Micro-nano porous materials for high performance thermal insulation

Title: Micro-nano porous materials for high performance thermal insulation
Author(s): Daniel Quénard, Hébert Sallée
Paper category : conference
Book title: NICOM 2: 2nd International Symposium on Nanotechnology in Construction
Editor(s): Y. de Miguel, A. Porro and P.J.M. Bartos
Print-ISBN: 2-912143-87-X
e-ISBN: 2912143888
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year: 2006
Pages: 303 - 312
Total Pages: 10
Nb references: 21
Language: English

Abstract: As claimed in the Green Paper for Energy Efficiency, recently published by the European Commission, the energy demand of buildings, especially in the existing stock, is tremendoulsy important for a sustainable development of our society. In fact, the energy consumption of building (residential & tertiary sector) accounts for over 40 % of final energy consumption in the European Union, more than industry or transport. In particular, the energy consumption of the 160 million of existing buildings has to be reduced by 80% to 90%. To achieve this objective, exploitation of the energy-saving potential is vital, especially the reduction of heat loss through building envelopes. However, limited space for thermal insulation is a major problem for building renovation.
To tackle this challenge, new products, named Vacuum Insulation Panel, are under developpement using porous core materials wrapped under vacuum in airtight films to reduce the thermal conductivity and therefore increase the thermal resistance of panels with reduced thickness.
An investigation of the physical properties (porosity, density, specific area, pore-size distribution) of fumed silica used as core materials has been performed. In addition, a complete analysis of the thermal conductivity versus pressure, humidity and temperature has been performed. Finally, a simplified semi-empirical model is suggested to describe all these effects.

Online publication: 2005-11-17
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00