November 05, 2009 10:34 AM

Insulate For Cooler Homes, Lower Bills

By Sakina Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Insulate your home to make it cooler? The idea may sound absurd to many Malaysians. Isn't insulation, after all, more suited for homes in colder climates?

Insulation actually works like a thermal flask, explains Malaysian Insulation Manufacturers Group (MIMG) Chairman Soh Chin Teck. If you put cold water inside, the coolness gets trapped in. Similarly, if you fill it with a hot drink, it would retain the temperature of the drink inside.

In an exclusive interview with Bernama, Soh explained that insulating homes could make it cooler and lessen the need for fans or air-conditioners, and it can potentially save up to 85 per cent of energy used in buildings.

A big chunk of the energy consumption in office buildings comes from air-conditioners, making up a whopping 64 per cent of the consumption, reports the Malaysia's Energy Information Bureau. In contrast, office equipments takes up only 12 per cent.

COSTS AND SAVINGS

In homes, air conditioners make up 23 per cent of energy consumption. This means insulating a Malaysian home could potentially save thousands of ringgit in electricity bills. That all sounds fine and well, but how much does it cost to insulate a typical Malaysian link house?

"It costs about RM2.70 per square feet. So to retrofit a typical intermediate Malaysian house would cost between RM2,000 and RM3,000, inclusive of material supplies and installation," says Soh.

He said only the space under the roof of a house would need to be insulated as in Malaysia around 60 to 70 per cent of heat gained in a house comes through the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Insulation Council of Australia and New Zealand Director Ray Thompson, who was also at the interview, explained that insulation does this by stopping the heat from coming through the roof or ceiling space and going into the living area.

"The difference in temperature is around three to four degrees Celsius, but that is significantly cooler especially in a country like Malaysia," he said.

He said the price tag on insulation is considered small when compared with the benefits including monthly savings in electricity bills throughout the lifespan of the house, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved comfort and living standards and a huge contribution to the local economic growth, as the insulation material is manufactured locally.

"The projected annual savings in Malaysia, after complete retrofitting of buildings is RM1.19 billion for the private sector, and RM790 million for the government, with lesser dependency on fossil fuels," he said.

For the middle income group and above, RM3,000 may not sound much to give up in the name of greater, long-lasting comfort and financial savings. But majority of Malaysians, especially those from the lower-middle income group and below may find it just too much to spare.

Even in Australia, the awareness of insulating buildings for energy efficiency has taken place only recently, said Thompson. The government came up with The National Framework for Energy Efficiency to make insulation mandatory in building regulations.

Thompson said to kick off awareness, the Australian government provided a very large economic stimulus package where the federal government provides AUD4 billion (RM12.3 million) to provide insulation up to the value of AUD1,600 for existing homes.

BENEFITS FOR MALAYSIA

Soh said that mineral wool, the material for insulation, is manufactured in Malaysia, in excess capacity. Three local manufacturers export more that half of the volume they produced including to Indonesia, Singapore, Middle East, where it is used in hotels, government buildings and schools.

He said if Malaysia made insulation mandatory in building regulations, it would create over 20,000 new jobs, bring down energy consumption by over 3,300 gigawatts per hour (GWh) (equivalent to the energy a medium-sized nuclear power plant generates a year) and reduce emission of over 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Malaysia currently produces 3.7 tonnes per capita of carbon dioxide every year, beating even the world's largest and most populous nation, China, which emits 2.2 tonnes a year.

Therefore, Soh said, it is vital to take immediate steps to inculcate awareness on the benefits of insulation among Malaysians.

To do this, he said, MIMG has met with the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and offered a pilot project of free insulation for 150 houses for the hardcore poor. The ministry would identify the homes.

He said the government's response has been positive with a tax exemption for insulation products in the 2009 budget. In the recent budget, the government allocated RM1.52 billion and formulation of other initiatives for the development of green technology.

OTHER BENEFITS

Unlike other green technologies such as the solar panel, insulation does not require maintenance. The material and installation is a one-off cost.

Mineral wool, the material used for insulation, provides better noise protection as well for homes and also has fire-retardant properties.

"This helps gives extra time for rescue efforts in cases of fire," Soh said.

So the benefits of insulation are many, but how safe is it?

"The technology has been around for 100 years and is being used globally," Soh said.

Echoing Soh, Thompson said it was a product widely used around the world with no health issues and plenty of updated research and studies on it.

"Our company, Bradford Insulation has been manufacturing in Australia since 75 years ago, and in Malaysia since 25 years ago. None of our workers are suffering from health problems related to their jobs," he said.

The MIMG is a voluntary non-profit organisation and comprises three Malaysian insulation manufacturers: CSR Building Materials (M) Sdn Bhd, Poly Glass Fibre Manufacturing Sdn Bhd and Roxul Asia Sdn Bhd.

The goals for the formation of MIMG is to promote the benefits of insulation for the Malaysian building industry and to provide relevant information that supports the Malaysian government, agencies and consultants in formulating policies and standards, especially in energy efficient buildings.

-- BERNAMA

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