DAW Stakeholder Dialogue: The Future of Thermal Insulation

Ober-Ramstadt, 28th July (DAW) - In the second event in the "Stakeholder Dialogue: The Future of Thermal Insulation" created by Germany's largest building paints manufacturer, DAW SE experts, advocates and critics of thermal insulation highlighted and discussed facts on fire protection, disposal and design of external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS). "In this dialogue the advantages and disadvantages of ETICS are discussed constructively and transparently with all interested groups, working together to find sustainable solutions," said Dr. Ralf Murjahn, Chairman of the DAW Management Board, when opening the event in the company's Information & Training Centre at its headquarters in Ober-Ramstadt. The main topics of fire protection, disposal and design formed the centre-point of the facts check. About 40 representatives of fire brigades, architects' offices, application worker operations, energy consultancies, nature and environmental protection organisations discussed these topics with invited experts. In small groups the participants developed ideas and approaches to solutions, such as how sustainable and safe use of thermal insulation composite systems can be supported and ensured. Fire risks on the building site "Testing of the fire behaviour is a prerequisite in fulfilling the building supervisory requirements," explained Hendrik Rademacher, Department Head of the Erwitte Fire Testing Centre of the Materials Testing Office for North Rhine-Westphalia, in his opening presentation. In the following discussion there was consensus in regarding that with properly implemented ETICS fire protection is adequately ensured. Increased fire risks mostly arise due to incorrect storage of construction materials and insufficient organisation at construction sites. Transparent information, co-ordination of different professional groups as well as the improvement of the building-site management are approaches which are to be further expanded.Usable materials instead of hazardous waste In the public view thermal insulation composite systems are often regarded as hazardous waste with many issues relating to disposal. "This is a misconception," says Wolfgang Albrecht of the Research Institute for Thermal Insulation and adds "Disposal of ETICS occurs with the normal residual waste." Already there are recycling options for ETICS as a reusable material. "However, since in the future larger quantities of thermal insulation composite systems will be removed, solutions for this need to be developed today," Albrecht emphasised. Various research projects on energy-saving recycling or on the recycling of thermal insulation composite systems – as in the CreaSolv process of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV) in Freising – represent promising approaches of obtaining new raw materials from used materials Employing ETICS as a design element "When we speak about thermal insulation and architecture, this does not involve an either/or situation. Rather, for the purposes of an elaboration process a joint understanding needs to be developed about where thermal insulation composite systems are practicable and under which conditions," stated Johannes Ernst, Steidle Architects, Munich and illustrated this based on exemplary architectural solutions. "The material fidelity" is, according to Ernst, permanently anchored in the consciousness and in the teachings of architecture, which is not currently adequately served by the ETICS industry. In the discussion the participants also established that ETICS is often considered a cheap solution to thermal insulation. In the future the design potential of ETICS is to be more clearly demonstrated. The DAW Stakeholder Dialogue: The Future of Thermal Insulation will continue in the autumn of 2014. The series of events is being supervised and moderated by DIALOG BASIS, an independent, science-orientated dialogue Organisation. Press release