Aerogel Insulation Advances

If you looked at a 1/8″ thick aerogel panel in a standard 4′ x 8’size, it would weigh 28.3 grams (about the weight of 10 pennies) and, at almost 40x the insulation value of fiberglass, would be roughly equivalent in insulation value to a well insulated 2×4 stud wall.

And can anyone purchase these 4 x 8 sheets of Aerogel? No?

Well, then, keep dreaming. When it arrives at Home Depot, and can be delivered there without damage, then we can talk about a practical product.

“Talk about it, talk about it, talk about it, talk about it…. Won’t you take me to…. FunkyTown?”

Wow. Now large skylights made with aerogel panels could provide light without the downside of sound and thermal transmission. When will they be available?

What makes the cost so high? cant we throw a bunch of funding into an assembly line of these?

I don’t know enough about the manufacture of aerogel to give you a complete answer. Part of the cost is in the refinement of silica. Since rice husks have a high silica content (20%, I believe) they make a good supply feedstock, and this is at the root of the new production method.

@Chuck Orr – as I mentioned, manufacturers including Kalwall and Advanced Glazings are presently making windows and panels with aerogel. But they are very expensive.

There are many sources of silica, straw being one of them. Some entrepreneurial Chinese boys will pick this up and be selling us Made in China insulation before we Americans can get up to eat lunch. This will not be lost to mankind, only to our workshops because we don’t feel we have too anymore, we proved ourselves in the WWII era and now we’re done!

Uncle B, you are right. Our dependance on the industrial age as made us prehistoric in the coming web v2.0 age. Our power is not limited by our potential, simply our lack of ability to be flexible. Our nation is led by large companies with no ability to do what the market calls for. Even if they were built to be that flexible, good luck having the administration with the Gonads to pull the trigger.

Here is a page on how silica aerogels are made.

http://eande.lbl.gov/ECS/aerogels/sa-making.html

there seem to be several factors that severely limit aerogel manufacturing. One is that the time required to manufacture a piece is heavily dependent on its thickness, because many steps are slow diffusion processes. Another factor is that the pressures and temperatures involved are high and must be precisely controlled, thus require a special environment and a batch-type manufacturing process.

Another consideration is that silica aerogels tend to flake and release micro-particles into the air. I’m not sure if these would be more dangerous than the micro-particles produced by fiberglass, but it is a potential safety concern. Aerogel also has a strong dessication effect, absorbing moisture strongly enough to cause “burns” on human skin after prolonged contact. This, along with aerogel’s fragility, would make installation a tricky process if you were to use large panels as insulation.

Of course, granulated aerogel can be embedded into other materials to mitigate a lot of the logistical problems associated with it, but you also lose a significant portion its insulation potential (since pretty much everything is significantly more thermally conductive than aerogel). It depends on how much insulation you need, I guess, and how much space you have to put it in.

That’s a great link you provided, Mike. Thanks very much.

As to an insulation product made using aerogel, I think it would be necessary for it to be completely encapsulated. It’s far too fragile to stand up to a direct loose-fill application (like fiberglass). It would have to be something like a board that incorporated an aerogel inside.

“Uncle B” is right, there is no longer any urgency left in the USA . Part of the reason I think is legal issues and regulation. The roadblocks to good ideas in our fair country make the majority of aspiring inventors and entrepreneurs run for cover when they first encountered these obstacles.

FYI Advanced Glazings has closed down.

ERV Energy Recovery Ventilation Systems Reduce Long Term Costs and Improve Indoor Air Quality

Is the indoor air your breathe is as fresh and healthy as it can be?

As building science professionals have known for some time, an effective ventilation strategy is an absolute requirement for all homes. Mechanical ventilators exchange air inside the home with fresh air from the outside. This helps to reduce indoor pollution levels, and greatly increases the comfort level inside the home.
Many ventilation designs are including Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) to improve the system efficiency. Besides providing controlled ventilation, ERVs are able to filter, humidify, dehumidify, heat, or cool the incoming fresh air. The most popular design of ERVs utilizes a desiccant wheel to remove both heat and a significant amount of moisture from the incoming air, which reduces the load on the air-conditioning system. But while ventilators and ERVs can add tremendously to the comfort and efficiency of a home, they must be installed correctly.

One of the more recent developments in the ‘green’ technology industry is the creation of environmentally-friendly buildings that use energy-efficient technologies to reduce power consumption.

Energy consultants point out that creating ‘green’ buildings and improving the air quality inside such facilities utilizing ERV can and do go hand-in-hand. ERV Systems that reduce demand for energy while improving ventilation are increasingly in demand.

ERV – Energy Recovery Ventilation systems saves energy, increases indoor air quality, reduces contaminates and odors.

The use of ERV technology “energy recovery ventilation systems,” or ERVs. Such systems are designed to reduce energy consumption and improve indoor air quality (IAQ) by capturing and recycling building energy to humidify, pre-cool or dehumidify incoming air.

ERVs, the research first said, are most popular in areas with more extreme outdoor temperatures, like Northern states where winters can get quite cold, or Southern states where very warm temperatures and high humidity demand more energy consumption to maintain comfortable indoor environments.

“The focus on IAQ is another key trend benefiting ERV, as people become increasingly conscious of the importance to maintain air quality through properly designed and managed HVAC systems,” Energy consultant said in the energy audit survey.

Market growth for ERVs, Energy consultant said, is driven largely by energy conservation policies that are challenging building custodians to reduce energy consumption for indoor climates. The firm cited as an example the 90.1 standard from American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) which currently dictates “energy recovery systems for applications of 5000 cubic feet per minute (cfm) and larger with 70 percent outside air (OA).”

ASHRAE 90.1 is a standard that specifies at least 50 percent total effectiveness for ERVs, Energy consultant said.

The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also have various standards and regulations regarding energy recovery and IAQ.

Energy Consultant said two main obstacles lie in the way of more widespread use of ERVs: lack of knowledge and the need to reduce operating costs in the short term. Since building owners and facility managers rely for the most part on contractors to select and install heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment, if the contractors are not up-to-speed on ERV developments they may pick products that aren’t as energy-efficient as they could be.

Also, Energy consultant noted, HVAC contractors work within budgets and therefore tend to buy equipment based on its price rather than long-term cost benefits. It therefore is important to educate contractors about ERVs, and some of that burden falls on manufacturers. The Green Building Council is also playing a role through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program that evaluates buildings to determine the environmental performance during their entire lifecycle.

ERVs aren’t just good for the planet; they’re good for people, too.

“The focus on IAQ is another key trend benefiting ERV, as people become increasingly conscious of the importance to maintain air quality through properly designed and managed HVAC systems,” Energy consultant said in the report.

When IAQ isn’t managed properly, people living or working in unhealthy buildings can develop sick building syndrome from pollutants in the air they breathe.

“With half of all illnesses attributed to indoor airborne contaminants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared IAQ a public health priority,” Energy consultant said. “Ventilation with outdoor air is the only strategy that can simultaneously reduce the levels of all indoor pollutants.”

Compiled by: Jay Draiman, Energy analyst – Northridge, CA

You can purchase aerogel insulation for less than $5/square foot from Aspen Aerogels today. Go to http://www.aerogel.com.

Aspen Aerogel has various products made of aerogel, some of them targeted at the building/construction market. They look very interesting, especially a product called insulcap that is 3/8 inch thick and adds r4 to your walls by placing a strip of it on the studs. Info I haven’t found out yet: health issues? price/sq ft?

CJ

It is realy great stuff. Is it sold commercially anywhere?
Which company is producing this material? can it be used in new home building?

When it is made and it is rigid but flaky and needs to be encapsulated to put in homes and such. What happens when it needs to be cut or fitted into smaller theb board sizes, are you going to have to seal all cut surfaces. What about damage in transport and product sitting in your Home Depot? With flakes coming off and dust particles so small or skin problems. Is it really feasible?

What about incorporating it in packing bubbles…

HAHAHAHAHAHAH Aerogel is the coolest stuff on the planet!!!!!

Okay I thought this was the coolest idea. When will the prices drop and why?

PPG industries has a plant in Barterton, Ohio that makes, processes and sells silica powder for the flattening effect on paint (and it’s used in some foods). I think their Low-Vel and Hi-Vel silica product is pretty pure by itself. Yes, I believe it might be more expensive than rice chaff, but it wouldn’t need to be purified as much, thus reducing processing cost and controlling purity.

Would it be possible to use aerogel for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

From what I have gathered it takes a lot of time to make Aerogel. First the gel is made from various chemicals, heat is used as well as liquid CO2, then dunked in ethanol or acetone, then dried. This process takes days. You also have to consider shrinkage.

So you have a lot of obstacles in manufacturing products. Material cost, Heating Cost, Labor and a timely manufacturing process.

Would it be cost effective for a company to make high end versions of smaller insulation applications for things like pipes and vents maybe watter heaters, also, could it come in a can to seal leaks?

Aerogel is only carcinogenic when produced with the .2% Styrene Monomer. If it is synthesized with Amorphous silica or Silicon Dioxide it is NOT known to be carcinogenic. Furthermore, the 2006 study by the IARC (International Agency for the Research of Cancer) reclassified Titanium Dioxide as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” buth (Vol. 93), IARC concluded that the human carcinogenic studies “do not suggest an association between occupational exposure as it occurred in recent decades 
in western Europe and North America and risk of cancer.” Even still, this latter example is only relevant to the binary Titania-silica binary Aerogel used to initiate Photocatalysis the AOP (Advanced Oxidation Process) which would likely be applied only in the external faces of self cleaning glass. This makes it a construction concern and therefore far less harmful than the majority of construction materials in general.You would be more likely to die of getting run over by a Bobcat that from Aerogel exposure.