600600

500500

700700

800800

900900

10001000

11001100

10111011

991991986986

967967 937937

778778738738

701701640640

10541054

19911991 19921992 19931993 19941994 19951995 19961996 19971997 19981998 19991999 20002000 20012001

550550

kWh/ kWh/m3m3

Total energy consumptionFOAMGLAS® T4

0

500

1000

1500

2000

kWh/

mkW

h/m

33

550* 600*

700*

220*300*

1300*/**

1000*

1400**

1650**

Density 120 kg/m3

CELLULARGLASS

MINERALWOOL

ROCKWOOL EPS PUR XPS

Density Density Density 35 kg/m3

Density 35 kg/m3

Density35 kg/m3

(1)

(1)

(2)

(2)

(1) 35 kg/m3(2) 120 kg/m3

(1) 50 kg/m3(2) 140 kg/m3

1200*

Cellular glass: * Factory value, external monitoring* Factory value, external monitoring

Mineral wool: * BTU experts' report No.No. 96-08-33,

Rockwool: * BTU experts' reportexperts' reportNo.No. 96-08-33; 96-08-33;

EPS (expanded polystyrene): */*/** BTU experts' report No.No. 96-08-33 and Beicip franlaband Beicip franlab

PUR (polyurethane): * BTU experts' report No.No. 96-08-33; ** Beicip franlab** Beicip franlab

XPS (extruded polystyrene): * BTU experts' report No.No. 96-08-33; ** Beicip franlab** Beicip franlab

H Average energy consumption of industrially-manufactured thermal insulation materials

H The combination of energy sources (coal, gas, fuel oil, nuclear energy) considered reflects theaverage mixed structure of energy supply in Europe. Because of the currently deregulated energy markets, this basis is the best available sourcefor a comparative evaluation of environmental impact resulting from the energy required forthe manufacture of insulating materials.

BTU: Büro für technischen Umweltschutz,Reiskirchen (D) - [Office for technical protection of the environment]

Beicip franlab: Institut français du pétrole

Pittsburgh Corning embraces environmental care as one of its main priorities

Technical progress in the manufacture of FOAMGLAS®,repositioning the ecological profile

n Since the end of the 1990’s, importantinvestments have been made and all the know-howavailable with regard to the manufacture of veryhigh-quality glass has been put to good use in theproduction of FOAMGLAS® cellular glass, resultingin a really superior ecological classification. The pro-portion of recycled glass used in manufacture hasbeen substantially increased and, on the otherhand, the thermal recycling yield has also beenoptimised. The measures adopted contributetowards minimising emissions into the environ-ment and re-adjust the ecological profile of FOAMGLAS®.

A Manufacturing energy for 1 m3 of FOAMGLAS® is currently down to 550 kWh.

B CO2 emissions have been reduced to a lowlevel of 120 kg/m3 (this means 75 kg/m3

related to production and 45 kg/m3 for thepreliminary phase of energy production).

C Dust emissions have been reduced from522 g/m3 to 0 g/m3 - i.e. non-existent.

D The percentage of recycled glass (post-consumption residue) was 0 % in 1990; todayit stands at 66 %.

The graph above illustrates the technical progress achieved.Typical of this is the reduction in energy for manufacture forFOAMGLAS® T4. Instead of making long-term provisions foravailability and the status of resources (as is the case withpetroleum products) thermal insulation users can count on acellular glass insulation product with a 100% mineral base.

Ecological assessment

For FOAMGLAS® the profitability index -a characteristic value for ecological and economic evaluation, involving a number of parameters - leads to the value 45.5 .This result positionsFOAMGLAS® amongst theleading products in overall economic/ecological assessment.

Profitability index (R)

Shee

p’s

woo

l

XPS

PUR

EPS

Ligh

twoo

dwoo

lpa

nels

Cellu

lose

Cork

Cellu

lar

glas

s

Min

eral

woo

l

1) BTU - Büro für technischenUmweltschutz, Reiskirchen, Germany.

FOAMGLAS® is the frontrunner as far as ecologicalassessment of industrially-manufactured thermal insulation materials isconcerned

n Due to investments in pro-duction methods and technologyFOAMGLAS® is amongst the elite ininsulation products assessed for glo-bal ecology, related to primaryenergy parameters, CO2 and otheremissions (REFER TO TABLE 1 ON THE

FOLLOWING PAGE AND THE FIGURE, PAGE

BEFORE: PRIMARY ENERGY REQUIRED FOR

INDUSTRIALLY-MANUFACTURED INSULATING

MATERIALS).

Various studies and evaluationsconfirm the accolades for ecologicalquality awarded to FOAMGLAS®

cellular glass insulation.

Économic/ecological assessment by BTU1)

n The BTU institute has gathe-red data on different parameters (e.g.length of service-life, primary energycontent, price, thermal conductivity,costs of disposal or recycling andtechnical or application polyvalence)of the principal industrially-manufac-tured insulation products in the mar-ket. By applying a mathematical for-mula and with the weighting coeffi-cients (per category from 1 to 5, with1 being “negative” and 5 “very posi-tive”), an examination of the parame-ters under consideration leads to dif-ferent results per group of productsand is expressed by the profitabilityindex (R). The higher the R-value, thebetter the product evaluation.

ISO9001 : 2000

As the manufacturing process

As the manufacturing process

vouches for its 9 exceptional properties

vouches for its 9 exceptional properties

FOAMGLAS cellular glass

FOAMGLAS cellular glass

is certified ISO 9001 : 2000

is certified ISO 9001 : 2000

®®

ISO9001 : 2000

De fabricageprocedure dat de

9 uitzonderlijke eigenschappen van

het cellulair glas FOAMGLAS garandeert,

is ISO 9001 : 2000 gecertifieerd.

®

E

NL

Cyan 76Yellow 91

ARBEITSGEMEINSCHAFTUMWELTVERTRÄGLICHES

BAUPRODUKT E.V.

ARBEITSGEMEINSCHAFTUMWELTVERTRÄGLICHES

BAUPRODUKT E.V.

Black

ARBEITSGEMEINSCHAFTUMWELTVERTRÄGLICHES

BAUPRODUKT E.V.

The following copies of evaluations andstudies are available on request:

• Landesinstitut für Bauwesen undangewandte BauschadensforschungNRW; Ökologischer baustoffratgeber:Umweltbewußte Bauteil- und Bau-stoffauswahl (1993).

• Niedersächsisches Sozialministerium:Gesundes Bauen und Wohnen. Bau-stoffinformation Wärmeschutz (1994).

• Arbeitsgemeinschaft Umweltverträg-liches Bauprodukt e.V., Munich.

• BTU, Büro für technischen Umwelt-schutz, Reiskirchen; expertise n° 96-08-33.

• Schweizer-Ingenieur-Ring; Beurteilungvon Bauteilen der Gebäudehülle nachwirtschaftlichen und ökologischenGrundsätzen. Bedarfsbilanzierung vonausgewählten Konstruktionen (1997).

n Volatile emissions during theproduction of a product are increasin-gly being considered and evaluatedin the overall ecological balancesheet. These relate in particular to SOx

emissions, i.e. SO2 and SO3 whichare responsible for acid rain, thegreenhouse gases CO, NOx and CO2,as well as emissions of VOC whichhave been found to have an adverseeffect on health (respiratory tract).

The highest values of these emis-sions arise in the case of productswith long–winded chemical process-es and relate in particular to petrole-um-based products. In the case ofthe XPS, EPS and PUR products inquestion, the emission values men-tioned in Table 1 (above) were takenfrom the Beicip Franlab report of theInstitut Français du Pétrole1).

Other industrially-manufactured insu-lating materials produce emissions ofthe same order of magnitude. As, however, these are not mainlybased on petroleum as the raw mate-rial, emissions are appreciably lower.

In the case of products made of mineral wool and rockwool, the orderof magnitude of the values – in rela-tion to primary energy required – canbe estimated by extrapolation.

The information on CO2 and othergaseous emissions given here applyfor production sites operating inaccordance with current technicalstandards and cannot be attributed toplants located in countries whereprotection of the environment is notrecognised by law, particularly inthird-world countries and developingcountries.

1) Beicip-Franlab, Ecological balancesheets; report Nr DIP - 93042 byInstitut français du pétrole.

In Switzerland, cellular glass complies with the MINERGIEstandard for constructioncomponents promoted by the can-tons, the Confederation and the com-mercial world. Buildings meet a high level of qualityand offer a remarkable level of comfortas regards soundproofing, health,indoor air quality and thermal protec-tion; this concept is designed to pre-serve the value of a building over alonger period than average (certifi-cate on request).

PRODUCTS Density CO2 SOx NOx Process Water Return on energy

effluents and VOC consumption investment kg/m3 kg/m3 kg/m3 kg/m3 kg/m3 kg/m3 Months

Cellular glass T4 120 a 120 [1] 0.03 0.15 none 70H 9

Mineral wool 35 - 120 g 55 - 191 0.12 - 0.40 0.12 - 0.42 0.14 - 0.48 50 - 100(#) 3.5 - 13

Rockwool 50 - 140 g 44 - 154 0.29 - 0.81 0.09 - 0.25 unkn. 50 - 100(#) 3.5 - 13

EPS 30 c 162 0.99 0.38 15.5 291 22

g 4.8 1.61

PUR 35 c 150 0.86 0.32 30.84 301 23

XPS 35 c 215 1.32 0.50 14.20 298 25 - 30

[1] In the factory during production: 75 kg/m3;energy supply prior to production:45 kg/m3

a factory valueb calculatedc Beicip - Franlab

g Ecolabel - Vito - Dk Teknik( ) estimatedunkn. unknown

(#) extrapolationH recycled in a closed circuit

TABLE 1 • Emissions of CO2-, SOx, NOx or other volatile organic compounds (VOC) and• Consumption of water for the production of insulating materials and• Return on energy investment

Sour

ce

Process chains and the service life of an insulatingmaterial – an indicator of its ecological profile

n “Advantageous constructionmaterials are those having a long ser-vice life and a non-critical manufactu-ring process. Construction materialshaving a short service life should pre-ferably not have a critical processchain, because their manufacture,use or disposal at their end of lifecauses problems for the environ-ment. If one were to ignore this pol-lution and these risks, it would bemost desirable for construction ele-ments to have a longer service life.”1)

Short and uncomplicatedprocess chain in the case ofcellular glass

n “Comparing the processesfor the manufacture of products inthe same group provides a prelimi-nary indication about their environ-mental impact. Normally non-specia-

lists do not have sufficient know-ledge to be able to correctly evaluatethe individual stages in a process,emissions, production waste and theprimary energy required. It is there-fore recommended that the com-plexity of subsequent production sta-ges should be compared.

A short process chain is a valid indi-cator for a positive ecological profile.A long process chain requires com-plex technology, absolute control ofwhich appears to be at least doubt-ful. Two process chains of differentcomplexity are illustrated below.”1)

1) Source: Energieagentur Nordrhein-Westfalen,Baustoffe/Baukonstruktionen. Eine Auswahl nachökologischen Gesichtspunkten.

REN initiative for energy saving “Bau undEnergie” [Construction and energy].

Uncomplicaed process chain, as in the case of cellular glassComplicated process chain, as in the case of XPS products

SOURCE: Fachhochschule beiderBasel/Haute école supérieure.«Wärmedämmstoffe. Der Versucheiner ganzheitlichen Betrachtung.»

INSULATING MATERIALS

Cellular glass:with 12 process stages

XPS:with 48 process stages

PUR/PIR :with 48 process stages

Complicated process chain, as in the case of PUR/PIR products

SOURCE: Fachhochschule beiderBasel/Haute école supérieure.«Wärmedämmstoffe. Der Versucheiner ganzheitlichen Betrachtung.»

ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS

The time factor must be given more consideration

Tobe

examined

Shortservice

life

Criticalprocesschains

Non-critical

process chains

Longservice

life

Negative

Positive

Source: Energy agency ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia

Selection criteria for construction materials based on process chains and the service life of the material

Service lifen “In the past various methods have beendeveloped to refine ecological analyses of con-struction products. Energy and raw materials flows over the service lifeof the product must be taken into consideration inorder to evaluate a construction product as awhole. Construction products are long-term goods– buildings are regarded as having a service life of80 years. The time factor therefore plays a pre-dominant part. Up to now, however, the time factor has not been adequately considered in mostbalance sheets.”1)

The characteristics of a product deteriorate in the course of use and products have different service livesn “When in use products do not remain newand undergo the effects of ageing and wear.Because of this, refurbishment measures becomenecessary and the characteristics of the productcan change fundamentally.

The resistance of insulating materials to heat transfercan thus fall over the years and thermal transmis-sion can increase as a consequence. The additional heat flow produced in this way givesrise to flows of energy in the ecological balance sheetwhich can greatly exceed the energy flows requiredfor the production of the insulating material.”1)

1) Source: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr.h.c.mult. Dr.E.h.mult.Karl Gertis, Ökobilanz für Bauprodukte, [Ecologicalbalance sheet for construction products]. Fraunhofer Institut für Bauphysik, Stuttgart – Holzkirchen –Berlin. [Fraunhofer institute for the physics of buildings]Supplement to Bundesbaublatt 47 (1998), No. 11, pp. 17-20.

Conclusion

An ecological assessment of construction prod-ucts which fails to take the use stage or servicelife into account is not a valid one. n For an objective ecological evaluationcomparing insulating materials, both changes inthe thermal performance of the insulating mate-rial over time and differences in service life mustbe considered.Products which offer constant thermal perform-ance over the service life of a building and prod-ucts with a long service life have an appreciablymore advantageous ecological balance sheetthan products whose thermal insulation properties decrease over the course of time andhave a relatively short service life. For this reason, greatest importance is to beattached to an ecological balance sheet relatedto service life which only allows for a correctcomparative weighting of the ecological profileof insulating materials.