Lead Performer: Liatris Inc. – Rockville, MD
Partners:
-- NREL – Golden, CO
-- Westlake Royal – Woodbridge, Ontario
-- RPM – Medina, OH
-- Alco Products – Rockville, MD
DOE Total Funding: $1,183,887
Cost Share: $400,000
Project Term: October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2026
Funding Type: Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) – 2022/23
Project Objective
Liatris Inc. and leading industry collaborators will develop and deploy an insulated vinyl siding system for single-family envelope retrofits. Initially utilizing inorganic composite insulation as a drop-in replacement for expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, the team has a long-term vision to demonstrate monolithic siding products consisting entirely of fire-resistant clay-cellulose composites, which incorporate small quantities of dried silica aerogel for improved performance at cost-competitive prices for the residential market. The system will feature low-cost composite insulation of R7/inch or higher, which would enable R5 systems at similar thickness to today’s vinyl siding products. These innovations will provide HVAC energy savings of 15-25% and have less than $1/ft2 of incremental cost versus existing cladding systems. The system will be characterized first in engineering studies, then in one or more fully integrated building pilot demonstrations. NREL will support product design, modeling, experimental characterization, and field validation while a strong team of contractors covering product supply and integration (Westlake Royal), toll production of insulation prototypes (RPM), and field installation (Alco Products) will work with Liatris to deploy the system in demonstration projects.
Project Impact
53% of American homeowners have installed new siding on an existing home, with 32% citing energy efficiency as a motivating factor. Liatris will expand its breakthrough insulation technology into a retrofit market with >140 million housing units, delivering 0.6 quads of energy and 32,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions savings. Having a cost-effective, high-performance insulated siding product that can be deployed by ordinary siding contractors during an already planned, finish-only re-siding job would enable improved energy efficiency for the 2M+ homes per year that undergo re-cladding.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Sven Mumme
Lead Performer: Dr. Lida Lu, Liatris Inc.