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Sustainability

Sustainability is a complex issue that involves looking at a whole basket of factors over time - not just environmental impacts, but also societal and economic effects.

In order to judge how sustainable a company and its products are, it is important to have comprehensive information. Kingspan Insulation was the first construction product manufacturer to undertake a full sustainability appraisal on its products and manufacturing processes and publish the results. Kingspan Insulation has since maintained an ongoing program of development and review to drive forward improvements in its sustainability.

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Embodied Energy

Embodied energy is often talked about as an important environmental consideration, but it is crucial to look at it in the context of a product whole life cycle.

For example, a high performing insulation may have greater embodied energy than a lower performing one, but it's superior energy saving properties mean that it `pays back' its environmental impact far more quickly and then goes on to save more energy over and over again.

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Moisture & Exacerbated Heat Loss / Gain

It is important to understand the different properties of the insulation you use, because the measured performance of the material in its

‘fresh from the factory’ state may not be what you get in a real application.

For instance, moisture can end up in insulation in a number of ways e.g.:

• liquid water penetration through the vapor barrier jacket or any weather protection layer; or
• vapor penetration through the vapor barrier jacket and resulting condensation on chilled services.

Insulation are affected in different ways and degrees by this. For example, only 1% moisture content by volume within mineral fiber insulation can increase its thermal conductivity by up to 107%.

The closed cell construction of high performance rigid phenolic insulation, on the other hand, makes it almost impervious to moisture, and its thermal conductivity remains largely unaffected.

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The Effects of Ductwork Weight on Project Feasibility

Research by independent consultants Bucknall Asutin* into a selection of refurbishment projects has shown that the main reason for choosing the Kingspan KoolDuct System was that it could overcome severe constraints on structural loadings.

In these circumstances the selection of the Kingspan KoolDuct System, over a galvanized sheet steel ductwork system, was often the only realistic choice the alternative normally being the introduction, at potentially significant additional cost, of secondary steel supports to transfer service loads back to the structure. In some projects even this option was not available e.g. where buildings contained listed features that could not be obscured by the introduction of new structural members.

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The Effects of Ductwork Specification on Project Scheduling

Research by independent consultants Bucknall Austin* into a selection of refurbishment projects has shown that the main reason for choosing the Kingspan KoolDuct System was that it can be installed up to three times faster than sheet metal ducting - not even taking lagging into account. Faster installation obviously means lower costs and no work disruption for other trades.

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The Implications of Ductwork Specification on HVAC System Energy Consumption and Running Costs

Independent consultants Bucknall Austin* carried out research based on the results of research carried out by BSRIA to investigate the estimated effect on fan power of different duct air leakage rates. The research showed that the use of the Kingspan KoolDuct System can save over 30% (1/3) on the annual electricity cost of running a fan.

The Kingspan KoolDuct System can provide the optimum energy saving and environmental solution in comparison with other ductwork systems.

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The 'Whole Life' Costs of Differing HVAC Duct Specifications

An independent analysis of the 'whole life' costs of differing HVAC duct specifications

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