Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Hygrothermal Properties and Performance of Bio-Based Insulation Materials Locally Sourced in Sweden

Ranefjärd, Oskar LU ; Strandberg, Paulien LU and Wadsö, Lars LU (2024) In Materials 17(9).
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the building sector towards more sustainable, resource efficient, and renewable materials. Bio-based insulation derived from renewable resources, such as plant or animal fibres, is one promising group of such materials. Compared to mineral wool and polystyrene-based insulation materials, these bio-based insulation materials generally have a slightly higher thermal conductivity, and they are significantly more hygroscopic, two factors that need to be considered when using these bio-based insulation materials. This study assesses the hygrothermal properties of three bio-based insulation materials: eelgrass, grass, and wood fibre. All three have the potential to be locally sourced in Sweden.... (More)
In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the building sector towards more sustainable, resource efficient, and renewable materials. Bio-based insulation derived from renewable resources, such as plant or animal fibres, is one promising group of such materials. Compared to mineral wool and polystyrene-based insulation materials, these bio-based insulation materials generally have a slightly higher thermal conductivity, and they are significantly more hygroscopic, two factors that need to be considered when using these bio-based insulation materials. This study assesses the hygrothermal properties of three bio-based insulation materials: eelgrass, grass, and wood fibre. All three have the potential to be locally sourced in Sweden. Mineral wool (stone wool) was used as a reference material. Hygrothermal material properties were measured with dynamic vapour sorption (DVS), transient plane source (TPS), and sorption calorimetry. Moisture buffering of the insulation materials was assessed, and their thermal insulation capacity was tested on a building component level in a hot box that exposed the materials to a steady-state climate, simulating in-use conditions in, e.g., an external wall. The tested bio-based insulation materials have significantly different sorption properties to stone wool and have higher thermal conductivity than what the manufacturers declared. The hot-box experiments showed that the insulating capacity of the bio-based insulators cannot be reliably calculated from the measured thermal conductivity alone. The results of this study could be used as input data for numerical simulations and analyses of the thermal and hygroscopic behaviour of these bio-based insulation materials. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
bio-based, insulation, DVS, MBV, TPS, Hot Box, Sorption calorimetry, wood fibre, eelgrass, grass
in
Materials
volume
17
issue
9
article number
2021
pages
16 pages
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85192565321
ISSN
1996-1944
DOI
10.3390/ma17092021
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
003de4ac-a727-46de-9abf-4cb6d73d93a4
date added to LUP
2024-05-06 15:22:18
date last changed
2024-05-28 14:49:14
@article{003de4ac-a727-46de-9abf-4cb6d73d93a4,
  abstract     = {{In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the building sector towards more sustainable, resource efficient, and renewable materials. Bio-based insulation derived from renewable resources, such as plant or animal fibres, is one promising group of such materials. Compared to mineral wool and polystyrene-based insulation materials, these bio-based insulation materials generally have a slightly higher thermal conductivity, and they are significantly more hygroscopic, two factors that need to be considered when using these bio-based insulation materials. This study assesses the hygrothermal properties of three bio-based insulation materials: eelgrass, grass, and wood fibre. All three have the potential to be locally sourced in Sweden. Mineral wool (stone wool) was used as a reference material. Hygrothermal material properties were measured with dynamic vapour sorption (DVS), transient plane source (TPS), and sorption calorimetry. Moisture buffering of the insulation materials was assessed, and their thermal insulation capacity was tested on a building component level in a hot box that exposed the materials to a steady-state climate, simulating in-use conditions in, e.g., an external wall. The tested bio-based insulation materials have significantly different sorption properties to stone wool and have higher thermal conductivity than what the manufacturers declared. The hot-box experiments showed that the insulating capacity of the bio-based insulators cannot be reliably calculated from the measured thermal conductivity alone. The results of this study could be used as input data for numerical simulations and analyses of the thermal and hygroscopic behaviour of these bio-based insulation materials.}},
  author       = {{Ranefjärd, Oskar and Strandberg, Paulien and Wadsö, Lars}},
  issn         = {{1996-1944}},
  keywords     = {{bio-based; insulation; DVS; MBV; TPS; Hot Box; Sorption calorimetry; wood fibre; eelgrass; grass}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Materials}},
  title        = {{Hygrothermal Properties and Performance of Bio-Based Insulation Materials Locally Sourced in Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma17092021}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ma17092021}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}