Glass is believed to be one of the oldest synthetic materials and exhibits a delicate achievement of human civilization. Glass has been used as a building material since ancient times. Due to the rapid development in the glass industry in recent times, glass has emerged out to be the most versatile building material in the modern times. The first glass object created by man centuries back was that from the natural glass such as obsidian and rock crystal. The manufactured glass dates from pre-historic times in the Far East, India and Egypt. Though its exact place and date of origin is unknown, however, it is believed that the ancient Hindus were well advanced and they knew the method of glass making long before the Christian era.

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Time went on and development took place in various sectors. Thus, with the help of innovative techniques developed in manufacturing glass, today it has reached at a stage where glass of different qualities can be produced to suit the requirements of various industries. So here, we are going to discuss on foam glass. Foam glass is also known as cellular glass.

What is Foam Glass?

Foam glass (FG) is a porous glass material consisting of materials such as waste glass and various mineral wastes.

Cellular glass (foam glass) is a glass foam material, which is produced from a reaction between glass and carbon at high temperatures. Foam Glass has a cellular structure. It is impermeable, rigid and well-insulating. The thermal conductivity of foam glass being low, it has a better insulation capacity. Hence, it can be used as a thermal insulator. Because it is entirely made of inorganic materials, foam glass is non&#;flammable. In addition to that, foam glass also has high compressive strength, thereby making the material suitable for the insulation of flat roofs which are covered with bitumen or other heavy substances. However, foam glass is not suitable for the insulation of wooden flooring, because it is highly impermeable.

The foam glass is manufactured in the form of rectangular blocks. The finely ground glass and carbon are mixed thoroughly and the mixture is later allowed in a furnace to get melted. At the time of melting, the mixture expands and produces the mass of black foam. The resulting glass material contains more than 350 million inert air cells per m3. The cellular glass floats on water. This mass of glass can be cut like wood. It is rigid, fire-proof and an excellent heat insulator. It can be used as a substitute for cork in air-conditioning and refrigeration industries.

Properties of Foam Glass

Chemical Composition of Foam Glass

Size & Thickness of Foam Glass

Its thickness varies between 30 mm to 150 mm.

Uses of Foam Glass

• Used in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning industry, as a substitute for cork.
• Used in Flooring.
• Used as a Substitute for partition.
• Used as a Corning.
• Foam glass is well suited as a rigid insulation material in walls, roofs and traffic areas (floors or flat roofs) where other materials are compressed which usually results in an uneven surface thereby causing the loss of insulating properties. It also acts like a barrier for changes in temperature or for preventing liquids or gases to pass through.

Let us have an insight of Advantages and Disadvantages associated with Foam glass:

Advantages of Foam Glass

01. Foam Glass is waterproof

It is moisture resistant, it therefore does not swell. Foam glass Slab and Board are absolutely damp proof, and do not absorb water either in liquid form or through interior diffusion flows. Hence, the insulation value is retained during the entire service life of a building.

02. Foam Glass is Pest- resistant

It does not rot. It is pest-resistant as it is comprised of inorganic materials which do not support any plant or fungal growth. It is a better option under conditions where insulation is behind a façade or in contact with the ground. If you are thinking to go ahead with it, there will be less chances of damage due to pest.

03. Higher Compressive Strength

It is in-compressible even with long-term loads due to its cell geometry without deformation. It can be used as load-bearing thermal insulation without risk. It can withstand load which crush most other insulating materials. In a properly designed piping system i.e. underground water distribution system, liquefied natural gas, steam and chilled water carrying system, commercial and ductwork pipework, etc, the insulation eliminates the need of special treatment at pipe cradles. The high compressive strength makes it especially appropriate for green roofs, roof decks and parking decks.

04. Foam Glass is Incombustible

It is unburnable i.e. fire-proof. It is classified under incombustible material as per European Standards EN : A1. It does not burn under the influence of high temperatures. Service temperature range of foam glass is -273°C to 200°C. If a home catches fire, the insulator will prevent the spread of flame. Foam glass insulation system has been tested for preventing fire spread through wall penetrations. Depending upon the thickness and the material used, it provides fire resistance to fire-wall pipe penetrations for up to two hours, for pipes of up to 600 mm diameter according to DIN-11.

05. Foam Glass is Vapour-tight

Foam glass is vapour-tight because it consists of hermetically sealed glass cells. It cannot soak through and already contains the vapour barrier. As it is quite impervious to moisture (vapour and water), it does not support mold growth, blocks radon, and keeps out termites and rodents from wall.

06. Foam Glass is Dimensionally Stable

Cellular glass is dimensionally stable because glass neither shrinks nor swells. It has low coefficient of expansion. While using it in roofing system, dimensionally stable foam glass protects the adhering waterproofing. This eventually supports and enhances a long service life of the whole roof system.

07. Foam Glass is Acid-Resistant

Foam glass is resistant to organic solvents and acids. The wall or roof of homemade from such insulated material will not be damaged by aggressive atmospheric medium.

08. Foam Glass is Easy to Work with

Cellular glass is easy to handle or work with because it consists of thin-walled glass cells which can be easily cut with simple tools like a saw blade or hand saw. However, you need to be very cautious while working with the foam glass as it may cause damage to your hand or eyes. Therefore, it is advised to put on protective wears while you work with it. By using foam glass, you can insulate the exterior of your home with less effort.

09. Foam Glass is Ecological

Foam glass is manufactured using at least 60% of recycled glass. It is also free of environmentally damaging flame retardants and gas propellants. After using foam glass as thermal insulation, it can be reused as filler in landscaping or thermally insulating granulates. It is ecologically sensible recycling through re-use.

Disadvantages of Foam Glass

01. Foam glass or cellular glass insulation is fragile and brittle.

02. It is susceptible to vibration-induced damage.

03. The cost of this insulation is high compared to other insulations with similar insulation properties.

04. Installation costs are more due to the fragile nature of the material.

Manufacturing of Foam Glass

• Foam glass is in the form of rectangular blocks.
• It is produced using a process that traps gas bubbles in the glass, creating an expanded material with a spongy consistency.

Steps involved in preparing Foam Glass

• First make sure that recycled glass material is cleaned and later crushed using industrial glass crusher.
• Enough glass is used to fill the glass furnace to capacity for time and cost efficiency.
• Glass having a similar expansion coefficient for the best results is used i.e. the temperatures at which the glass melts and re-solidifies.
• Crushed glass is mixed with powdered cullet that adds strength to the glass with a carbon-based material such as coal powder.
• The carbon thus reacts with the glass to produce carbon dioxide, which develop a foam consistency with a volume approximately 15 times that of the original crushed glass.
• The crushed glass mixture is placed in the heat tolerant kiln forms with an anti-sticking agent.
• The kiln forms are loaded onto the roller conveyor with a high temperature tunnel furnace.
• The glass is heated at 1,000 to 1,300 degrees Celsius.
• It is then slowly cooled or annealed.
• Gases allow the glass to expand while heating and then stabilize during cooling.

Conclusion

According to &#;Francis D. K. Ching&#; (Author of Building Construction Illustrated), Cellular glass insulation or foam glass insulation is fire-resistant, impervious to moisture, and dimensionally stable, but has a lower thermal-resistance value than foamed plastic insulations, which are flammable and must be protected with a thermal barrier when used on the interior surfaces of a building.

For more than seventy years glass foam production technology has been established as a valid method both for obtaining products having a unique combination of properties (with particular reference to high insulation capability, very low density, excellent resistance to fire, water impermeability, high compression strength, and dimensional stability) and for recycling growing quantities of glass waste. Glass foams are modern building materials which are reasonably competing these days with various other conventional materials for application in thermal insulation. The continuously decreasing price owing to improvement of process technologies and the growing introduction of waste as raw materials as well as the advantages coming from energy saving through a better insulation capability, will certainly increase the application possibilities for this material in the near future.

Apart from this article on foam glass, we have also written articles on various glasses available in market. Please check this list,

A Guide to Foam Glass Insulation

By Kate Knuth ,

Rise Writer

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Huichen.

Last Updated: Jan 21,

If you want a comfortable home that is less expensive to operate, putting some thought into your home&#;s insulation is helpful.

Insulation can help address the many ways a home can lose heat (for example, through walls, the floor, and roofs). Insulation works by putting a thermal barrier between the inside of a house and the outside of it. Better insulation means less heat is transferred between the inside and outside of the house, saving energy and money on both heating and cooling. Ensuring your home has effective insulation is an essential part of achieving the benefits of a highly energy-efficient home.

There are several different insulation options on the market. The most common include fiberglass batting, cellulose insulation, spray foam insulation, and mineral wool insulation.

There are also less common insulation types that are worth considering. These types include, among others, sheep wool and foam glass insulation. While foam glass isn&#;t typical in North American residential building projects, the material has been around for decades. Foam glass was invented in the s. Pittsburgh Corning (later Owens Corning) invented a patented version of foam glass called Foamglas® that decade.

Photo Credit: Glavel

What Is Foam Glass Insulation?

Foam glass is, not surprisingly, given its name, made from glass. The manufacturing process involves crushing glass into a fine powder. This powder glass is then manufactured into foam glass using a process that involves heating and adding a foaming agent, often carbon-black.

The result is a strong, highly durable building material made out of glass and tiny &#;cells&#; or bubbles of gas (mostly filled with CO2) that contribute to foam glass's insulating properties.

Photo Credit: Glavel

What Is Foam Glass Insulation Used For?

Foam glass is a hard, solid building material with exceptional strength and load-bearing properties. It can be used as sub-slab insulation and can replace both the aggregate and thermal layers underneath a building.

Foam glass is also lightweight, which means you can use it as roof insulation, with particular value in buildings with green roofs. Green roofs can be quite heavy, so the lightness of foam glass is advantageous for green roofs.

The strength and insulation properties of foam glass also make it useful for large infrastructure projects like roads and pipes. In some cases, you can use foam glass as a heat and sound insulator around pipes.

Although residential use of foam glass is more common in Europe, it is less common to use foam glass in North America. Although, if a homeowner is committed to the idea of foam glass, it makes an excellent replacement for extruded polystyrene.

Exterior foundation insulation. Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Corning

Is Foam Glass a Good Insulator?

Foam glass has an insulation R-value of 3.4. An R-value is a measure of the ability of a material to resist heat flow. The R-value of foam is about 30% lower than extruded polystyrene. However, foam glass can still be considered to have excellent insulation properties as a building material.

What Are the Advantages of Foam Glass?

The advantages of foam glass as a building material are in both the manufacturing and use phases of the material.

When compared to extruded polystyrene, the foam glass manufacturing process and materials have less environmental harm. Foam glass manufacturing does not require the use of a potent greenhouse gas that is necessary to make extruded polystyrene. Foam glass is also sometimes made from recycled glass, which further reduces its environmental impact.

Foam glass is made mostly of glass, which means it does not burn. This fire-resistant property is an advantage of foam glass in itself. Also, toxic brominated flame retardants are not necessary when manufacturing foam glass. Avoiding toxic flame retardants protects both workers who manufacture the foam glass and homeowners who use it from exposure to toxic chemicals.

Health concerns about air quality are also a problem with some forms of spray foam insulation options, and foam glass does not have these health concerns because it is made of fire-resistant glass and is inert.

As a building material, foam glass has the advantage of being water-resistant, and it won&#;t break down at all when exposed to water. Also, foam glass is pest-resistant, meaning wood-boring insects like termites or ants cannot break down the material. These properties make foam glass a long-lasting building material, which can make it a more sustainable option than other insulation types.

What Are the Disadvantages of Foam Glass?

The most significant disadvantage of foam glass, particularly in North American markets, is the price. It is more expensive than other forms of insulation on a per-unit basis.

However, foam glass can serve more than one role because it is insulating and porous (meaning water can get through). And while foam glass is porous, it does not break down with water exposure. Therefore, foam glass can replace two other building materials &#; those used for insulation and drainage. For example, foam glass can replace both the aggregate needed for drainage and polystyrene insulation when used under a slab foam. As a result, foam glass can become more cost-competitive in some building contexts.

The other disadvantage of foam glass is that it is not yet a widely used residential building material in North America. It can be hard to find for use in residential construction. Many builders may not yet know how to work with the material in residential contexts. Therefore, a homeowner may need to work with builders as they figure out how to use the material.

Photo Credit: Aero Aggregates

Foam glass manufacturers in North America

While foam glass is more common in Europe, in early , there was news of two foam glass companies in North America making the push on foam glass fill in the U.S. market. Aero Aggregates uses 100% post-consumer glass to create a foam glass aggregate as a superior backfill in construction projects. Glavel is a Vermont-based company that offers several foam glass products for larger infrastructure projects. The use of these foam glass products can reduce these projects' carbon impact compared to projects using more traditional kinds of fill and insulation.

Owens Corning, the original Foamglas® company, operates in North America. It has a range of foam glass products. However, Owen Corning has exited the U.S. residential foam glass market because of cost issues and a lack of large orders. 

Wrap-up

Overall, foam glass insulation offers environmental and health benefits as insulation in both large infrastructure projects and homes. From a lower-impact, healthier manufacturing process to properties that make it resistant to fire and pests, foam glass has many benefits that homeowners will appreciate.

However, if a homeowner in North American is interested in using foam glass insulation as insulation in their home, it will take some work. Doing some research by reaching out to foam glass manufacturers and connecting with local builders, and asking about foam glass insulation is one place to start.

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute a product endorsement however Rise does reserve the right to recommend relevant products based on the articles content to provide a more comprehensive experience for the reader.

Last Modified: -01-21T23:41:04+

Article by:

Kate Knuth

Dr. Kate Knuth is founder, strategist, and writer at Democracy and Climate LLC; and a fellow at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment. Kate was the first chief resilience officer for the City of Minneapolis and founding director of the Boreas Leadership Program. She served six years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, where she championed clean energy, climate, and toxic chemical policy reform policy. Kate also served six years on the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board. She earned a PhD from the University of Minnesota, a MSc from Oxford University, and a BA from the University of Chicago. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Norway.

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