ZEMCH 2019 International Conference Proceedings April.2020 | Page 301
1. Introduction
The depletion of energy resources and the problem of global warming require the building science
community to exercise sustainable development. Sustainability covers many issues, but none is as
important as energy. More than any other factor, the pollution resulting from the production of energy
used by buildings is destroying the planet. Buildings use about 40% of all the energy consumed.
This energy is mostly derived from fossil fuels that produce carbon dioxide and other combustion
products that are the main cause of global warming. We must replace these polluting sources with clean,
renewable energy sources such as wind, solar energy, and biomass, or we must increase the efficiency
of our buildings so that they use less energy, or we must do both. Of course, we need to do both, but
decreasing the energy consumption of buildings is both quicker and less expensive than other
alternatives [1].
To fight global warming, we must understand our energy options. By far the most important
option is efficiency, which is the easiest, quickest, and least expensive way to fight global warming. The
most efficient way to decrease the energy consumption of buildings is to increase the insulation of the
building thermal envelope (ceilings, walls, and floors) and improve the thermal performance of
windows and doors. The thermal performance of the building envelope can be improved by using
more and better insulating materials. Zero energy buildings completely balance their annual energy
consumption and related CO2 emissions. Nearly zero‐energy building means a building that has a very
high energy performance. The nearly zero or very low amount of energy required should be covered
to a very significant extent by energy from renewable sources, including energy from renewable
sources produced on‐site or nearby [2].
This research includes applications of various insulations for zero energy buildings. Recently,
phenolic foam board, low‐emissivity hybrid insulation, and vacuum insulation panel have widely been
used as insulations for low energy buildings in Korea. To achieve the U value of 0.12W/m2K, phenolic
foam board, low‐emissivity hybrid insulation and vacuum insulation panel is respectively used as thick
as 170mm, 100mm and 20mm.
2. Brief review of major insulations
Various kinds of insulations in Figure 1 can be used for zero energy buildings. Rockwool, glass
wool, foamed glass, cellulose, EPS, XPS, PUR, Phenolic Foam, Aerogel Blanket, vacuum insulation
panel and various types of reflective insulations are the insulations used for them.
State of The Art Insulation Technology for Zero Energy Buildings
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