[Greenbuilding] Vacuum insulation panels...

[RT]

On Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:40:37 -0400, Gordon Howell -- Howell Mayhew  
Engineering <ghowell at hme.ca> wrote:

> a Korean company that is now offering
> vacuum insulation panels (VIPs)

> a VIP encapsulated in a thin layer of EPS

Notwithstanding the issues of longevity and ability to accommodate people  
with sharp and pointy objects, I did wonder how much of an improvement the  
vaccuum (ie not including the EPS skins) provided over a simple reflective  
still air space (or couple of), also sandwiched between layers of  
insulation ?

My *guess* is "Not enough to justify the incremental 3x cost and  
questionable longevity of the vaccuum seal."

I would also venture that if a VIP is an absolute "must-have" on a  
shopping list of nifty building envelope items, then superwindows might be  
a better way to go since some would have the capacity to be net energy  
gainers, even when placed on a non-equator-facing orientation.

Unlike the Korean VIPs, Super-IGUs would provide the homeowners with the  
ability to visually assess the integrity of the vaccuum seal and allow for  
reasonably easy replacement of the failed units and subsequent re-use of  
the "panel" materials.

Seeing Stephen Thwaites here amongst us again reminded me of the novelty  
superwindow his company made sometime in the last millennium just for fun,  
claimed to outperform a conventional 2x6 stud wall.

Although I know nothing about that window, my guess is that it was well  
under 150 mm thick (through the glazing), probably thinner than an  
equivalent R-value Korean VIP.

As my brother's high school pool room buddies used to say after pulling  
off a pretty good shot "Not tea bag ! Eh ?"

-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

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