Abstract
Due to the overall improvement of living standards and considering the priority to reduce the energy consumption, the adoption of efficient strategies, mainly in the building area is mandatory. In fact, the construction sector can be considered as one of the key field essential for the sustainability, due to the diversity of components and their life cycles. Reuse strategies may play an essential role in reducing the environmental impact of building processes. Within this framework, the reuse of textile waste to produce insulating materials represents one of the biggest opportunities for the promotion of a circular economy. It contributes significantly to improve the environmental sustainability reusing a waste as new raw matter involved to achieve high energy efficient buildings. This paper provides the results of an experimental campaign performed using wool waste derived from the industrial disposal of fabrics matched with phase change materials (PCMs) used in order to enhance the thermal mass of the final products. Physical and thermal parameters were measured in order to demonstrate the good performances of the textile materials and the essential role played by PCMs in shifting heat waves and reduce surface temperatures. Furthermore, DesignBuilder software was used to assess the energy consumption of a mobile shelter type structure under three different climatic scenarios. A comparison between the experimented materials and other solutions, currently available in the market, highlighted a significant reduction in energy consumption when adopting the materials under test.
Highlights
Buildings account for the largest share of total EU final energy consumption (40%) and produce about 35% of all greenhouse emissions
It is sustainable because it contributes to solve the disposal problem of textile waste with a view to a circular economy and minimum usage of additional resources for the panel fabrication, and it is efficient as it allows a significant reduction in the energy requirements for air conditioning
An innovative thermal insulation for buildings was studied. It consists of wool obtained from textile waste, treated with a natural binder solution made of gum arabic and thermally improved by the addition of a phase change material, a microencapsulated paraffinic mixture called Micronal® DS 5001 X, produced by BASF
Summary
Buildings account for the largest share of total EU final energy consumption (40%) and produce about 35% of all greenhouse emissions. We need to apply circular economy and resource efficiency principles to buildings to reduce resource use in the future. Recycling nonwoven textile waste as building components could help reducing environmental impacts [2]. In the past few decades, the fiber production increased enormously. Wang [3] stated that the textile waste can be divided into three different categories: the short term (e.g., disposables), medium term (e.g., apparel and carpet), and long term (e.g., textiles for buildings). Bilal et al [4] stated that the textile by-products represent an excellent opportunity for the production of high performances building composites. Several researchers demonstrated that these materials can be excellent when used for the production of thermal insulators [2,5,6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
