Passivhaus Pillar No. 4. Thermal Insulation

Insulation, one of the most commonly known building materials, and the most common of which is glass wool.

Glass wool insulation is a fantastic, economical way to insulate a house.

The only thing is that it has to be complemented properly for it to actually work the way it’s designed.

As per the video, it demonstrates the importance of treating insulation as a part of the system and not a standalone product that works independently of the materials around it.

Using high quality building wraps ensure that the insulation is enabled to perform as its best.

As the video mentions, in Germany, they did a study where they tested some walls with glass wool insulation, and they tested a wall for its real-world performance as opposed to its design performance.

A well air-sealed wall will achieve its designed R-value, but, if you cut a one millimeter wide slit in that wall which allows the air to pass through.

The R-value of the wall fell from its design value of 3.5 down to 0.4!

So basically the entire insulation capability of the wall was lost because air could pass across it.

That’s why the five passivhaus pillars work together to ensure the whole house is thought about in design not just one facet.