Presenter: Nathaniel Leigh
Co-Presenters: Gianna Prather, Alexa Thornton
Faculty Mentor: Alison Kwok
Presentation Type: Poster 23
Primary Research Area: Design
Major: Architecture
In an age where efforts to conserve natural resources and limit greenhouse gas emissions are more critical than ever before, it is vital to reduce waste and use already harvested resources as effectively as possible. Creating products from post-consumer material is one way to greatly reduce the amount of waste making it into landfills. The authors of this study explore the use of post-consumer corrugated cardboard as building insulation. Two methods for insulating with cardboard were assessed – stacked and shredded. The authors hypothesized shredded cardboard would be a better insulator than stacked cardboard. A second hypothesis was tested; fiberglass batt insulation would be a better insulator than stacked and shredded cardboard. R-13 fiberglass batt insulation was used to represent the minimum insulation requirement for a residential building located in the United State Zone 4 climate as defined by ASHRAE standard 90.1. Three identical boxes were constructed, each with a different insulation. Interior and exterior temperature data from each box was collected using HOBO Pendant 001 data loggers. Differences in interior and exterior temperature were compared across each box in order to determine effectiveness. Comparative analysis was used to assess the performance of the cardboard insulation types against each other and the fiberglass batt. All hypotheses were proven incorrect; the findings show that both types of cardboard insulation perform comparatively to R-13 fiberglass batt insulation.