ISOBIO innovation will be featured at the 2018 edition of Ecobuild conference from the 6th untill the 8th of March, being the leading event to engage with building sector stakeholders and showcase the results and technologies developed within the project.
Meet ISOBIO at C86 stand and discover more at the following link: ISOBIO at Ecobuild 2018
The National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC) announced the winners of The Welding Institute and the Armourers & Brasiers’ Gauntlet Trust Awards 2016.
The best PhD student prize was awarded to Marion Bourebrab, from TWI innovation partner and ISOBIO coordinator, who has been awarded for her study “Enhancing bio-materials’ properties: bringing hydrophobicity and fire retardancy”, which tackles the inherent risk of bio-based materials of low fire resistance and water penetration.
Water repellence and fire retardancy will be achieved through ISOBIO innovation achievements with a single sol-gel based treatment of the bio-based materials, without affecting the materials’ breathability to prevent condensation within the panels.
To learn more, visit NSIC website.
ISOBIO research is achieving promising results in treating hemp shivs. The latest development by the innovation partner TWI lead to impressive results in terms of water repellence (up to 130° of water contact angle) and of hydrophobic properties (water contact angle, above 90° and maintaind for over 20 minutes).
These achievements are promisingly converging towards the main objective of developing bio-based materials with high insulating properties, low embodied energy, low embodied carbon and hygrothermally efficient.
ISOBIO is emerging from the research phase and taking its first steps towards its target market. Bringing innovation and research outcomes to the attention of experts and stakeholders is essential to tackling some of the possible challenges in the industrialisation phase.
Against this backdrop, ISOBIO innovation partners held a workshop on 14 September this year at the University of Bath. The aim was to stimulate discussion about bio-based insulation materials and the associated environmental and LCA issues. The workshop took place alongside an event held by the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP), focusing on embodied carbon issues and providing useful insights and strategies for reducing it.
ISOBIO had the opportunity to share knowledge about major topics such as life cycle assessment and cost analysis, key results of demonstration actions (including, carbon sequestration, waste minimisation, efficient energy and raw material use) as well as a case study of a nearly-zero energy residential building made with straw bales and timber. This highlights a strong link among bio-based building systems, energy efficiency and indoor comfort, allowing strong connection between the bio-economy and energy sectors to be created. The workshop was also an opportunity to hear about ASBP activities associated to the challenges of applying LCA and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to external thermal insulation composite systems and to embodied carbon policies and decision making tools.
LCA and LCC are essential aspects that can bring research outputs closer to the target market. Engaging with stakeholders, sharing knowledge and best practices is key to stimulating stakeholders’ acceptance of the designed bio-based material, which aims to turn a niche innovation into a mainstream product of the construction sector. ISOBIO is taking its first steps in this direction and, little by little, it will need to address all challenges of industrialisation, firmly drawing on its particular strengths and exploiting the opportunities ahead.
13 October 2016
ISOBIO, sustaining its dissemination potential during ECO-binder event.
Within the framework of the collaboration in the AMANAC Cluster, ISOBIO innovation has been featured during ECO-binder workshop held in Bilbao on February the 4th. The main objective of the workshop was the initiation and assessment of the challenges and development opportunities in the area of low embodied energy materials and energy efficient buildings.
ISOBIO had the opportunity to show its potential benefits for the society, the project objectives and expected impact as well as its inclusion in the AMANAC cluster. ACCIONA took part to the workshop and disseminated ISOBIO innovation towards experts and stakeholders in the field.
The impacts of the Paris Agreement on green business environment: The role of the private and public sectors, the effects in terms of legislative & legal frameworks and possible benefits for novel construction materials
“History will remember this day,” said Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, moments after the green-topped gavel, symbol of the Paris talks, was dropped on what is considered the most ambitious deal on climate change that the world has ever seen.
Households are responsible for 32% of greenhouse gas emissions and 42% of energy consumption in Europe. During the COP21 Buildings Day on 3 December, a Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction was launched, with the aim of scaling up low-carbon development in the sector.
Participating countries include Austria, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Senegal, Singapore, Sweden, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Furthermore, over 60 organisations are members of the alliance.
The World Green Building Council is a key member of the initiative. “While the Paris Agreement is not itself legally binding, many countries will choose legislative and legal frameworks to support its implementation,” says Terri Wills, CEO of the World Green Building Council, a network of national green building councils in more than one hundred countries. Many of them are working closely with their national governments to develop renovation strategies.
“Some countries will opt for a ‘carrot’ over a ‘stick’ approach” adds Wills, explaining that “they will decide to offer incentives in the form of subsidies, grants for ambitious green building projects, or planning approvals for extra building space if a building complies with a green certification standard.”
The COP 21 Paris Agreement has put emphasis on the construction sector and on the adoption of novel building materials, designs and technologies.
“States should provide long-term incentives and support for emissions reductions to show real commitment to change. Policy actions could include carbon pricing, ambitious buildings standards and targeted spending on new technologies through green public procurement”, says Simon Hunkin from Greenovate!Europe. The independent expert group, dedicated to developing sustainable business, is collaborating with a research project called ISOBIO, which aims to develop bio-based materials as an alternative to traditional insulations while reducing their cost.
The researchers are developing a new approach to insulating materials, through the combination of existing bio-derived aggregates with low embodied carbon and innovative binders to produce durable composite construction materials.
With these novel composites, the aim is to cut embodied energy and carbon dioxide at component level by 50%, and to improve insulation properties by 20% compared to conventional material. The study will also seek to demonstrate a reduction in total costs by 15% and in the total energy spent over the life time of a building by 5%.
But could such biomaterials be commercially attractive? “To a certain extent, these materials may appeal to businesses, contractors and homeowners. As they have low or even zero-embodied energy, there is proof of increased sustainability and energy efficiency when compared to traditional materials,” says Anthimos Pavlidis, a civil engineer and quality coordinator in the project of the skyscraper centre One Blackfriars, London.
Financial profit can be identified from manufacture through to impact across the operational life-cycle of buildings. “Nevertheless, a rationalised piece of legislation is needed in order to woo manufacturers and contractors. Integrated policy measures including incentive schemes and training seminars have to be implemented in order to achieve widespread use of biomaterials,” Pavlidis tells youris.com.
As for construction companies, they are smelling the business opportunities. “These companies – particularly those in the green building sector – aren’t going to wait for their national governments; they are simply going to act on climate change because they know it makes good business sense,” says Wills, “There is no longer any question of whether or not to decarbonise. In our opinion, this is the greatest triumph of the COP21″.
By Elias Aggelopoulos
Innovation in the construction industry will play an important role in reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency — though developing new materials and methods is only half the battle. Convincing architects and homeowners of the performance and long-term financial benefits of a new product presents a significant challenge.
In Europe, households are responsible for 32% of greenhouse gas emissions and 42% of energy. Cement production alone contributes to 5% of manmade CO2 emissions.
By contrast, bio-based insulation typically have much lower “embodied energy” levels compared with more conventional building materials. Furthermore, the source materials themselves sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide via photosynthesis.
“The beauty of bio-based materials is that they are often a byproduct of growing our food. We can build with carbon. Instead of seeing carbon as a problem, we can recast our relationship with it to one of positive innovation”, says Craig White, director of ModCell, which produces straw-bale eco-homes.
The company is one of the 12 partners in academia, research and industry that are collaborating with the European project ISOBIO. It aims to deliver bio-based insulators with 20% better performance than conventional materials, leading to a 5% total energy reduction over the lifecycle of a building at reduced costs of 15%.
Producers of bio-based insulators have the advantage that users are both receptive to change and familiar with the products in some capacity. In a study conducted by the Architects’ Council Europe (ACE) for the Low Embodied Energy Insulation Materials (LEEMA) project, 94% of architects surveyed said they would consider using a new and innovative insulation material. An overwhelming endorsement for what remains a niche application in the construction and renovation industries.
Renovations present a key market for producers of new insulation materials. According to the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE), more than 40% of Europe’s existing homes were built before the 1960s, when there were few requirements for energy efficiency, leading to low insulation levels.
Increasing awareness of the importance of insulation among homeowners is an important consideration. Homeowners may be inclined to, for example, upgrade appliances and install energy saving light bulbs, unaware that retrofitting wall and roof insulation leads to the greatest savings opportunities.
Veronika Schröpfer, lead author on the ACE survey, believes that bio-based insulation materials will continue to move from the niche into the mainstream and that new skill requirements will not present significant roadblocks.
Schröpfer says new building materials are often applied the same way as commonly used ones and manufacturers usually offer training when this is not the case. She states the main concerns involve pricing and regulations in different European countries.
“For architects it is important that a new material has all the necessary certificates and that the product information is transparent, to quickly compare its performance and price with traditional products,” says Schröpfer.
White believes that developers will be receptive to change. “The challenge that ISOBIO will overcome will be to bring [products] to market at scale at the price point that matches their performance to market demand,” he says.
Europe’s construction industry has experienced a turnaround over the last two years. After registering negative growth in 2013, the industry grew by 2.1% this year, and is forecast to grow by a further 2% over the next five years.
Evidence suggests that a growing minority of these builds will involve green projects. A market report from the Word Green Building Council states the proportion of architects and engineers that dedicate 60% or more of their project load to sustainable builds more than doubled over a four-year period — from 13% in 2009 to 28% in 2013.
The report states that increasingly, industry consumers not only demand that new innovations improve performance, but also reduce environmental impact. Fertile territory for the right nature-inspired solutions.
By Angus McNeice
