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2018
Journal Article
Titel
Recent advances in vacuum thermal insulations used in building thermal envelopes
Abstract
In today's economy with increasing costs of energy forced by new energy regulations, newly introduced national, and global climate control policies, improving the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings represents a worldwide challenge. Reducing the energy consumption of buildings is preferably achieved by increasing the thermal resistance of the insulation in the building envelope and improvement of the overall building airtightness. These two most common improvements of the building enclosure are closely related to the installation of thermal insulation and insulation systems. Vacuum thermal insulation is an emerging technology that likely will become a major thermal control material used in buildings. Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) consist of a gas-tight enclosure surrounding a rigid core from which the air has been evacuated. This review describes the major technological developments in the field of VIPs produced for building applications. VIPs are used i n building construction, refrigeration units, and insulated shipping containers to provide better insulation performance than conventional insulation. The focus in this review is on the developments that have taken place during the second decade of the 21st century. The following technological areas are discussed in this review: (i) improvements in the thermal performance and long-term durability of VIPs, (ii) application of new core and enclosing materials, and (iii) new production methods that result in cost savings and reduction of the negative impact of edge thermal shorts on overall VIP thermal resistance.