ᐅ Primary Energy Demand and the Selection of Insulation Materials

Hello,

I have been researching insulation materials for my architectural design project for a few weeks now.

I am unclear about the primary energy demand...

For the production of hemp insulation, approximately 50-80 kWh/m³ (4.3-7.0 kWh/ft³) of primary energy is required. In comparison, glass wool requires about 250-500 kWh/m³ (7.1-14.2 kWh/ft³).

Then I looked at the data sheets from Ökobau.dat. There, hemp shows a primary energy value of 54 MJ/kg (23,200 BTU/lb) and glass wool 31.86 MJ/kg (13,700 BTU/lb).

Could someone explain this discrepancy to me?

I understand that hemp has a higher density. But when I convert the units, shouldn’t the numbers approximately match again?

Somehow, I feel like I’m missing something...

I hope someone can help me.

Hello,

Elfriede schrieb:
....I hope someone can help me.

One needs to distinguish between the primary energy demand for production and that for operation. For most homeowners, the latter is decisive. From an economic perspective, even more precisely, only the payable final energy matters!
Relatively few people are interested in the primary energy demand of production.
This should be reflected in the pricing of the respective product.

Best regards

Yes, I understand.

But my concern is specifically about the manufacturing process and the problem described above.

@Elfriede: Why is this so important to you? I don’t quite understand your question.

Regards