelvin), forgetting the other significant factors, which essentially make the difference.
When a technician or a building contractor talks to his client regarding the construction project of a house, the economic parameter is in fact the predominant factor of discussion, it is the element that makes the difference. However, among the various choices that determine price fluctuations there is never the aesthetic quality of the bathroom coverings, floors or sanitary ware, there is almost always the thermal insulation that envelops the building, a topic, unfortunately, rarely combined with the plant system adopted.
Why this combination? Because the insulating envelope and air conditioning system are the elements that determine correct comfort and which can cause the cost of the building and future maintenance to fluctuate to a significant decrease, or to a significant increase.
Two concrete cases: apparent savings and real savings
Let’s see two examples.
A building made with a petrochemical-derived thermal insulator, such as EPS or For this reason the air conditioning system will have to be designed to make up for this lack.
This will translate into an added cost of bulk materials (bricks, hydrated calcium silicate, etc.) which are difficult to use in the case of wooden buildings, combined with the summer air conditioning system, its management and maintenance over time, as well as the relative energy consumption, forever.
In this case the customer feels he has saved on the cost of thermal insulation, but does not realize that in addition to the cost of the system he will have to open his wallet, over time, for the costs of maintenance and management of the system and energy consumption.
Otherwise, a building built with a thermal insulator of natural origin (vegetable or animal), such as wood fiber or hemp or cork, costs more because it requires greater thickness to insulate optimally, but it counteracts the entry of summer heat even with a lower thickness, and does not require a wall mass, even in the condition of a wooden house. In this way, the performance obtained is such that it is possible to avoid the installation of both a winter and summer air conditioning system, balancing the thermal needs with the free internal contributions.
In this case the customer perceives that he has spent more at the beginning, but will realize over time the significant savings obtained.
Informing the customer is a technical and ethical responsibility
To conclude, it is necessary that the customer is well informed of the advantages and disadvantages inherent in the various insulating materials. It is not enough to instill in them the idea of immediate savings, hiding the higher costs resulting from the installation of a system that must compensate for the lower performance of the insulation of the casing, which is thermally a Gruyère cheese.
As technicians we need to act with (ecological) conscience, also disseminating knowledge to our customers, and not just cost analyses. Does it cost extra time? Certainly! But the result will be a great thank you over time.
