If the issue of sustainability is to truly be on the agenda
in terms of construction and development, it is nowhere more
evident than in how we approach insulation. Recognition of the
economic and environmental benefits of properly insulating our
buildings is being called for by experts on environmentally
conscious construction, such as RTE TV presenter Duncan Stewart.
‘The most important
thing about buildings is insulation’, he stresses. ‘That means
the right type of insulation, to the right thicknesses, applied
in the right way’.
However, the potential benefits
of insulation in Ireland have been largely undermined through
careless application. ‘The workmanship is nearly always sloppy
to the extent that the performance of the insulation will
never be achieved and it will fall well below what is expected’,
says Stewart. ‘There are approximately a million houses in
Ireland, and you can take it that at least half a million
of those are extremely poorly insulated. Certainly a quarter
of Irish houses are a disaster, where the heat losses are
six times what they should be’.
For Stewart, the proper application
of insulation has far-reaching economic and environmental
benefits. ‘Insulation has to be at an optimum level, as this
leads to really serious savings in terms of energy and in
terms of emissions’, he says.
Indeed, Stewart has extended
the issue of the environmental worth of insulation into highlighting
alternative insulating materials, such as sheep’s wool - a
100% natural, non-fibrous, breathable material - which has
featured in his series About the House, and cellulose. Stewart
stresses the comfort and contact friendly nature of sheep’s
wool, and the added benefit of its absorption of humidity.
He particularly recommends both sheep’s wool and cellulose-which
is made from recycled paper-for insulating breathable structures,
such as timber frame buildings, and attics.
Indeed, experts in environmentally
conscious construction are spreading information on the values
of further natural insulating materials, such as straw bale
and hemp. Professor Tom Woolley of the Centre for Green Building
Technology at Queens University, Belfast, for instance, is
currently working on a breathable hemp wall, which will be
exhibited at the Self-Building, Extending & Renovating
Homes Show in Belfast early next year.
An increasing awareness of
more environmentally sound construction methods and materials,
tied into the vital role that insulation can fulfil in terms
of energy efficiency and a following reduction in emissions,
is leading to the logical conclusion that the right types
of insulation, if applied correctly, can have significant
energy saving and environmental benefits.
|
|
|
