SBIR Phase II: Manufacturing Bioinspired, Non-Toxic, Non-Dusting, Irritant-Free, Thermal Insulation Material

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be the development of a new type of safe, effective, and affordable thermal insulation for buildings. The project is inspired by the nests of yellowjacket wasps that live in pockets of permafrost high above the Arctic circle. The nests are protected from extreme temperatures by the hollow wall structure surrounding the nest interior. This structure was adapted to create insulation panels that are highly efficient, lightweight, water-resistant, non-combustible, recyclable, non-toxic, non-dusting, and irritant-free. The new insulation is safe to handle and poses no risk to human health. The industry standards for bulk thermal insulation are fiberglass and spray foam (comprising about 71% and 11% of the commercial market, respectively). Despite their widespread use, these materials are notorious for their harmful effects on human and environmental health. Consumers are actively searching for a better option, but – thus far – no other product has successfully met that market need. The primary objective of this Phase II project is to develop new automated machinery to manufacture the new insulation at scale, which will allow the team to meet market demand, create good American jobs, and lower costs for consumers. The team has been developing a new class of thermal insulation technology that uses carefully-engineered air pockets to limit convective heat transfer through the material. A low-emissivity coating is applied to internal surfaces to eliminate most radiative heating, and the walls of the pockets are thin enough to prevent any substantial conductive heating. The thermal properties of the prototypes made during Phase I already outperform popular alternatives like fiberglass, mineral wool, cellulose, and expanded polystyrene (EPS). The new insulation is made from a novel self-extinguishing and nontoxic composite, which makes it safe and easy to install. Though effective, the composite material which cannot be manufactured effectively with any single existing fabrication technique. Hence, Phase II project will focus on the development of a new and innovative fabrication method that can be automated. Automating the production process is vital to the success of the novel insultation material because the manual process is far too time-intensive to be commercially viable. The team will implement engineering best practices and follow a six-sigma approach in quality control to ensure the best possible chance of success. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.