Environmental performance of glass foam as insulation ...

Glass foams is an interesting option for the use of fractions of glass cullet otherwise destined to landfills. As building insulation materials, glass foams obtained by conventional processes have still some drawbacks in the purity of starting feedstock, which can be avoided by implementing an alkali activation process. Using the life cycle assessment methodology, the research analyses the potential impacts associated to the glass foam obtained from waste glass through the alkali activation in a laboratory scale plant with 'cradle to grave' perspective. The main phases included in the system boundaries are the downstream activities related to the transportation of glass waste and avoided landfill disposal, the production process to obtain the glass foam, and the upstream activities related to the transportation to potential use phase and the end of life. The life cycle environmental profile of glass foam is calculated starting from primary data integrated with the Ecoinvent database, and using the ReCiPe impact assessment method and the SimaPro software. Results demonstrate the greatest contribution on the overall environmental impacts due to the production, in which the main impacts are linked to electricity consumption for drying and firing and surfactant for the foaming. Sensitivity analyses clarify that consistent improvement in overall environmental impacts can be obtain with minimization of distances both between glass waste and production site, and between glass foam production and use; otherwise, different energy-mix and lower temperature in chemical processes have negligible effects in the environmental profile. The research reveals useful information to optimize the upcycling of glass foam production before moving on the industrialization: future investigations should involve the selection of biodegradable surfactants, from renewable sources.

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1. Introduction

The dizzying increase in the resources consumption as well as the waste production has been reported to be likely to drive an ecological collapse [1]. Circular economy could assist in solving this dilemma: it's a system where resource use is optimized, seeking to always maintain it at its maximum value, diminishing both resource input, as materials and energy, and output, as product, byproduct, and waste [2]. Nevertheless, recycling alone might not be really sustainable, especially in case of downcycling: recovered materials are effectively convenient if in their second life they can replace virgin raw materials [3]. Therefore, recycled materials must have excellent chemical-physical performances, so upcycling is one of the technological challenges of the circular economy [4] and eco-design represents profitable solution [5].

Recycling in strict sense ('closed loop') involves the reuse in articles equivalent to the original one, in the hypothesis of no degradation of materials. Such hypothesis is far from being real, and recycling is accompanied by a certain loss of value ('downcycling'), as shown by cellulose (passing from high quality office paper to cardboard [6]) or PET polymer (passing from containers to textile fibers [7]).

Unlike PET, glass is not subject to degradation of the molecular structure, upon remelting, so it can be recovered indefinitely without losing its properties [8]. '100% recyclable' does not mean, however, '100% recycled': remelting of cullet is possible only after an expensive sorting step, necessary to separate glass from other materials [9]. Sorting in the case of common soda-lime glass is typically realized by the crushing of containers, followed by separation of glass fragments (destined to remelting) from pieces attributable to other materials; the crushing generates big amounts of fine particles, <100 μm, with glass as dominant component, but undoubtedly enriched in heterogeneities, and still disposed in landfills [10]. In some cases, remelting is hindered by specific technical difficulties, such as volatilization of fluorine from F-containing opal glass [11]. Discarded fractions of glass cullet, of any composition, represent a real form of industrial waste ('waste glasses'). Discarded material, of no value or even of 'negative' value (i.e. implying costs for transportation and disposal in landfills), is used as feedstock for products generating sufficient revenues to compensate the whole recovery process [10]. Highly porous cellular glasses, also known as 'glass foams', provide an interesting opportunity for upcycling of waste glass [12,13].

To consistently quantify the overall environmental impacts associated to products, multi-criteria assessment methods and life cycle approaches are recommended by scientists, to avoid the risk of burdens shifting [14]. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is known as the most robust methodology to evaluate the environmental performance of products, processes and technologies, thanks to 'cradle to grave' perspective and multi-criteria quantification of environmental impacts [15]. Standardised by International Organization for Standardization (ISO), LCA supports the sustainable consumption and production patterns and helps develop environmental innovations in the circular economy framework [16]. In the last 20 years many studies have used LCA to understand the environmental impacts of new products and processes, as well as to identify the roots of varying hazards and allows decision-makers to improve the environmental performance of waste management practices [17]. Moreover, within circular economy projects, even if 'life cycle indicators' and 'circularity measures' do not coincide, LCA may be applied to identify the most promising circular economy strategies and options [16]. In fact, a large amount of papers testify to the usefulness of LCA in R&D and eco-design, to verify the environmental preferability of new materials and products [18], to optimize new processes or technologies, and to identify potential supply chain hotspots that contribute to the overall environmental impacts of innovation [19]. The application of LCA to the early stage development of a process is recommended by scientists [20]: determining where improvements can be made whilst a process is still at the laboratory stage can be key to unlocking the environmental improvement potential. The effectiveness of LCA in predicting the environmental impacts of new technologies or processes means that the use of this methodology in the design phase and at the lab-scale is also encouraged through numerous policies and legislation, such as the European Directives (e.g. EC [21]; EC [22]; EC [23]).

Innovative applications of solid waste in building insulation materials are of great significance because energy shortages and environmental pollution are two global problems that urgently need to be solved [24]. LCA can give an insight on the environmental performance and the impacts related to constructions [25]. The introduction of insulation materials improves energy performance of buildings by reducing the heat losses [26,27]. To further increase the environmental benefits, the installation of new insulation products made with recycled materials is recommended [25].

In the last decade a huge number of papers was published in which the environmental preferability of new insulation materials was assessed through the LCA methodology (e.g. Refs. [28,29]), also including renewable materials or secondary raw materials derived by waste recycling (e.g. Refs. [30,31]). However, only few papers concern the impacts of glass foams made from waste glass. In particular, Cozzarini et al. [32] highlighted that the greatest contributions to the impacts rely on the chemicals and on the energy demand, higher than that required by more common (although less durable) polymer-based insulating materials. Blengini et al. [33] specifically evidenced that an improvement in the sustainability would be achieved by substitution of silicon carbide (SiC) as foaming agent. The previously mentioned 'inorganic gel casting' method [34] effectively goes in this direction: the usual chemicals are avoided by a complete change in the manufacturing approach. Foaming during sintering is replaced by sintering after foaming of glass suspensions, by intensive mechanical stirring.

The main objective of this study is to analyze through the LCA methodology the impacts of glass foams manufactured according to the new method carried out in laboratory scale at University of Padova. The analysis focuses on finding the processing steps mostly contributing to the total impact, to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the technology form a life cycle point of view.

1.1. Glass foam manufacturing

Glass foams probably represent the most appreciable expression of viscous flow sintering of glass, realized at much lower temperatures (850' °C) than glass melting (> °C). The cellular structure is determined by gas evolution, within a 'pyroplastic mass' formed as an effect of the same glass sintering, operated by selected additives (foaming agents), undergoing decomposition or oxidation reactions [12]. Typical decomposition-driven foaming agents are represented by carbonates and sulphates, whereas oxidation reactions apply to carbon (carbon black, graphite), organic compounds or SiC, causing CO/CO2 evolution. The adoption of a sintering approach, at moderately low temperatures (850'900 °C), allows for the introduction of variously sorted glass powders, mixed with foaming agents, also in powder form.

A homogenous foaming is a fundamental requirement in cellular glasses. To achieve this, carbon-containing foaming agents are typically assisted by additives (such as sulphates), intended to provide oxygen besides that supplied by the atmosphere [35,36]. In any case, a delicate balance must be established between viscous flow and gas evolution: as pointed out by Petersen et al. [37], specifically describing a 'viscosity window', the firing temperature should be high enough to activate the foaming agent (and the oxygen supplier), without causing a viscosity decrease below a certain threshold, to prevent the collapse of gas bubbles. If the starting feedstock is glass powders with limited composition variations, this is rather straightforward; on the contrary, if a mixture of different glasses is adopted, the same processing temperature determines different level of viscosity in the softened mass, resulting in inhomogeneous foams, as illustrated by Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Scheme of conventional foaming, named 'foaming during sintering'.

An alternative process was introduced to overcome the above-mentioned issues. According to alkali activation of 'inorganic gel casting' [11,37] glass powders form pseudoplastic slurries, by progressive gelation after being suspended in alkaline aqueous solution. For common soda-lime glass, an alkaline attack at moderate molarity (concentration of 2.5'3 M NaOH or KOH) determines the formation of calcium silicate hydrated (C'S'H) gels at the surface of glass particles. Due to interactions between surface gels, suspensions pass from a lower apparent viscosity state (upon intensive mechanical stirring) to a higher apparent viscosity state (when stirring stops), preventing any collapse of trapped air bubbles. Air bubbles are further stabilized by the addition of surfactants. A cellular structure is already available just after drying (Fig. 2, left). A thermal treatment (at only 700 °C), after drying and demolding of hardened suspensions, is later applied for the joining of glass particles, with some additional gas release from decomposition of gels (Fig. 2, right).

Fig. 2.

Example of glass foam from inorganic gel casting, based on cullet of F-containing opal glass. Left image: after alkali activation, room temperature foaming and drying. Right image: after firing.

1.2. LCA of glass foam

The LCA methodology consists of 4 phases: the goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation [14]. Two international standards support practitioners to conduct comprehensive LCA studies: the ISO [38] contains principles and fundaments to consistently apply the LCA methodology, and the ISO [39] establishes guidelines and requirements to correctly carry out each step of LCA. LCA is often used to quantify the environmental profile of construction materials production and assess buildings energetic performance: in these cases, the standard EN , which contains specific indications for applying LCA to the construction sector, must also be used [40].

In a circular economy perspective, the focus has been on the recycling of waste, like post-consumer PET bottles, as secondary raw materials to manufacture new construction materials [41]. The practice, in the construction sector, for allocating emission of recyclable products from recycled inputs is to use the 'cut-off' or 'input-oriented' method; therefore, the benefits of the use of recycled material for production is rewarded rather than the product recyclability [40]. The reason for this choice is the long life of a building which makes future predictions of the product recycling unreliable [42]. Given the insulation function of glass foams different studies of insulation materials are analized. The LCA of building materials can include the entire life of the builing or only of the materials used; both 'cradle to gate' and 'cradle to grave' studies can be done [43]. It is also advised to use the LCA at the design level to lower the impacts by optiminizng the choice of materials used [44].

Within the international scientific literature, the glass foam production from waste glass upcycling is already analyzed. The impacts of the glass foams are assessed in some LCA studies in which different glass foam production methods are compared among them and with other insulation's materials. Even if the same functional unit (FU), that quantifies the product system performance [38], is needed to be able to compare the different materials through an LCA, however, different FU are chosen by scientists to quantify the environmental profile of glass foam production from waste glass. Some papers use the area or weight to have a specific thermal insulation as FU; other papers adopt product dimensions or other characteristics of materials as FU [45]; moreover, to compare environmental performances of different glass foams, 1 kg of glass foams from waste glass is also adopted [46].

From the literature review, other relevant information can be summarized. The production phase is always analyzed in the LCA studies, since it is the main difference from the other insulation material. The major impact of the glass foam life is the energy consumption from the machineries; choosing renewable energy sources rather than fossil one can improve the environmental performance of the material. On the contrary, other life cycle stages of glass foam are rarely included in previous LCA studies. The downstream phase related to the transportation of glass waste from waste production site to the glass foam production process is frequently not considered, even if its impacts can be non-negligible and can outweigh the benefits of the recycled material [36]. The upstream phase related to the distribution and installation of materials within the buildings, and their end of life are often excluded by the life cycle analysis; otherwise, the use phase is generally not considered since environmental benefits of the energy saved from the glass foam insulation, are comparable to those of other materials [35].

From the literature overview, further research questions arise. The LCA of glass foam from waste glass upcycling should include both the downstream and upstream phases, focusing the attention on the transportation and disposal, to assess their importance in the environmental profile of glass foam life cycle. The energy consumption contribution should also be further investigated.

Hello dear readers! How are you feeling? Are you ready for the cold? Have you insulated yourself?
Today I came across an article that puzzled me, to put it mildly. It said that this winter will be very vigorous. That is, frosty and snowy. Well, what can I say? There are advantages and disadvantages to this. On the positive side - perky entertainment - sledges, skates, skis, snowballs. And negative - heating the house will cost a pretty penny. In order not to be speechless, looking at the amount in the receipt, it is recommended to insulate the "nest". Fortunately, there are a lot of materials for warming the room.

I decided to see what the manufacturing organizations offer today. My attention was drawn to the "old new" raw material - foam glass. Why "old new"? Well, how can I explain to you? The old one is 86 years old, and the new one is improved. However, let's study the material in more detail. So, here's a topic for you - foam glass: disadvantages, advantages, production, cost and much more. Let's start? Go!

Cellular glass: product features

A bit of history

The foam glass was invented by the honored worker of technology and science Isaak Ilyich Kitaygorodsky. The professor specialized in glass production technology, since he considered it the material of the future. The professor's invention was improved by US specialists in the 40s. Initially, foam glass was used as a floating material. But it soon became clear that it demonstrates excellent heat and sound insulation properties, easily glued, and easily processed. Therefore, it was decided to use it in construction.

Thus, in Canada, there was a building created from concrete slabs with a layer made of aerated glass. This event happened back in . The experiment was very successful. The material received well-deserved recognition. But, to the great regret of the inventor, in the Soviet countries he did not gain popularity, since the cost was high, and the production technology was not worked out. It was made in the USSR, but the quality of the products left much to be desired, which led to the closure of factories.

But at the present time the manufacture of this product is in full swing!

Concept

Thermal insulation of the balcony

Foam glass is a heat-insulating material made of silicate glass and raw materials that contribute to the formation of gas. Insulation is often called foamed or honeycomb glass because it has a honeycomb structure. Due to which it can boast of the most unique properties.

Production

Heat-insulating raw material - foam glass is made using powder technology. The process is quite simple but time consuming. It consists of the following steps:

• broken silicate glass is crushed;
• the crumb is thoroughly mixed with substances that form gas;
• charge (homogeneous mass) is placed on a conveyor belt or in molds and sent to the oven;
• glass softens, turning into a liquid but viscous mixture;
• under the influence of gases, the gruel foams;
• the mixture cools slowly;
• blocks, plates (sheets) or granules are formed from the product;
• the product is processed according to the requirements;
• plates, granules or blocks of foam glass are packed.

We can say that ordinary glass, which is used in everyday life, and the cellular product are twins, since they are identical in composition, the only difference is the pores filled with gas in the foamed product.

Only high quality materials and innovative equipment are used for the production of blocks, granules or slabs.In addition, the products are checked by experts in accordance with European quality standards.

Features of production

Heat-insulating material is made from budget raw materials - fragments, sintered rocks. The production process is laborious and costly, because the granules are poured in a special form at 800-900 degrees.

For the manufacture of foam glass, the ability of silicate glasses to undergo bending, stretching and compression is used, and sound insulation is also taken into account.

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Insulation foam glass is made as follows:

1. Raw materials are crushed to a powder state.
2. The glass powder is heated and softened.
3. The mass is foamed with a blowing agent.
4. The composition is slowly cooled.

Interesting to know! The soundproofing characteristics of a wall made of 12 cm thick brick and 1 cm thick glass are practically the same.

Views

Today there are two types of foam glass - granular and block.

In addition, there are three types of granular insulation:

• foam glass gravel;
• foam glass crushed stone;
• foam glass sand.

And there are also three types of block insulation:

• plates (sheet foam glass);
• blocks;
• shells (shaped foam glass).

If we compare the thermal properties of granular and block glass, of course, gravel, crushed stone and sand are inferior to slabs, shells and blocks. But, nevertheless, granular insulation is more popular due to its relatively low price.

Varieties of foam glass

In individual and urban planning, two types of this insulation are used:

• Block foam glass - has the form of slabs and a cellular structure. It is used for thermal insulation of the basement, facade, blind area, interfloor overlap, foundation, pipeline, ceilings. The board does not shrink, therefore it can be used as a basic building material.
• Granular foam glass - has the form of small granules in the form of a sphere, or resembles the shape of gravel or sand. Fraction size from 1 to 20 mm. It is used for thermal insulation of interior walls, ceilings and floors.

Despite the differences in the areas of use and production technology, both forms of material provide high-quality insulation and have the same technical characteristics.

Scope of application

Foam glass, due to its properties, is used for insulation:

• private houses;
• outbuildings;
• sports complexes;
• underground structures;
• industrial buildings;
• medical institutions;
• educational institutions;
• office objects;
• recreational facilities - (for example, for baths, water parks, etc.).

The scope of application of the material is very wide, since the thermal insulation material is flawless:

• for ceiling insulation: the floor of the attic is filled with cement-sand mortar, and then the plates are laid, after which a reinforcing screed is made;
• for walls: the surface is prepared, special glue is applied, the product is applied, pressed tightly and covered with plaster;
• for the floor: a layer of sand (3-5 cm) is poured, thermal insulation is laid or filled in, joints are closed, a screed is made, a covering is mounted;

Yes, the material is popular due to its good technical characteristics.

Properties

Cellular glass is famous for the following properties:

• noise absorption - 56 dB;
• water absorption - 0'5%;
• vapor permeability - 0'0.005 mg / m * h * PA;
• thermal conductivity - 0.04'0.08 W / (m * K);
• humidity (sorption) - 0.2'0.5%;
• bending strength - 0.4'0.6 MPa;
• compressive strength - 0.7'4 MPA;
• effective operating temperature - '260 - + 400 ° ';
• real operating temperature - '260 - + 230 ° ';
• deformation temperature - + 450 ° '.

Based on this data, recognized advantages and disadvantages can be identified.

Dignity

The material has many advantages. Let's consider the main ones.

1. Safety.Does not contain substances harmful to the human body.
2. Environmental friendliness. Produced from environmentally friendly raw materials.
3. Hygiene. It has antiseptic properties.
4. Durability. Service life - over 100 years.
5. Versatility. It is used for insulation of any buildings.
6. High adhesion. Combines with a lot of building materials.
7. Biological passivity. He is not afraid of rodents, insects and microorganisms.
8. Resistance to the negative effects of climatic factors. He is not afraid of temperature drops, precipitation, UV, etc.
9. Resisting mechanical factors. It does not deform and does not lose its properties, since it can withstand impacts and high loads.
10. Not susceptible to the influence of chemical factors. Does not react to acid.
11. Resistant to thermal factors. Foam glass is an absolutely non-combustible insulation.
12. Ease of processing. Perfectly cut with a regular hacksaw.

The material is worthwhile, but there are drawbacks and there are many of them, unfortunately.

roof insulation with foam glass

Foam glass insulation technology

In order to guarantee high thermal insulation qualities of the material, it is required to observe the technology of its installation:

1. It is recommended to use special glue for fixing the boards, which must be applied to the back of the board and the side walls. After that, the glue should be evenly distributed over the surface of the sheet.
2. If the surface has pits, bumps or other irregularities, the adhesive should be applied to the foam glass with slaps in order to obtain the most even base.
3. When insulating a wooden base, it is recommended to fix the slabs with special dowels. The tree expands when exposed to moisture and temperature, therefore, the insulation to it must be mounted mechanically.
4. When installing the slab on a vertical surface, it is necessary to install the lower plank using the building level. It is best to use a metal profile or rail as a strip.
5. The first row of insulation should be mounted on a profile that will act as a support. After the glue has completely set, the support can be removed. However, it is best to remove it after the work is complete.
6. When installing slabs on vertical or inclined surfaces, start from the bottom, and on horizontal surfaces - from the far corner.
7. Plates should be laid close to each other with one row offset relative to the other. After application and complete drying of the glue, it is additionally recommended to reinforce the boards with special dowels.
8. It is recommended to install thermal insulation boards around windows and doors in solid shapes. It is not allowed to connect separate pieces of material to each other on corner lines.

Roof insulation with foam glass

Foam glass is a high quality, modern and very light material for thermal insulation of various surfaces. Competent adherence to the installation technology will improve the efficiency of thermal insulation and extend the life of the material.

disadvantages

Of course, every raw material has negative points. Foam glass is no exception. Before purchasing material, it is necessary to scrupulously study the negative points.

1. High price. For the production of raw materials, innovative high-tech equipment is required, which leads to its rise in price. And also the manufacture of foamed glass requires high energy costs.
2. Fragility. Raw materials, despite their strength, are very fragile, which leads to cracking if you ignore the installation recommendations.
3. Lack of steam permeability. Foam glass, as it was said, is not exposed to the destructive effects of biological factors, but the surface under it is easy.
4. Fear of alkalis and hydrofluoric acid. Cellular glass, like an aspen leaf, trembles at the "sight" of alkalis and hydrofluoric acid, as they are capable of destroying it.
5. Severity.The raw materials are relatively heavy, which negatively affects the building structure.
6. Durability. Of course, a long service life is a plus. But the materials used to build the facility are unlikely to last more than 100 years. This means that the structure needs to be repaired periodically, and the cellular glass is not intended to be reused. Which exit? Replacement of insulation.
7. Low impact resistance. Cellular glass does not withstand even light blows. Mechanical influence is the 'death' of the material. Of course, if the insulation is in the structure, it is not afraid of blows. He is afraid of them when transporting, unloading and installing.
8. Impossibility of "resuscitation". If the glass is damaged, it can be taken to landfill. It is impossible to glue or cover up the cracks.

The properties have played a cruel joke with honeycomb glass, turning a huge number of advantages into disadvantages.

Main advantages

The use of foam glass as a heater has a number of significant advantages. These include:

1. Excellent thermal insulation performance. They are explained by the peculiarity of the structure of the material - small closed cells with thin partitions.
2. Versatility. The material is universal, therefore it can be used for insulation of facades, roofs, foundations, communications, walls and floors. It can be used even for objects with a high fire hazard rate.
3. Long service life. The material can serve for over 100 years without loss of performance. At the same time, it tolerates high and low temperatures well, as well as their sharp drops.
4. Good sound insulation properties. A layer of insulation of 10 cm is able to drown out even the sounds of a working tractor engine behind the wall. Therefore, the material is effectively used not only to protect against heat loss, but also from extraneous noise.
5. Ease of installation. An ordinary hacksaw can be used to cut the slabs; it is enough to simply pour the granules onto the prepared surfaces. The material is incredibly lightweight, so it's easy to work with.
6. Safety. The material does not emit hazardous compounds, therefore it can be used in public and residential premises.
7. Non-flammability. Foam glass does not burn, and at very high temperatures it only melts without emitting toxic components and smoke.

The advantages of foam glass have made it one of the most successful and high-quality materials for insulating floors, roofs, ceilings, basements, walls and other surfaces.

Price

The cost of foam glass bites. Prices, of course, vary, since they depend on many factors, but on average, you can buy blocks for $ 120-400 per cubic meter. You can buy plates and shells by paying $ 110'350, and you can get a granular version by spending $ 35'100 per cubic meter.

What can you say? Foam glass insulation is a very dubious and costly undertaking, since the material has a lot of serious drawbacks, and, moreover, is incredibly expensive. But, as they say, the owner is a master. Maybe it's not for nothing that they call it the raw material of the future. To buy or not to buy? That is the question! The choice is yours, dear readers.

Warmth and comfort to your home, dear friends! See you on other blog pages!

Quote of Wisdom: Reading is the best teaching (A.S. Pushkin).

Despite the best thermal conductivity indicators in comparison with foam glass insulation, polyurethane foam is the worst material for a number of reasons. It is presented on the market in two versions - in rigid plates and sprayed on site. Rigid slabs are usually sandwich panels, in which types the main difference is the material of the outer shell of the slab. In CIS countries, this is usually OSB, also known as particle board. This obviously lowers the fire resistance of a slab or shield made from such slabs.The sprayed version of polyurethane foam is prepared from two main components right on the construction site and is immediately sprayed onto the insulated surface. The disadvantages of such insulation are the impossibility of obtaining a flat surface of polyurethane foam after insulation, the surface is all in bumps and grooves. It is difficult to control the uniformity of the polyurethane foam thickness, and, consequently, the material consumption. Plastering such a surface without a supporting frame for the applied plaster is absolutely impossible, and therefore PPU is not recommended for use in facades, or on those surfaces that need to be plastered.

But the most important disadvantage of polyurethane foam in any of its form is the polyurethane foam itself. In the manufacture of this substance, two components are used: a polyester component and a polyisocyanate known as MDI (MDI). Since , the MDI substance has been recognized as potentially carcinogenic in European countries, and as a result, its use in the construction industry has been significantly limited. In Germany, special safety regulations are issued for products containing more than 1% MDI and limit their presence on the market. Why is this being done? Because in the production of any two-component substances, the chemical reaction of combining two components into one never goes 100%, there are always residues, which then the final product will slowly release into the environment. That is, polyurethane foam is a carrier of carcinogenic substances, which it will slowly release into the environment, which will undoubtedly affect the health of people who use an insulated building.

In terms of installation, the PPU has certain limitations. You cannot apply it to the front part, because, as described above, the sprayed version is ultimately the most costly in arranging the facade as a whole, and PPU boards are less resistant to moisture due to particle boards in the composition. When insulating the foundation, such a significant disadvantage of PPU may appear, such as vulnerability to animals and insects, which can equip their nests in it, or simply make holes in the PPU layer on the way to the inside of the house. Also, polyurethane foam boards in soil conditions can suffer from moisture, which means that they must be properly waterproofed.

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