The Carbon Footprint of Thermal Insulation: The Added Value of Circular Models Using Recycled Textile Waste

Abstract

The goal of climate neutrality by 2050 drives the building sector towards stricter control of processes and products, leading to a substantial reduction of embodied carbon throughout the life cycle. Many of the most used insulation materials have a high carbon footprint, mainly due to the production phase (from cradle to gate). The need to reduce these impacts has led to the implementation of materials whose predominant raw material is recycled material in order to reduce the embodied carbon. The contribution presents the results of a research work that analysed the potential of insulation materials obtained from textile waste, evaluating not only their energy performance but also, above all, their environmental impact in terms of carbon footprint. It starts from a state-of-the-art analysis of the main traditional and new-generation thermal insulation materials, not only in relation to performance but also to environmental impacts, in order to investigate the opportunities offered using insulation materials designed according to circular models (10R) and produced with industrial and/or post-consumer waste fabrics, through a carbon footprint comparison. To support the choice of this type of insulation, a multi-criteria evaluation method is proposed through which the comparative analysis of the most significant insulation products selected is carried out.