Knauf Insulation offers a comprehensive approach to tackling building thermal and acoustic insulation tasks

An educational seminar "Comprehensive Approach to Tackling Building Thermal and Acoustic Insulation Tasks" organised by Knauf Insulation Ukraine was held on 26 March within the scope of the international exhibition "Architecture and Design 2008 (Spring).

Presentations were made at the seminar by:
• Andriy Pavlyk, Director of Knauf Insulation Ukraine;
• Anna Dukhno, Business Development Manager of Knauf Insulation Ukraine;
• Serhiy Kutuzov, Technical Specialist of Knauf Insulation Ukraine;
• Oleg Opalak, Nobasil Sales Manager of Knauf Insulation Russia.

The specialists touched upon a broad range of issues related to the importance of the thermal insulation of buildings, the advantages of the thermal insulation, the physical nature of the thermal insulation processes, and the range of materials and technical solutions available on the market and offered by Knauf Insulation Ukraine in the course of the seminar.

According to specialists of the company, the comprehensive approach is to be implemented on the basis of three major principles: the energy efficient thinking, the application of high-quality materials and professional solutions, and the systemic thermal and acoustic insulation of buildings.
"The compliance with these principles guarantees the maximum thermal insulation effect", Andriy Pavlyk states.

"In fact, the thermal insulation is one of the simplest and most efficient energy conservation tools successfully used in the whole world. The application of the thermal insulation in the modern construction makes it possible to reduce thermal losses by up to 70% and, hence, achieve great savings on the heating. The thermal insulation also prevents mould and fungi from emerging inside of building structures to prevent them from the early destruction. The thermal insulation saves internal space and, undoubtedly, its application influences the environment positively due to the wall thickness reduction", Anna Dukhno says.

However, the materials need to be selected properly and applied professionally in each specific case for the maximum effect. The improper choice of materials reduces the thermal insulation effect and can bring about unwanted consequences, such as the premature obsolescence and even damage to the building structures.

"For instance, it is mistakenly believed that low-density materials are to be used wherever there is no load on the thermal insulation (such as joist floors, partitions, attics), while high-density materials are to be used for load bearing structures, such as cement-screed floors, façades and flat roofs, etc. This is not fully correct, because the compressive hardness at 10% deformation is an important indicator for "heavy-weight" structures (such as flat roofs and floors) characterising their resistance to loads; however, the layer-detachment strength is an important indicator in case of façades, while the shear strength is the most significant indicator for sandwich panels", Serhiy Kutuzov says.

The efficiency of the thermal insulation also depends on the quality of building structure materials to a great extent. The thermal insulation is not applied alone; it is used as a part of design concepts, of which there are many. That is why a comprehensive approach taking account of the behaviour of thermal insulation materials in case of the joint application with other construction materials is needed.

The comprehensive approach is implemented by the company due to its broad product offer for any civil and commercial construction applications. The solutions offered by Knauf Insulation include thermal and acoustic insulation materials for all key units of buildings and structures, as well as industrial and technical thermal insulation materials. "While the company used to supply mainly glass-fibre based thermal insulation materials to the Ukrainian market so far, we are going to offer the maximum range of solutions, including Nobasil mineral wool", Anna Dukhno says.

According to Oleg Opalak, this is very convenient, because it makes it possible to satisfy the high-quality material needs of the customers in full single-handedly. "In fact, a construction company, a refurbishment team or a consumer chooses not a specific product or a supplier, but a range of solutions that make it possible to implement a thermal insulation project reliably, rapidly and easily", Serhiy Kutuzov adds.

The specialists noted the great interest of participants at the end of the seminar. "It is pleasant to note that over 100 specialists obtained useful information in the course of the seminar. This information will be applied in practice and become a cornerstone of the more knowledgeable and systemic approach to tackling thermal insulation issues", Andriy Pavlyk comments.