Hi, We are looking to incorporate VIPs (vacuum insulated panels) or Phenolic foam board insulation in a project for their high insulation value per thickness. Before I specify these products, I would like to know what the embodied carbon of these materials are, and how they compare to more common insulation materials like cellulose, rockwool and EPS. I can’t find much info on the web - tried EC3 and Athena as well… Any useful info would be much appreciated! - Thank you, Hajo
Hi Hajo, there is one EPD that I found once on VIP from the European context EPD-Porextherm_englisch-30.03.2015.pdf (2.0 MB) , I hope that helps, Jens
I know that VIP and phenolic are interesting because of their high R values, but they have other drawbacks to consider. VIP’s are not strong. They are brittle. Some products using VIP’s sandwiched with other types of insulation have been developed to mitigate the inherent physical limitations of VIP’s, resulting in a thicker assembly without a much better R value. I believe that they are still very pricy, as are phenolics. Suggest you research the physical properties and pricing of VIP’s and phenolics before specifying. Best of luck.
Thanks for the link @jvoshage; I used this EPD, but the GWP seems extremely high…
Still looking further for more VIP resources - espcially Kingspan and Panasonic which are available in Canada…
@ggardner5260 thanks for the cautionary advice.