Robust Super Insulation at a Competitive Price
Develop a cost effective and robust insulation material with a very high R-value
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Recipient
Berkeley, CA
Recipient Location
9th
Senate District
15th
Assembly District
$100,000
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
This federal cost share grant has completed and the Final report is under review.This research set the ground work to develop a high R value material for building envelope insulation. The team achieved an R/inch of 9 for the one-inch insulation sample. In order to scale up, further R&D is needed to create a larger sample size. LBNL filed a provisional patent application #62/001,818 was filed in 2020. At the end of March, LBNL expects to decide whether they will convert the provisional applications to have a publicly available patent application.
The Issue
Currently, conventional building insulation is economical but has low R-values. There are emerging technologies with high R-values but are expensive. There is a need to develop a robust insulation with a high R-value to significantly reduce cooling and heating loads that can be sold at a competitive price.
Project Innovation
Heating and cooling represents the greatest energy consumption in buildings. This project is developing thermal building insulation material with high R-value at low cost. The product is expected to provide a significant increase in energy savings for existing buildings.
Project Benefits
Currently, there is no thermal building insulation material that can cost-effectively be assembled with high R-values. This Department of Energy cost share agreement is developing a manufacturing process to achieve a high R-value and decrease the installed thickness of the insulation, at a competitive price. This will make retrofits easier because much less space will be needed to accommodate existing building wall assemblies.
Affordability
The insulation material lays the groundwork for scaling a material that could achieve 2 to 4 times increase in R-value at a price competitive with current insulation materials. This higher R-value will reduce heating and cooling costs to building owners and tenants.
Safety
The nanoparticle based super insulation, made from silica and other oxide materials, it is more fire resistant when compared than the current foam insulation materials.
Key Project Members
Ravi Prasher
Subrecipients
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
