Performances Study of Natural and Conventional Building Insulation Materials

— This research aims to investigate the performances of thermal insulation materials using a comparative analysis. Particularly, the performances of natural insulation materials are compared with performances of non-renewables (petrochemical and inorganic), such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, global warming potential, and cost. In the past twenty years, the interest for the research on building energy demand reduction has been increased rapidly. Buildings were identified as a significant contributor to global energy consumption and global warming through the heating and air-conditioning systems. The literature observed that building energy demand takes up to 40% of the global energy consumption. Trends in addressing this issue are based on better thermal insulation of building envelope or using more energy-efficient materials. To carry out this research, the data were collected based on published research and comparatively analyzed. It was found that natural insulation materials have a significantly lower impact on global warming, longer useful lifetime, competitive thermal properties, better fire resistance, and favorable cost. Future trends and developments in reducing building energy demand would rely on sustainability. Sustainability is based on renewable natural resources, including renewable insulation materials, but if combined with significant participation of PCMs for latent heat energy storage, it will provide much better results. To get sustainable technologies applicable in full scale in the future, the overall problem has to be investigated, including user training and addressing the future workforce's challenges.