VIP4ALL · Highly Sustainable and Effective Production of Innovative Low Cost Vacuum Insulation Panels for Zero Carbon Building Construction

While the world is experiencing a strong demand for energy savings measures, today still 40% of energy consumption and 36% CO2 emissions in Europe are directly related to the construction sector, due mainly to inefficient insulation materials and systems. On the verge of a major European building retrofitting action that must be put into practice within a deep economic crisis, inevitably traditional thick and cheaper insulation products are still the first consideration, as the best state-of-the-art solution, Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIP) is unaffordable for the majority of homeowners and householders. The building sector has to overcome the biggest dilemma of coping with high mandatory levels of energy savings, at reasonable costs, without losing considerable areas of living space left for insulation.VIP4ALL project aims at developing a true technical and cost-effective VIP solution by using natural minerals and/or renewable organic by-products, as low cost VIP core materials through careful microwaving and doping of minor fumed silica, which will not only cut its final price by 50%, but also guarantee a superior thermal performance and eco-friendly status. The VIP4ALL proposes to bring to the market a new generation of highly sustainable and energy efficient solution for low budget renovation actions, creating an exceptional opportunity for SMEs (>99% in EU building sector) to increase their competitiveness before the current dominant US and/or Asian companies seize this market which represents around 9% of European GDP and a total workforce of 25 million jobs.The VIP4ALL RTD results (products and technologies) will be scaled up through three SMEPs of the VIP4ALL consortium members and exploited by five SMEPs of the seven consortium members, who will hence lead the market entrance with a new and truly competitive superior insulation solution.