Drastic’s German Demonstrator aims to exemplify a key circular solution for a majority of German apartment buildings which have inadequate thermal insulation and require renovation to become more energy efficient.

The project partners involved in this Demonstrator are Saint-Gobain Weber, as the provider of the renovation insulation system, and Saint-Gobain Isover as the insulation provider.

Enhanced energy sufficiency, circularity and sustainability via recyclable components

The External Thermal Insulation Composite (ETIC) system used by the German Demonstrator is designed to significantly reduce a building's primary energy consumption for heating purposes over a lifetime of more than 50 years.

In addition, this Demonstrator hopes to significantly reduce the global warming potential (GWP) of the individual mortar components of the ETIC system by partially substituting the main binder (cement) with alternative raw materials, while retaining existing performance parameters.

The weber.therm circle system is the first ETIC system that can be dismantled and recycled by component type. Once this system has reached the end of its service life, new high-quality items can be obtained from the dismantled parts. The system's main component, thermal insulation material, can be reused, whilst the other composite parts of the system can be recycled as aggregates in the future, with a view to increasing circularity and sustainability. 

Currently, mock-up walls are being constructed and exposed to rapid weathering as part of this Demonstrator’s work, to optimise the system and test the suitability of reusing the insulation boards. 

Paving the way towards circular composite systems

The German Demonstrator aims to show that composite systems, which require good cohesion between the different composite elements, can still be separated by type at the end of their service life, thus taking an important step towards a circular economy. It is important that the new system has the same application reliability as the established systems so that there is no loss of properties or performance when switching over to a more circular option.

By encouraging product reuse within composite insulation systems, the German Demonstrator hopes to offer a viable sustainable alternative to current European building insulation market offerings.