Presenter : Sebastian Oviedo, Maria Burbano
Mentor : Alison Kwok
Major : Architecture
Poster 40
Over the last few decades, the construction industry has been increasingly concerned with its impacts on the environment. This relates both to the production and the operation performance of materials and assemblies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermal performance of post-consumer cork stoppers re-used as insulation for OSB panels. With the use of an insulated HotBox and HOBO U12 data loggers, a sample of a cork stopper-insulated panel was tested for heat flow and thermal resistance, and compared to a panel insulated with commercial extruded polystyrene foam. The results showed that the repurposed cork insulation had a performance 17.3% higher than that of the commercial alternative. Repurposing post-consumer waste could diminish the amount of cork going to landfills, which is approximately 13 billion each year (13). Cork is a naturally produced, highly insulative material, which makes it a potential material for high-performance building construction.