La Rue Asbl
In Brussels, and more widely in Europe, a large number of inhabitants experience energy precarity. More than one third of the Brussels housing stock is not or barely insulated, resulting in high heating costs and unhealthy living conditions. Existing renovation policies tend to benefit households with greater financial capacity, leaving a significant share of the population without access to renovation.
At the same time, the renovation wave generates substantial material flows. Insulation materials are central to improving the energy performance of buildings, yet many are discarded in renovation and demolition projects, sometimes after only a few years, despite being designed for much longer lifespans. This, however, creates an opportunity to recover increasing amounts of insulation material from buildings that are being dismantled. The ISOL’ution project was initiated to address this gap by investigating whether insulation materials can be safely and effectively reused in small-scale renovation projects.
In this project, various partners collaborate across the different steps of bringing insulation materials into structured practice. La Rue provides technical and social assistance to participating households and analyses how reused insulation can be integrated into renovation projects.
La Rue also collaborates with BatiTerre to source insulation materials and organise logistics. The Université Libre de Bruxelles carries out experimental testing to verify the thermal conductivity of materials, and Casablanco, a social contractor active in reintegration programmes, carry out the renovation works.
Reusing Insulation Materials in small scale renovation projects: Lessons from the ISOL’ution Blueprint Project
Insulation materials are routinely discarded during renovation and demolition, often after just a few years of use, despite being designed for far longer lifespans. ISOL'ution sets out to change that, the results are promising. Read more here to find out.
