On 18 May 2021 the Facility Management Association of Australia (FMA), along with 40 other organisations, launched a new industry-led roadmap to ensure that insulation is installed or retrofitted following proper quality control and safety processes.
Insulation is critical to the comfort, health and productivity of building occupants, reducing the flow of heat and noise and the build-up of moisture and mould. However, the quality of the install is critical to the performance of a building. Just 5% gaps in the coverage of roof insulation can reduce its effectiveness (R value) by 50%, and even a small amount of thermal bridging by materials like steel can impact its effectiveness even more.
To tackle this challenge, the FMA and other leading organisations in the insulation, building and energy efficiency industries have come together to prepare a roadmap to improve quality control and safety in insulation installation.
The roadmap drew on extensive research on global best practice, which focussed on quality control and safety for insulation in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and New Zealand. These countries have all invested heavily to ensure that insulation is installed correctly, with systems that include training, accreditation, licensing, building inspections and strict standards whenever governments procure or support insulation installation. This research was led by the Energy Efficiency Council and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, and funded by the Governments of NSW and Victoria, Insulation Australasia and the Insulation Council of Australia and New Zealand.