EENSULATE has been a highly multidisciplinary project aiming to optimise three core material innovations and their integration in an innovative envelope component, enabling a reduction by almost 50% of the U value and a weight reduction by 35%. The sustainability is ensured by reduced temperature for glass sealing and environmental friendly foam formulation, reduction of material use for the glazing component and spandrel insulation as well as downsizing of sub-structures. The reduced weight impacts in particular on the structural requirements for high rise buildings, optimising the use of concrete and/or steel and associated embodied energy.
The application of the innovative EENSULATE products has been tested in two different climate conditions (southern Europe – Italy and norther Europe – Poland) and in different application scenarios (historical windows, curtain wall facades) and they have been compared with different benchmark products (i.e. single glass panes, double-glazing units, triple-glazing units, mineral wool).
Considering a 20 years life cycle, from manufacturing until use phase of the targeted products, EENSULATE solutions showed lower environmental impacts in almost all of the Environmental Footprint impact categories. Such improvements are linked to the relevant savings foreseen in the use phase (because of the significantly lower U-value of the VIG compared with the benchmark), and to the savings obtained in the VIG manufacturing phase if compared with the benchmarks (i.e. DGU and TGU). The EENSULATE façade module appears as the most promising application towards benchmark products based on TGU and mineral wool. Although foam manufacturing entails higher costs than mineral wool production, VIG production process guarantees relevant savings if compared with the manufacturing of TGU.
For all case studies, the main differences between EENSULATE and benchmark products are based on the manufacturing and the use phase: indeed, assembly and installation essentially consist of the same raw materials and procedures; however, the EENSULATE solution is actually lighter than the benchmark one, thus potentially allowing an easier installation process entailing the use of more lightweight or lower number of additional components like brackets, anchorages, etc.
Considering the better technical performances given by the increased thermal and acoustic insulation, the lower environmental impacts for most of the impact categories and the high potential for further improvements aiming to reduce costs of the developed processes, the EENSULATE solutions show a significant potential for a real market deployment and wide replicability. This aspect is particularly proved by the different types of application, typology of buildings and climate scenarios analysed within the project: the EENSULATE solutions show a high versatility, with promising results especially from an environmental sustainability perspective.
