The “Sheep” Alternative
to Rising Energy Bills…
The increase
in heating bills throughout the country has prompted more and more
people to discover alternative ways to either heat their homes using
cheaper sources of fuel, or improve the standard and amount of insulation
in their homes in an attempt to bring down those ghastly quarterly
bills. And with 50% of the UK’s energy being used within our
homes, the Government is also keen to see energy use in buildings reduced,
and are therefore promoting a number of programmes to encourage increased
insulation in buildings.
There are a large number of different
insulation products on the market and this tends to leave most consumers
in a state of confusion over which one to chose and why. In the past,
it was normal to use natural products for insulation, but recent years
have seen moves to synthetic, often toxic products that have known health
risks including Man Made Vitreous Fibre (MMVF), a product that in the
USA is considered “reasonably anticipated to cause cancer in humans”. It
is thought that over 60% of homes in the UK have MMVF particulates in
their homes. These products are not only unhealthy for people but also
have a damaging impact on the planet as they use huge amounts of energy
and chemicals in their manufacture.
There are now many natural alternatives
that are safe for your family and are produced in an environmentally
friendly manner. All natural insulations are made from renewable plant
or animal sources, for example, recycled paper, flax or sheeps wool,
and use very little energy in their manufacturing process. They are also
safe for installers and are re-usable or even biodegradable at the end
of a building’s life.
Natural insulation has been installed
in a building the benefits are has noticeable beneficial effects. It
has an ability to “breathe”, meaning it can absorb airborne moisture and release it again when the air is drier, keeping the relative humidity in a building stable and comfortable for residents. All dwellings have differing levels of airborne moisture resulting naturally from human activity and the weather. The ability for natural insulation to “breathe” does
not affect its performance, for example, Flax can absorb up to 25% of
its weight in water before starting to lose its thermal capacity and
sheeps wool insulation can hold up to 40%.
Natural insulation products are
ideal for use in “breathing” constructions, both in older buildings constructed using traditional techniques such as stone, cob and timber and new sustainable builds such as straw bale buildings. These products protect the building structure from the damage that can be caused by condensation and moisture. This is especially relevant in timber constructions as the insulation acts as a “wick” and
pulls the moisture away from the wood.
Additional benefits of natural
insulations are its effective sound insulation properties, its ability
to perform over time and in the case of sheeps wool, improving indoor
air quality by absorbing pollutants including many volatile organic compounds
(VOC’s). A common VOC that pervades throughout buildings is formaldehyde, which is released from a variety of processed materials such as pressed wood, medium density fibreboard, treated fabrics on furniture and some paints. The unique structure of wool allows it to bond with many potentially harmful substances, especially formaldehyde, which is permanently locked into the wool fibre, rendering it useless throughout the life of the insulation. In laboratory tests, formaldehyde levels of approximately 5 parts per million were reduced to near zero within 20 minutes with no re-emission at 30 degrees. The importance of this is very clear when you discover that exposure to formaldehyde can produce sensory and respiratory effects even at extremely low concentrations in the air in your homes. Natural
insulation is proving to be better for us as well as our environment.
By Anne Humphries
Manager of the Sustainable Building Resource Centre
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