At the 4th annual convention of the GBCSA (Green Building Council of South Africa) held in Cape Town last year, several residential green building retrofit projects were announced by GBCSA CEO Brian Wilkinson, including a British High Commission-sponsored ‘green street’ retrofit in KwaZulu-Natal, coinciding with Durban’s hosting of COP17.
Energy performance and the use of the most appropriate green building materials are key to sustainable building – in housing as in other sectors.
GBCSA member, Eco-Insulation, is a company involved in the production of green thermal insulation for buildings – a material made from recycled commercial cellulose waste streams. Company founder, Cecil Homan, says, “The greening of South Africa’s low-income housing sector represents a major opportunity to get it right first time. Green street projects are a step in the right direction and we are encouraged by this development.”
Eco-Insulation believes that the use of its product above the ceiling, within the cavity and even under the floor would contribute significantly to a favourable ‘Green Star’ rating for future building projects. Homan says that as well as its thermal and acoustic insulation performance, the product offers a number of further benefits.
As a recycled cellulose material, the product is effectively up-cycled, leaving a minimal environmental footprint during manufacture due to the low-energy mechanical process employed – which results in a low embodied energy.
The energy-saving performance of the product, once installed, is said to be excellent and benefits the energy performance of the whole building. In some buildings, in extreme summer conditions indoor temperatures have been observed to be up to 8 to 10ºC cooler, and considerably warmer in winter.
Eco-Insulation can be readily recycled if it is no longer needed in situ. In cases where down-cycling is the only option, it can be put to use in various agricultural applications. Significantly, it is one of few insulating materials to be fully biodegradable.
It is also a zero-emissions product and safe to have in the home. This is a major advantage over many composite insulation materials on the market.
In large-scale housing projects Eco-Insulation’s contractors can service multiple housing units during a single visit. The product is pumped into place and, once installed, settles and forms a seamless, high-performance thermal protection layer that meets the requirements of SANS 10400 XA codes.
Eco-Insulation is fire-tested and officially rated as B/B1/2, meaning ‘no spread of flame’, and it is approved under SABS 1381-6 and displays the SABS mark.
