NIBE: environmental classification of materials for floor insulation.

TONZON Thermocushion ecologically very sound

NIBE comes to a stunning conclusion: "TONZON Thermoscushions, when compared with the other insulation materials, cause a substantially lower environmental load, which can be explained by the extremely small amount of material used by this system to get an U-value of 0,3 W/m²K. Apart from that the Thermocushions have a very low transport volume, which ,when compared with the other insulation materials, gives a substantial reduction in use of energy, emission of hothouse gasses and emissions of fertilizing compounds".

NIBE environmental classification of insulation materials for floors)
In the table opposite the environmental load scores are given without the load caused by transportation. Distance obviously has a significant effect but this has been balanced to allow a comparison to be made, as can be seen in the diagram below where the use of energy is given for 100 km transport (green) beside the energy for production used (red) and the total energy used
(production and transport over 100 km). The energy is expressed in MJ/m². (compared with a liter of diesel oil, which contains 37,16 MJ or 1 kWh, which is 3,6 MJ). Floor insulation with TONZON Thermocushions costs remarkably little energy. No: 2 (glass wool) needs 11 times more energy to produce while transportation costs almost 5.000 times more energy.

Use of energy in MJ per m² for production and transport
Use of energy in MJ/m² insulation

The preceding table shows that choice of insulation material can save a lot of energy. Take the situation in Holland for example,to insulate the remaining 150.000.000 m² floor with an U-value of 0,3 W/m²K (Rc=3,0 m²K/W) with glass wool would cost about an equivalent of 286million liter diesel oil. Using TONZON Thermocushion only 26 million liter would be needed (saving 260 million liters of diesel). The figures regarding the emission of hothouse gasses and fertilizing compounds are even more extreme, as can be seen from the tables oppositeproduction of 1 m² glass wool (Rc=3,0) and transport over 100 km causes 4,27 kilo of hothouse gasses to the atmosphere and 8,32 gram of fertilizingcompounds where 1 m² TONZON Thermocushion only brings 0,18 kilo of hothouse gasses and only 0,2 gram of fertilizing compounds. These figures explain why Thermocushions cause by far the lowest environmental load. NIBE judges TONZON Thermocushions as ‘The best choice for insulating a floor'. Previously a Dutch consumer organization labeled the Thomocushions as ‘The Best Buy'. Many house owners in Holland see the Thermocushions as the only safe insulation for wooden floors because it is the only material which will keep dry in an underfloor situation. In small crawling spaces it will often be the only system which can be applied. Thermocushion have been used in over 100.000 houses and many other projects since 1980.

Emission of hothousegasses (kg/m² isolation) during
production and transport

emission hothouse gasses in kg/m²insulation

Emission of fertilizing compound in kg/m² insulation material

during production and transport over 100 km

The emission of fertilizing compounds of cotton is more than 4000 times bigger than of number 1 (TONZON Thermoskussens) and is therefore left out of this grafik