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Environmental awareness and the need to build energy efficient give a new impulse to Wood Wool Cement (WWC) building products.
Recently the Swedish WWCB producer Träullit (www.traullit.se)
developed a revolutionary new building system with high thermal insulation, consisting of large homogeneous WWC Wall Elements of up to 6 m length and 260 cm height.
The thickness of the WWC elements is up to 40 cm.
The main properties of this unique new building system are:
Due to high thermal insulation values, superior thermal storage capacity and moisture balancing properties, this system is ideal for residential construction, especially for countries with a cold climate such as in Northern regions and mountainous areas. In countries with land climates and warmer to hot climates the same properties help to significantly reduce energy cost for cooling. In all cases the high insulating value is appreciated for maintaining a comfortable indoor climate and living condition
Not only the Thermal Insulation value but also the Thermal Storage Capacity is important, as shown below.
| Comparison of Thermal Insulation and Storage Capacity of various Wall constructions (source Träullit) | Thermal Insulation W/m² ºC (U-value) |
Thermal Storage Capacities KJ/m² °C |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Framed Mineral Wool | 0.14 | 65 |
| Large WWC Wall Element | 0.19 (R=5,26) | 250 |
| Light Weight Concrete | 0.28 | 210 |
| Expanded Clay Blocks (Leca) | 0.50 | 255 |
After the Wall Elements are manufactured in the factory, they are loaded on a truck and shipped to the job site.
There, they are installed on the prepared foundation in only one day.
First, the Wall Elements are connected by pouring fresh concrete in prepared reinforced vertical cavities where the Elements join.
As a second step a reinforced concrete ring beam is poured in a prepared groove on the top of the Elements.
Finally, after all concrete is cured, the roof is installed.
Optionally, also the roof is constructed using the highly-insulating Träullit wood beam-reinforced long-span WWC Roofing Boards.
For more information, see this video
