Saturday
Feb212009
GTF interviews Christian Tasser, producer of WEKA sheepswool insulation panels
Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 4:45AM
To kick off our new series of concise interviews with leaders in new technologies for green building, GTF director Dr. George Elvin spoke to Christian Tasser, CEO of Tassertechnologies, producers of WEKA sheepswool insulation panels.
WEKA insulation panels are made out of sheep's wool and have been proven to increase indoor air quality and to greatly reduce heating and cooling biils. Sheep's wool is a sustainable green building material, which can be used in new and existing homes or public buildings, where comfort and sustainability are of upmost importance.
The WEKA panel is a completely natural product, which is based on sheep's wool and natural stabilizers to provide a rigid fire resistant thermal insulation panel. These panels are ready to be mounted on top of existing walls, which allows the panel to be the visual finish.
GTF: Can you overcome the belief among people familiar with wool insulation that it has an R value of about half what yours is certified at?
CT: An independent institute (FIW in Germany) has certified the thermal conductivity value of 0.05 W/mK. Also, based on our in-house testing using a comparative test set-up with 2 insulated boxes using WEKA and similarly rated insulation WEKA performed superior.
GTF: Is the embodied energy low?
CT: The embodied energy for the production is minimal, no chemical or thermal process is needed. The only carbon foot print is the transportation of raw materials; the wool and lime are produced locally in the USA. The final process step includes drying of the panels, which is currently also accomplished by drying in the open air.
GTF: Are the sheep the wool comes from treated with pesticide?
CT: The sheep wool is from herds raised primarily for meat and we can use wool with shorter fibers, which would not be suitable for the textile sector.
WEKA insulation panels are made out of sheep's wool and have been proven to increase indoor air quality and to greatly reduce heating and cooling biils. Sheep's wool is a sustainable green building material, which can be used in new and existing homes or public buildings, where comfort and sustainability are of upmost importance.
The WEKA panel is a completely natural product, which is based on sheep's wool and natural stabilizers to provide a rigid fire resistant thermal insulation panel. These panels are ready to be mounted on top of existing walls, which allows the panel to be the visual finish.
GTF: Can you overcome the belief among people familiar with wool insulation that it has an R value of about half what yours is certified at?
CT: An independent institute (FIW in Germany) has certified the thermal conductivity value of 0.05 W/mK. Also, based on our in-house testing using a comparative test set-up with 2 insulated boxes using WEKA and similarly rated insulation WEKA performed superior.
GTF: Is the embodied energy low?
CT: The embodied energy for the production is minimal, no chemical or thermal process is needed. The only carbon foot print is the transportation of raw materials; the wool and lime are produced locally in the USA. The final process step includes drying of the panels, which is currently also accomplished by drying in the open air.
GTF: Are the sheep the wool comes from treated with pesticide?
CT: The sheep wool is from herds raised primarily for meat and we can use wool with shorter fibers, which would not be suitable for the textile sector.
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