Latest on Low-GPW XPS Board Insulation?

Materials
1

Greetings all,

Does anyone have the latest on status and availability of low-GWP XPS board insulation? I understand it is coming very soon, and I’m assuming that I would be able to find it by now if it was available as manufacturers would be eager to promote it, but seems like it is still a thing of the future. Thanks in advance for any info!

Best,
Jacob Racusin
New Frameworks

2

Owens Corning is scheduled to have a reduced GWP XPS board insulation available no later than Jan 1, 2021. I expect the official data sheet and an updated EPD will be released late this year.

Thanks,
Cheryl Smith
Program Leader | Sustainability
Owens Corning

3

Thanks Cheryl, I appreciate the update - I figured Owens Corning would be early to the gate with this, good to have expectations set on timing for projects under development. I’ll keep my ears open.

If anyone has info from other manufacturers to share, thanks in advance!

Jacob

4

Cheryl - do you know what type of blowing agent Owens Corning plans to use for that reduced GWP XPS product? Is it HFO?

I’m interested if DuPont (formerly Dow, there was a merger apparently) is also planning to release a low-GWP XPS product. I reached out to DuPont awhile ago but never got a good answer. I see the DuPont Styrofoam product a lot: https://www.dupont.com/brands/styrofoam.html

5

Mark, not sure if you were on our ECN Vancouver webinar earlier this week, but we just uploaded all of the talks onto YouTube. This is the talk from Paul Lewandowski from Owens Corning, which may be of interest.

Also, I came across this announcement from DuPont. At the end of this press release, it says that:

DuPont expects to begin shipping Styrofoam™ with the DuPont oval effective Jan. 1, 2020, and newly formulated low Global Warming Potential (GWP) Styrofoam™ starting Jan. 1, 2021.

6

The blend we will be moving to has a GWP < 100 and there is ongoing development to further reduce GWP to 0. I can’t remember if Paul mentioned more detail in the video that Anthony has posted.

7

DuPont is presently working on implementing a new reduced GWP STYROFOAM TM insulation in order to meet the upcoming HFC regulations and provide our customers with a lower embodied carbon option. The reformulated product will have reduced embodied carbon while continuing to deliver the superior physical and thermal performance associated with STYROFOAM TM brand insulation.

As was indicated in the press release, this new formulation will be available by Jan 1, 2021. The R&D team at DuPont has done a great job to continue driving this work, despite the challenges of Covid-19, to meet this deadline! Please reach out to your local sales rep or go to https://www.dupont.com/building/contact-us.html to get more information.

Dr. Michal Porter
Research Engineer
DuPont Performance Building Solutions

8

Thanks Cheryl and Michal for these updates, very helpful! I expect you’ll be releasing EPDs in advance/in concert with the product release? I look forward to it, best of luck with the developments.

Cheers,
Jacob

9

Extremely helpful question and thread, all.

10

This is the second thread that I have read that talks about the promise of a low GWP blowing agent for foam plastic products.
Okay, so the blowing agent is a little friendlier to the environment.
What about the toxicity of the chemistry that foam plastics are made from?
Everyone says that styrofoam can be recycled, so it is a great product. But that is pretty much a fairy tale. Most styrofoam ends up in landfills.
And so, the round robin cycle of extraction of raw materials continues.
Not to forget the associated health hazards.

11

Developing lower GWP foam plastics results in a really large reduction of greenhouse gas dumped directly into the atmosphere at a mission critical moment for GWP reduction. Insulation has so many uses beyond thermal resistance in most enclosures, that rejecting any one material out of hand will get you in trouble with the other things you’re trying to accomplish with that material. At the same time, foam plastics still give the best R-value/inch of any insulation material type (with the possible exception of Aerogel – which is manufactured with plastic in tape and spray form), and they do some things (combining vapor, air and water control) that no other insulation material does. Whether it’s wood/fiber-based, mineral-based or petroleum-based, everything has a range of drawbacks and toxicities, recycling and life cycle issues, which have to be considered and worked through, especially at scale. There is no magic bullet. There is no simple answer. There’s just a lot of work that all of us have to do.

Regards,