Saint-Gobain offers ECBC and ASHRAE-compliant lightweight roofing insulation

This interaction explores Saint Gobain’s lightweight roofing solution, which provides unparalleled protection and meets global standards and certifications to enhance building safety and occupant well-being.

What types of insulation do you offer, and how do they compare regarding R-value and thermal performance?
Saint-Gobain offers mineral wool insulation for thermal and acoustic purposes. Our range includes Twigainsul (glass wool insulation) and Rockinsul (stone wool insulation). Both products are non-combustible and bio-soluble, ensuring they meet health and safety standards. With a focus on light and sustainable construction, we recommend our Twigainsul range for building insulation. This range of glass wool insulation can offer thermal resistance, or R-value, as high as 5 m2K/W.

Let us consider two instances where a Twigainsul roll of density 16 kg/m3 is used. In the first instance, using the lowest thickness of 25 mm, an R-value of 0.64 m2K/W is achieved. This means it reduces heat transfer by 24 percent compared to substitute products of standard thicknesses. The weight of this product is 0.4 kg/m2. In the second instance, with a thickness of 60 mm, the R-value increases to 1.54 m2K/W, and the insulation weight is 0.96 kg/m2.

In addition to excellent thermal resistance, this product also exhibits superior noise absorption, with an NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) of up to 0.95, providing a quieter working environment.

What sustainable materials are used in your insulation products, and are they certified by any green building standards?
Saint-Gobain Twigainsul (glass wool) is made from molten glass and other minerals, with up to 55 percent recycled content. This melt is then converted into a resilient fibre. Our products result in energy savings and help reduce buildings’ carbon footprints, thereby empowering our customers to achieve system sustainability. Our products are certified with GreenPro by IGBC and GRIHA by TERI. These certifications attest to the products’ performance in promoting sustainability.

How do your products ensure health and safety standards?
Our products excel in two critical areas. First, they are fire-safe, meeting stringent standards such as IS 8183 and BS 476 (Part 4, 6, and 7) and achieving ‘A1’ classification under EN13501. Second, they are non-combustible and do not propagate flames, emit droplets, or release toxic smoke, aligning with National Building Code recommendations and certified by FM and UL.

Secondly, our insulation prioritises bio-solubility and health safety, which are crucial for the installer and user’s well-being. EUCEB certification ensures compliance with specific chemical composition and testing criteria and verifies bio-solubility through independent third-party certification.

Can you share some examples of projects where insulation has significantly improved a building’s overall thermal performance?
Our purpose, ‘Making the World a Better Home’, drives us to offer our customers effective and sustainable lighting solutions. An example involves a major automobile manufacturer in Maharashtra. Their existing factory, a PEB structure with a 0.5 mm GI metal roof sheet, faced significant solar radiation, particularly in May when temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius.

We retrofitted the roof with Twigainsul glass wool insulation, 50 mm thick with a density of 16 kg/m3, and FSK (aluminium) facing. Following this upgrade, the internal temperature remained below 37 degrees Celsius, even during peak afternoon heat. This retrofit achieved a temperature reduction of over 7 degrees Celsius without relying on fans.

For more information , visit :https://www.saint-gobain.com/en

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