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Trust in Insulation Claims
One major barrier to adopting phase change materials (PCMs) in homes and buildings is the gap in information about how well the materials perform and how to best use them. That makes it hard for home builders and engineers to know if PCMs are worth the cost for their particular building. NIST researcher Jae Hyun Kim is working to learn the best ways to measure these materials effectively.
Americans spend about $233 billion per year on residential energy, and an estimated 10% to 15% of that energy is lost to improper air sealing and insufficient insulation.
NIST is helping to address this nearly $25 billion annual loss by measuring the thermal resistance of building insulation materials as a calibration service for insulation manufacturers and to create standard reference insulation materials. Builders, suppliers and third-party calibration laboratories use the NIST calibration services and standard reference materials to accurately characterize the thermal properties of their insulation products.
NIST is also helping develop next-generation insulation materials so that new buildings can be designed to reduce energy usage and consumer costs.
Learn more about one new type of insulation in this blog post.