Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Handbook of Ecomaterials pp 1–20Cite as

Thermal and Acoustic Building Insulations from Agricultural Wastes

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Abstract

Global population growth and economic growth increase the demand for more buildings and thus more construction materials. Increases in production of construction materials lead also to greenhouse gas emission rise and depletion of natural resources. One of these materials is insulation, which increasingly plays a vital role in the energy performance of buildings and in the process reducing negative environmental impacts of the built environment. A number of studies have focused on finding substitutions for petrochemicals as a source for manufacturing building insulation. Some investigations have identified insulation materials that have lower environmental costs, for example, those that are made of natural or recycled materials. Manufacturing building insulation from agricultural by-product s is one such approach. However, these are in their early stages of development, and there is a long way to have them on the market.

Alongside identifying matters that require additional research to enhance technical reliability, this study explores issues that can improve the market viability and help make natural and recycled materials more attractive alternatives. There are some common themes among these materials and earlier studies have revealed that each of these agricultural wastes has some advantages that can be exploited for specific purposes alongside disadvantages that must be overcome. From another perspective, it is important to compare the performance of these new materials with that of more conventional options. This is one of the first steps needed to modify the industry. This chapter refers to earlier studies discussed in the literature in discussing the technical behavior of bio-based insulations in four categories: thermal, acoustic, environmental, and mechanical behavior. This research reveals the hotspots where evidence is currently lacking and how to find evident opportunities for this market, thereby suggesting where future research should be directed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  1. Ryan C (2011) Traditional construction for a sustainable future. Spon Press, Routledge

    Google Scholar 

  2. Berardi U, Iannace G (2015) Acoustic characterization of natural fibers for sound absorption applications. Build Environ 94:840–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Schmidt AC et al (2004) A comparative life cycle assessment of building insulation products made of stone wool, paper wool and flax. Int J Life Cycle Assess 9(1):53–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Balador z et al (2017) Research hotspots on agro-waste based building insulation products _ a meta-review. In: International conference on advances on sustainable cities and buildings development. Green Lines Institute, Porto

    Google Scholar 

  5. Asdrubali F (2011) Green and sustainable porous materials for noise control in buildings: a state of the art. In Sapem, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  6. Joshi SV et al (2004) Are natural fiber composites environmentally superior to glass fiber reinforced composites? Compos A: Appl Sci Manuf 35(3):371–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Korjenic A et al (2011) Development and performance evaluation of natural thermal-insulation materials composed of renewable resources. Energ Buildings 43(9):2518–2523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Loorbach D, Frantzeskaki N, Avelino F (2017) Sustainability transitions research: transforming science and practice for societal change. Annu Rev Env Resour 42(1):599–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Rotmans J, Kemp R, Van Asselt M (2001) More evolution than revolution: transition management in public policy. Foresight 3(1):15–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Brown RR, Farrelly MA, Loorbach DA (2013) Actors working the institutions in sustainability transitions: the case of Melbourne‘s stormwater management. Glob Environ Chang 23(4):701–718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Scarlat N, Martinov M, Dallemand J-F (2010) Assessment of the availability of agricultural crop residues in the European Union: potential and limitations for bioenergy use. Waste Manag 30(10):1889–1897

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lal R (2005) World crop residues production and implications of its use as a biofuel. Environ Int 31(4):575–584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Rotmans J (1998) Methods for IA: the challenges and opportunities ahead. Environ Model Assess 3(3):155–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Sandhu S et al (2010) Consumer driven corporate environmentalism: fact or fiction? Bus Strateg Environ 19(6):356–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Freeman RE (2010) Strategic management: a stakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  16. Community Recycling Network, Mission (2017) Community Recycling Network: New Zealand

    Google Scholar 

  17. NZAIA, Aims (2016) New Zealand Association for Impact Assessment New Zealand

    Google Scholar 

  18. BBE, Objectives (2017) The Building Biology and Ecology Institute

    Google Scholar 

  19. Addis B (2012) Building with reclaimed components and materials: a design handbook for reuse and recycling. Routledge

    Google Scholar 

  20. Slaughter G (2005) Construction of New Zealand’s first 100% recycled road. Fulton Hogan Ltd, Dunedin

    Google Scholar 

  21. Albino V, Balice A, Dangelico RM (2009) Environmental strategies and green product development: an overview on sustainability-driven companies. Bus Strateg Environ 18(2):83–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Rodriguez-Melo A, Mansouri SA (2011) Stakeholder engagement: defining strategic advantage for sustainable construction. Bus Strateg Environ 20(8):539–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Asdrubali F, D’Alessandro F, Schiavoni S (2015) A review of unconventional sustainable building insulation materials. Sustain Mater Technol 4:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  24. Paiva A et al (2012) A contribution to the thermal insulation performance characterization of corn cob particleboards. Energ Buildings 45:274–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Pinto J et al (2011) Corn‘s cob as a potential ecological thermal insulation material. Energ Buildings 43(8):1985–1990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Pinto J et al (2012) Characterization of corn cob as a possible raw building material. Constr Build Mater 34:28–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Lertsutthiwong P et al (2008) New insulating particleboards prepared from mixture of solid wastes from tissue paper manufacturing and corn peel. Bioresour Technol 99(11):4841–4845

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Khedari J, Charoenvai S, Hirunlabh J (2003) New insulating particleboards from durian peel and coconut coir. Build Environ 38(3):435–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Manohar K (2012) Experimental investigation of building thermal insulation from agricultural by-products. Br J Appl Sci Technol 2(3):227–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Sampathrajan A, Vijayaraghavan N, Swaminathan K (1992) Mechanical and thermal properties of particle boards made from farm residues. Bioresour Technol 40(3):249–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Navacerrada MA, Díaz C, Fernández P (2014) Characterization of a material based on short natural fique fibers. Bioresources 9(2):3480–3496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Hajj NE et al (2011) Development of thermal insulating and sound absorbing agro-sourced materials from auto linked flax-tows. Ind Crop Prod 34(1):921–928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Kymäläinen H-R, Sjöberg A-M (2008) Flax and hemp fibres as raw materials for thermal insulations. Build Environ 43(7):1261–1269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Stevulova N et al (2013) Lightweight composites based on rapidly renewable natural resource. Chem Eng 3535:589–594. https//:doi.org/10.3303/CET1335098

  35. Benfratello S et al (2013) Thermal and structural properties of a hemp–lime biocomposite. Constr Build Mater 48:745–754

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  36. Evon P et al (2014) New thermal insulation fiberboards from cake generated during biorefinery of sunflower whole plant in a twin-screw extruder. Ind Crop Prod 52:354–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Mati-Baouche N et al (2016) Sound absorption properties of a sunflower composite made from crushed stem particles and from chitosan bio-binder. Appl Acoust 111:179–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Yarbrough DW et al (2005) Apparent thermal conductivity data and related information for rice hulls and crushed pecan shells. Thermal Conductivity 27:222–230

    Google Scholar 

  39. Liu D et al (2012) Manufacturing of a biocomposite with both thermal and acoustic properties. J Compos Mater 46(9):1011–1020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Panyakaew S, Fotios S (2011) New thermal insulation boards made from coconut husk and bagasse. Energ Buildings 43(7):1732–1739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. 2011 14/12/2017. Available from: http://www.rolite.eu/en

  42. Bodner, L. 2005 14/12/2017. Available from: http://www.leobodner.it/

  43. Agoudjil B et al (2011) Renewable materials to reduce building heat loss: characterization of date palm wood. Energ Buildings 43(2):491–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Luamkanchanaphan T, Chotikaprakhan S, Jarusombati S (2012) A study of physical, mechanical and thermal properties for thermal insulation from narrow-leaved cattail fibers. APCBEE Procedia 1:46–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Kumfu S, Jintakosol T (2012) Thermal insulation produced from pineapple leaf fiber and natural rubber latex. In: Advanced materials research. Trans Tech Publications, Durnten-Zurich

    Google Scholar 

  46. Tangjuank S (2011) Thermal insulation and physical properties of particleboards from pineapple leaves. Int J Phys Sci 6(19):4528–4532

    Google Scholar 

  47. Faustino J et al (2012) Impact sound insulation technique using corn cob particleboard. Constr Build Mater 37:153–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Chabriac PA et al (2016) Agricultural by-products for building insulation: acoustical characterization and modeling to predict micro-structural parameters. Constr Build Mater 112:158–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Buksnowitz C et al (2010) Acoustical properties of Lyocell, hemp, and flax composites. J Reinf Plast Compos 29(20):3149–3154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Oldham DJ, Egan CA, Cookson RD (2011) Sustainable acoustic absorbers from the biomass. Appl Acoust 72(6):350–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Brenci LM et al (2013) New composite structures designed for building acoustic insulation. In: Pro Ligno, Editura Universitatii “Transilvania” din Brasov, pp 483–490

    Google Scholar 

  52. Iannace G, Maffei L, Trematerra P (2012) On the use of “green materials” for the acoustic correction of classrooms. In: Proceedings of European conference on noise control, Prague, pp 89–94

    Google Scholar 

  53. Deveikytė S, Mažuolis J, Vaitiekūnas P (2012) Experimental investigation into noise insulation of straw and reeds. Mokslas – Lietuvos Ateitis 4(5):415–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Doost-hoseini K, Taghiyari HR, Elyasi A (2014) Correlation between sound absorption coefficients with physical and mechanical properties of insulation boards made from sugar cane bagasse. Compos Part B 58:10–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Jayamani E et al (2015) Study of sound absorption coefficients and characterization of rice straw stem fibers reinforced polypropylene composites. Bioresources 10(2):3378–3392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Sampathrajan A, Vijayaraghavan N, Swaminathan K (1991) Acoustic aspects of farm residue-based particle boards. Bioresour Technol 35(1):67–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Fouladi MH, Ayub M, Nor MJM (2011) Analysis of coir fiber acoustical characteristics. Appl Acoust 72(1):35–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Ramis J et al (2014) A model for acoustic absorbent materials derived from coconut fiber. Mater Constr 64(313):008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Chen C et al (2016) Windmill palm fiber/polyvinyl alcohol coated nonwoven mats with sound absorption characteristics. Bioresources 11(2):4212–4225

    Google Scholar 

  60. Iannace G (2015) Characterization of natural fibers for sound absorption. In: 22nd International Congress on sound and vibration, Florence

    Google Scholar 

  61. Thompson R, Thompson M (2013) Sustainable materials, processes and production. Thames & Hudson, London

    Google Scholar 

  62. Bribián IZ, Capilla AV, Usón AA (2011) Life cycle assessment of building materials: comparative analysis of energy and environmental impacts and evaluation of the eco-efficiency improvement potential. Build Environ 46(5):1133–1140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Pargana N et al (2014) Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of thermal insulation materials of buildings. Energ Buildings 82:466–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Lazzarin RM, Busato F (2008) Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost of buildings’ insulation materials in Italy. Int J Low Carbon Technol 3(1):44–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Asdrubali F (2009) The role of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the design of sustainable buildings: thermal and sound insulating materials. In Euronoise Edinburgh, Scotland, pp 26–28

    Google Scholar 

  66. Asdrubali F, Schiavoni S, Horoshenkov K (2012) A review of sustainable materials for acoustic applications. Building Acoust 19(4):283–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Schiavoni S et al (2016) Insulation materials for the building sector: a review and comparative analysis. Renew Sust Energ Rev 62:988–1011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. González-García S et al (2010) Life cycle assessment of raw materials for non-wood pulp mills: hemp and flax. Resour Conserv Recycl 54(11):923–930

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Ip K, Miller A (2012) Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of hemp–lime wall constructions in the UK. Resour Conserv Recycl 69:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. van der Werf HMG, Turunen L (2008) The environmental impacts of the production of hemp and flax textile yarn. Ind Crop Prod 27(1):1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Van der Werf HM (2004) Life cycle analysis of field production of fibre hemp, the effect of production practices on environmental impacts. Euphytica 140(1–2):13–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Zampori L, Dotelli G, Vernelli V (2013) Life cycle assessment of hemp cultivation and use of hemp-based thermal insulator materials in buildings. Environ Sci Technol 47(13):7413–7420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  73. Chiew YL, Shimada S (2013) Current state and environmental impact assessment for utilizing oil palm empty fruit bunches for fuel, fiber and fertilizer – a case study of Malaysia. Biomass Bioenergy 51:109–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Yang F et al (2014) Selected properties of corrugated particleboards made from bamboo waste (Phyllostachys Edulis) laminated with medium-density fiberboard panels. Bioresources 9(1):1085–1096

    Google Scholar 

  75. Wang D, Sun XS (2002) Low density particleboard from wheat straw and corn pith. Ind Crop Prod 15(1):43–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. Segovia C et al (2016) Evaluating mold growth in tannin-resin and flax fiber biocomposites. Ind Crop Prod 83:438–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  77. Le AT et al (2014) Experimental investigation on the mechanical performance of starch–hemp composite materials. Constr Build Mater 61:106–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  78. Mgbemene C et al (2014) Feasibility study on the production of particleboard from maize cobs, rice husks, and groundnut shells using acacia mimosa tannin extract as the bonding adhesive. J Archit Eng 20(1):04013006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. Arnaud L, Gourlay E (2012) Experimental study of parameters influencing mechanical properties of hemp concretes. Constr Build Mater 28(1):50–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  80. Shahzad A (2012) Hemp fiber and its composites–a review. J Compos Mater 46(8):973–986

    Article  Google Scholar 

  81. Balador Z et al (2017) Agricultural By-products for the Production of Building Insulation in New Zealand – A first Look. In: 51st international conference of the Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA). School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Zahra Balador, Morten Gjerde, Nigel Isaacs & Marzieh Imani

Authors
  1. Zahra Balador
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Morten Gjerde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nigel Isaacs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marzieh Imani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zahra Balador .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León Instituto de Ingeniería Civil, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico

    Leticia Myriam Torres Martínez

  2. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León , Monterrey, Mexico

    Oxana Vasilievna Kharissova

  3. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León , Monterrey, Mexico

    Boris Ildusovich Kharisov

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Balador, Z., Gjerde, M., Isaacs, N., Imani, M. (2018). Thermal and Acoustic Building Insulations from Agricultural Wastes. In: Martínez, L., Kharissova, O., Kharisov, B. (eds) Handbook of Ecomaterials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48281-1_190-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48281-1_190-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-48281-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-48281-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation