You don’t need to be an expert to understand that the role of good insulation is to protect against temperature change in your home. In essence, good insulation should help to provide reliable temperature control.
So, why do so many of the most widely used and respected forms of insulation completely ignore one of the three fundamental forms of heat transfer? And should we take another look at our options for “comprehensive” thermal protection?
We’re planning on addressing those questions — and more — in this post. So, without further ado, let’s get started…
The Value of Comprehensive Thermal Protection
It’s important, before going any further, to note that measures such as R-Values and U-Values provide comprehensive insights into the thermal performance of insulation solutions: R-Values by providing an insight into an insulation product’s ability to resist heat transfer, and U-Values by providing an insight into the rate of heat transfer through a structure.
That is to say that these measures, when properly utilised, will always serve to provide an accurate insight into the thermal performance of any given product or solution (respectively).
We aren’t suggesting that these measures are somehow deficient, or that they are somehow missing part of the puzzle. Rather, we are pointing out that the means by which traditional insulation solutions are reaching these values are inefficient.
By neglecting a whole element of heat transfer (radiation) they are invariably going to need to use more space, more material, more… everything, to get the job done.
Truly comprehensive insulation should account for every avenue of heat loss because it will allow those materials to achieve the same results more efficiently.
However, to truly embrace this kind of innovation, we need to leave the idea that reflective insulation is some kind of magic trick behind. We need to truly, solidly understand what this element of insulation can do, and how it can do it.
In short, we need reliable standards and regulations.
The Essential Role of Specification Standards
Trust is a vital element of any insulation solution.
Upgrading your home’s insulation is an expensive process, and as such you want absolute understanding of what that upgrade will entail and a guarantee of the results it will bring.
This is what makes specification standards like the new Reflective Insulation Products Specification (BS EN 16863:2023) so important. They provide a basis of understanding that lets us know what can be expected from an insulation product; an expectation of the benefits that will be provided.
In doing so, they lay the foundation of trust — since there is now a solid, specified basis of expectations. A common understanding of what the effect of the insulation will be, and how that effect was determined.
Arguably more important, it makes it clear whether or not something has gone wrong. After all, if we understand the benefits that the insulation should be providing, then it is far, far easier to know when it has fallen short.
The Power of Specificity in these Standards
Of course, in order to provide a basis for understanding, it’s incredibly important that these standards provide specific insights into the results generated by the insulation.
For example, one of the biggest benefits of the Reflective Insulation standards set forth by BS EN 16863:2023 is that it provides a basis for the performance that products like multifoil provides, without relying on a comparison against the performance of other products.
In short, it allows us to get an insight into how the product itself is performing. Rather than an idea of how well it would emulate the performance of another product.
This allows us to truly understand what reflective insulation products are capable of, rather than placing them on a scale that is determined by our understanding of other insulation products.
And this is important because, when we aren’t forced to contextualise the performance of reflective insulation against other products, we can truly start to investigate what this kind of insulation can do — entirely on its own merit.
Why it’s Vital to Seize this Opportunity
Innovation is the heart of progress, but it is only possible through opportunities like these.
The introduction of new specifications and standards — like BS EN 16863:2023 — is an opportunity to consider how we have been engaging with and thinking about insulation, and how we could improve our solutions.
It’s an opportunity to separate our preconception about how insulation works from the reality, and to ensure that we are always challenging ourselves to find a better way.
After all, if we fail to adapt to changes in the way our industry works, then we are robbing ourselves of the opportunity to do better — both for ourselves and for our customers.
What’s more, if we don’t innovate while others seize the opportunities we’ve let pass us by, then we’re doomed to fail. To innovate is to thrive — so don’t fall into the trap of “good enough” when you are presented with the opportunity to do more!
