Insulation Series: How We Ensure the Quality of Our Insulation

by Brian Flax | Jul 26, 2016
Insulation Series: How We Ensure the Quality of Our Insulation

At KORE we’re serious about the quality of the insulation we provide to all of our customers. Whether you’re a part of our KORE Fill Network, a contractor or self builder, you can rest assured that the insulation you receive fully meets the standards published in all of our technical documents and Agrément certifications. Not only do we routinely test our own products in-house to ensure quality, we work with fully accredited independent labs to crosscheck all data and results. This ensures we’re manufacturing high quality and high performance insulation day in and day out – and we have the proof to back it up.

KORE is ISO Certified to the latest standards

Proving our commitment to high quality, KORE became the first company in Ireland to become certified to ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems and ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems. At the same time, KORE also added ISO 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems to our list of certifications.

Our new ISO certifications show we are a continued innovative leader within our industry, having taken a proactive approach to both quality and environmental management and a team commitment to providing our customers with the best products and services. We are proudly able to display the following certifications on all the products we provide and manufacture:

Our insulation is tested by accredited third parties

KORE products have a thermal performance declared to Lambda 90/90. Lambda 90/90 ensures that the declared value can be obtained for 90 percent or more of production with a confidence level of 90 percent.

Testing is performed using heat flow meters at regular intervals. These testing devices set up a temperature gradient across a production sample and measure the rate of heat flow. KORE performs in-house testing on all our insulation products, including KORE Fill Cavity Wall Insulation. In-house testing occurs at a minimum of once per month with new results added to our Lambda 90/90 software and made available for auditing by relevant industry agencies.

Our data is crosschecked with data from testing performed by various accredited third parties, including the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), British Board of Agrément (BBA) and the University of Salford. This ensures that the value we declare is with the utmost certainty. The thermal conductivity of our KORE Fill Bonded Bead Cavity Wall Insulation is as follows:

 

Performance Test Standard Harmonised Standard
KORE Fill Original 0.035W/mK EN 12667 EN 13163:2012
KORE Fill Diamond 0.033W/mK EN 12667 EN 13163:2012

 

Our Declaration of Performance Certificates and technical data has been made available for all products. You can download and view these documents in PDF format by joining the KORE Resource Centre.

Our third party accredited testing partners include:

ORE Fill Cavity Wall Insulation U-Values

The U-values KORE Fill Cavity Wall Insulation provides are suitable for new build construction. We offer two bonded bead products, KORE Fill Original and our lower thermal conductivity bead KORE Fill Diamond. The minimum cavity width requirements are 40mm and 50mm respectively. Per our Agrément certificate, our estimated U-value calculations are as follows:

External Masonry Walls – Estimated U-Values W/(m2K)

W/mK Rendered Cavity Wall – Type I
Cavity Fill Unventilated Cavity (mm)
40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
U-Value (W/m2K)
KORE Fill NovaS400R / BASF N2300 0.035 0.65 0.55 0.48 0.42 0.37 0.34 0.31 0.28 0.26 0.24 0.23 0.21
KORE Fill Diamond BASF 5200 0.033 0.62 0.53 0.45 0.40 0.36 0.32 0.29 0.27 0.25 0.23 0.22 0.20
Brick Cavity Wall – Type II
KORE Fill NovaSR400R / BASF N2300 0.035 0.64 0.54 0.47 0.41 0.37 0.33 0.30 0.28 0.26 0.24 0.23 0.21
KORE Fill Diamond BASF 5200 0.033 0.61 0.51 0.45 0.39 0.35 0.32 0.29 0.27 0.25 0.23 0.21 0.20

Wall Type I – 19mm external render on 100/100/100 block cavity wall (100mm clear cavity) with 12.5mm internal plasterboard

Wall Type II – 102.5mm external brick, 100 clear cavity, 100 block inner leaf with 12.5mm internal plasterboard. 

You can view sample U-value calculations for a range of cavity wall application by downloading the KORE Fill Cavity Wall Insulation Design Guide or by contacting our technical team for more information.

The in-house testing process

KORE’s in-house testing ensures that all of the insulation we sell is manufactured to the highest quality on a consistent basis. Here’s a quick look at the typical process:

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A sample of EPS bead is taken from one of KORE’s small expanders or silos and placed in an oven at 70 degrees Celsius for 48 hours. The sample is then placed in a ventilated area for a day.

densitycheck

The sample is placed in a container and weighed. The container’s dimensions are multiplied, and the weight of the sample is divided by the total to obtain the density.

sampleinmachine

The heat flow meter is turned on and calibrated using a calibration sample. Once the heat flow meter has been calibrated, the EPS sample is placed in a sample tray and inserted into the machine.

The EPS bead is tested at a mean temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. The results are printed, recorded and stored for internal and external third party auditing.

New results are added to the Lambda 90/90 Calculator and inspected by BBA and other relevant authorities. Testing is completed at a minimum of once per month, but generally happens more often.

Do you have a question about our testing process? Be sure to leave a comment in the section below. Ready to request a quotation for one of our Expanded Polystyrene insulation products? Click the button below and submit your project details and drawings directly through our website.

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