BIO-BASED INSULATION MATERIALS: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE RENOVATION OF EUROPEAN BUILDING STOCK

Author(s): Francesco Pittau, Gabriele Lumia, Giuliana Iannaccone, Guillaume
Habert
Paper category: Proceedings
Book title: International Conference on Sustainable Materials, Systems and Structures (SMSS 2019) Energy Efficient Building Design and Legislation
Editor(s): Marina Bagarić, Ivana Banjad Pečur, Hartwig M. Künzel
ISBN: 978-2-35158-217-6
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-218-3
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year: 2019
Pages: 150-157
Total Pages: 08
Language: English

Abstract: In the next decades, a large share of the European residential building stock (EU-28) is expected to be renovated to keep the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C, as requested by the Paris Agreement by 2050. Bio-based materials might be a valuable opportunity to fasten the transition to a zero-carbon society due to the ability to temporary store carbon. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of massively storing carbon in bio- based construction products when used for the renovation of existing facades. Five alternative construction solutions have been compared, three with a large amount of fast-growing biogenic materials, one with wood-based elements, and one with synthetic insulation. A dynamic life cycle assessment has been performed to include timing in the calculation in order to verify the contribution of construction materials in reducing/increasing the carbon emissions over time.
The results show that fast-growing biogenic materials have an increased potential to act as a carbon sink compared to timber. In particular, if they are used as insulation materials, the capacity to uptake carbon from the atmosphere is effective in the short-term, which represents an important mitigation strategy towards the Paris climate Agreement long-term goals.

Online publication: 2019
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00