Polyurethane rigid foam behind new, cost-saving insulation technique

In a solid construction, a typical insulated external wall consists of either a double wall structure with a core insulation, or a single wall with additional external insulation. Both of these alternatives are costly and have a relatively long construction period.

A new construction method is now available which consists of monolithic brickwork made from hollow blocks with thermal insulation already built in. The advantage: no additional insulation is necessary and there are substantial savings on construction time and costs.

In addition, a considerable amount of space is saved as there is no need for any external insulation. Moreover, where mineral wool and perlite were used before to fill hollow blocks, now even better levels of insulation are provided by the polyurethane rigid foam Elastopor H, devloped by BASF.

Because of rising energy costs, the building materials industry is focusing increasingly on heat conductivity - the lower this value, the better the insulation will be. So the whole industry is looking for a product that sets itself apart from the competition.

PUR rigid foam Elastopor H is suitable to play the role of that product, because it's the only one that offers all the following advantages:

• Extremely low heat conductivity
• Very low water intake
• No falling or trickling out of the insulation
• Manageable investments in industrial and building systems
• Rapid cycle times
• Lower requirement for heat energy
• Altogether moderate costs

The company behind the insulation blocks using Elastopor H is Knobel in Albstadt, in its product, Liapor SL-plus. Liapor SL-plus is manufactured from Lias clay, which is formed into a ceramic clay interspersed with air, and its cavity is then filled with Elastopor H.