Dr. Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya sets international thermal insulation standards

Working closely with global stakeholders (academicians, researchers, manufacturers, practitioners, etc.), Dr. Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya (Civil Engineering) has recently led the development of two new international standards (ASTM C1919 and ISO 16478) for thermal insulations to be used in the construction of low-carbon buildings.

These standards are the culmination of activities spanning over nearly a decade.

ASTM Standard C1919 is for thermal conductivity measurement of small insulation specimens. It can be used during new product development processes or when larger specimens cannot be collected during the forensic investigation (that is, failure analysis). Manufacturers, researchers, and forensic investigation laboratories will find this new standard useful. 

ISO Standard 16478 defines requirements for vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) which are used as thermal insulation in building envelope construction. VIPs are high-performance thermal insulations that can be at least up to 10 times more efficient than conventional thermal insulation products.

Collectively these two new thermal insulation standards contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13.