Cellular Glass Aggregate

Serving as Thermal Insulation and

a Drainage Layer
Andreas Zegowitz

ABSTRACT
Factory-made aggregates of cellular glass with a typical lump size of 10 to 75 mm represent a new type of thermal insulation
with drainage properties being applied in Switzerland, Germany, and other European countries. Cellular glass aggregates are
used as insulating filling material at the perimeter of buildings as well as under load-bearing foundations. They can serve as insu-
lation drainage layers of garden roofs. The insulation material is manufactured from recycled glass and mineral additives in a
thermal process. The aggregates form when slabs of cellular glass crack while cooling down. In order to obtain the required hygro-
thermal properties, the manufacturing process must be carefully controlled. Despite its low density of approximately 120 to 250
kg/m³, cellular glass aggregate has a high pressure resistance, absorbs hardly any water, and is fireproof. The expected service
life is at least 50 years.
Since its first appearance on the market, this insulation material has been thoroughly tested and the effect of water clinging
to the aggregate has been investigated in the laboratory. To confirm the assumptions, the average moisture content and the thermal
conductivity of the material in service was also determined by material sampling on existing buildings. This paper gives an over-
view of the different tests that must be performed in order to obtain a German and European Technical Approval. It summarizes
the aggregate properties of different manufacturers and reports the practical experience gained by in-situ investigations.

INTRODUCTION surface unevenness like aggregates of cellular glass can be

Ever increasing requirements concerning the thermal significant.
insulation of exterior building envelopes in Germany and
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
worldwide demand constantly better exterior thermal insula-
tions of building components which are in contact with earth For the industrial manufacturing of cellular glass, there
(soil). For the insulation of load-bearing foundations and are two different technologies, the wet-foaming procedure and
ground slabs (starting plates or raft foundations, for example) the dry-foaming procedure. However, both procedures are
special requirements exist for the compressive strength and based on similar operational sequences.
resistance against the influence of water and frost. There are
German Technical Approvals, mainly for insulations made of Fabrication
extruded polystyrene (XPS) and foamglass in the form of For both procedures, the wet-foaming procedure and the
panels. For this application, XPS-insulations dominate in dry-foaming procedure, recycling glass is the base material.
Germany. The application of such insulations in the form of Waste glass from industrial flat glass production as well as
panels requires flat bedrock and takes a lot of time, especially glass from sorted domestic waste and other available glasses
if pipes have to be shifted in the insulation layer. Here the are used. The condition for the usability of glass is that it not
advantages of a pressure-resistant insulation that can balance be contaminated. That means the glass should not contain

Andreas Zegowitz is deputy head of the Department of Hygrothermics, Fraunhofer-Institute for Building Physics, Stuttgart, Germany.

© 2010 ASHRAE.
Figure 1 Exit point of the glass foam “cake” from the furnace. The expanded compound cools down from about 900°C to
ambient temperatures. (Reproduced by permission of Misapor AG.)

heavy metals or other substances posing a health risk. In a truck. At the building site, the glass foam pieces are usually
several stages of crushing and cleaning, the recycling glass is lifted into place by crane. The cellular glass, which is trans-
milled to the size of dust. The powder is stored temporarily in ported as loose fill on the truck, is dumped onto a sheet before
silos already mixed with mineral additives. From there it is it can be lifted by the crane. The compression of the cellular
forwarded to continuous industrial furnaces via conveyor belt. glass is then done by a vibration-plate-compactor or a small
The thickness of the powder layer put onto the conveyor belt steamroller.
defines the resulting lump size. The furnace temperatures and
the speed at which the glass powder goes through the furnaces, PROPERTIES
together with the additives (and their relative proportions)
influence the properties of which is to become the insulation The cellular glass produced by the wetfoaming procedure
material. In the passage through the 10–15-m-long furnaces usually appears black, whereas dryfoaming results in grey
with temperatures of 900°C–1000°C, the glasspowder aggregates. The form of the lumps is similar to normal rock
expands and bakes to an endless “cake” with a height of about ballast. A more detailed inspection shows a spongy appear-
50–80 mm. ance but with a closed porous cell structure (Figure 2). The
Upon leaving the furnace, the expanded compound cools size of the single lumps of the loose foamglass ballast ranges
down from about 900°C to ambient temperatures. The thermal from 30 mm up to about 80 mm. Smaller lump sizes are
stresses in the foam “cake” lead to cracks and then succes- achieved through mechanical crushing if needed.
sively to a breakup into the final product—aggregates of cellu-
lar glass. Bigger lumps of cellular glass break to smaller pieces Hygrothermal Properties
because of the stress in the material and through mechanical Table 1 shows a set of hygrothermal and mechanical prop-
influences like transport on the conveyor belts, loading, vibra- erties of the aggregates of cellular glass (DIBt 2008, 2009a,
tions on the trucks, unloading, and compaction to a minimum 2009b, 2009c). The thermal conductivity of the compressed
lump size. Lumps of this minimum size no longer carry ther- aggregate of cellular glass (1.3:1 compression ratio) is
mal stress. Therefore, they are only breakable under extremely measured with the guarded hot plate apparatus. For the
heavy loads and thus provide a loadbearing insulation layer. measurements, the insulation is compressed in plastic boxes.
The measurement is made using special samples in dry and
Logistics
wet conditions. The thermal conductivity of the dry insulation
After production, the cellular glass aggregate is typically ranges from about 0.08 W/(mK) to 0.095 W/(mK). The results
transported to outdoor storage. From there the insulation of measurements made using wet samples of cellular glass
material is sometimes taken into silos, is filled directly into insulation that were submerged for 28 days under water
polypropelyne bags (FIBC, flexible intermediate bulk reaches maximum values of 0.17 W/(mK). In the time
container) up to a size of 3 m³, or is transported as loose fill on between 2002 and 2008, at five different houses, samples of

2 Buildings XI
 (a) (b)

Figure 2 (a) Aggregates of cellular glass at outdoor storage directly after the production, and (b) a lump of cellular glass after
production. The spongy appearance of the foam glass lump can be seen. The cellular glass has a closed porous cell
structure. (Reproduced by permission of Misapor AG.)

Table 1. Overview of Properties of Cellular Glass Aggregates

Insulation under Ground

Property Unit Test Standard/Source
Slabs
Lump size (not compressed) mm EN 933-1 10 to 75
Density of the aggregate of
Kg/m³ EN 1097-3 120 to 190
cellular glass (not compressed)
Compaction factor (compression) – – 1.3:1
Density of the aggregate of
Kg/m³ – 156 to 247
cellular glass (compressed)
Moisture content (in situ) Vol. % – 1 to 6
Moisture content (after 28 days
Vol. % – 7 to 15
under water)
Thermal conductivity (dry) W/(mK) EN 12667 0.08 to 0.095
Thermal conductivity
W/(mK) approval 0.11 to 0.14
(design value)
Specific thermal capacity J/(kgK) manufacturer ca. 850
Installation depth mm approval 150 to 600
Compressive stress at 10%
kPa EN 826 300 to 820
deformation
Compressive stress
kPa approval 170 to 370
(design value)
Softening point °C manufacturer ca. 700
Possibility to recycle % 100 100
Freeze/Thaw resistance – approval yes
Fire resistance – assumption yes

Buildings XI 3
 (a) (b)

Figure 3 Removal of samples of cellular glass (a) located under the ground slab of a house from outside and (b) through holes
in the middle area of the plate. (Reproduced by permission of Misapor AG.)

the insulation were taken and as far as possible the properties thermal conductivity and heat transport behavior of the cellu-
were determined (IBP 2006, 2008a, 2008b). Some of the lar glass in different application situations under the influence
samples under the ground slabs were taken from outside with of ground moisture and rain are objectives of a research project
a distance of about 10–15 cm to the boundary area of the of the Fraunhofer-Institute for Building Physics (IBP)
ground slab, two samples under the ground slab were taken together with industrial partners, which should create more
through holes in the middle area (Figure 3) and others in the practical and theoretical knowledge.
boundary area outside the ground slab. The main goal of this
was to determine the moisture content of the in situ insulation Further Properties
as well as to find out if a change in the cellular glass particles For the control of the compressive stress, a German Tech-
can be observed, which could shorten their durability. The nical Approval requires tests according to standard EN 826 on
thermal conductivity of these samples was determined on the samples which are compacted like the in situ insulation with
basis of their moisture content and the measured thermal a compression ratio of 1.3:1. The dimensions of the samples
conductivities of the aggregates of cellular glass on dry and are 170 mm × 200 × 200 mm. The results of such measure-
wet samples. According to the moisture contents of about 2– ments were the compressive stresses at 10% deformation from
6% by volume at the boundary area of the ground slab, the about 300 kPa up to 820 kPa (Table 1). Figure 5 shows an
calculated thermal conductivity was approximately 0.1 W/ example of measurement results. The declarations of the
(mK) under ground slabs in the middle area and up to about manufacturers for the compressive strength of a single granu-
0.12 W/(mK) in their boundary area (Figure 4). From the late goes from about 4 N/mm² up to 10 N/ mm²; the shear
samples which were taken at the five buildings, a significant strength according to EN ISO 12957-1 is about 0.9 kPa and the
change of the material could not be observed. These results friction angle is from approximately 40° to 50°. The cavity
correspond to the results obtained in laboratory tests. The space of the consolidated cellular glass aggregate is about 30%
single lumps absorb no water due to their closed cell structure. according to one manufacturer. Because of the base substance
However, because of the rough surface of the lumps, some of the insulation glass the durability is assumed to be more
water remains attached. Freeze/thaw experiments where the than 50 years (CUAP 2003). The insulation is considered to be
samples were exposed for 20 or more cycles (one cycle per acid-resistant and alkali-resistant and also resistant to bacteria
day) from –20°C without water, changing to +20°C under and vermin.
water, until now have shown no damage or considerable
changes of the properties, neither to aggregates of cellular APPLICATIONS
glass nor to single lumps. The compressed aggregates of cellu- Cellular glass aggregate is mainly used in German speak-
lar glass are assumed to be capillary interruptive. The mean ing countries as a load- bearing insulation under ground slabs.
water permeability for cellular glass aggregates is stated to be For this application the German Institute for Building Tech-
about 30 li/s/m² by the manufacturers. The research into the nique (DIBt) in Berlin has made a test plan (DIBt 2001).

4 Buildings XI
Figure 4 Thermal conductivity of compacted aggregates of cellular glass as a function of moisture content. P1 and P2 show
results of measurements in the laboratory at dry conditions and after 28 days with total immersion. P3 shows the
mean thermal conductivity related to the moisture content of in situ samples below ground slabs (at 1.8 Vol.-%), P4
the mean thermal conductivity in the boundary area just outside of the ground slabs (at 5.5 Vol.-%). (Reproduced
by permission of Misapor AG.)

Figure 5 The compressive stress was measured according EN 826. At 10% deformation the compressive stress was 670 kPa.
(Reproduced by permission of TECHNNOpor.)

According to this test plan, tested products get a German Tech- tests according to the CUAP and their adaptation and optimi-
nical Approval which regulates the use and obligates the zation for national requirements are presently under review by
manufacturer to a continuous factory production control and German expert groups.
inspection and tests by an approved testing laboratory. Besides
the test plan of the DIBt on the European level there exists a Application as Loadbearing Insulation under
CUAP (CUAP = Common Understanding of Assessment Ground Slabs
Procedure) “factory-made cellular glass loose fill”, for use as The test plan from the 16th November 2001 of the
a lightweight fill, thermal insulation, water capillary barrier, German Institute for Building Technique (DIBt) for the appli-
and drainage for in-ground constructions like insulation of cation of load-bearing insulation under ground slabs
road constructions and under load-bearing foundations. The comprises the following tests (DIBt 2001):

Buildings XI 5
a. loose bulk density inspected within a certain number of years. To get a European
b. particle size distribution Technical Approval on the basis of the CUAP guideline, the
c. density of the material itself following properties have to be determined: a) water vapor
d. compression at deformations of 10%, 20%, and 25% of transmission, b) capillary water suction, c) long term water
absorption by total immersion, d) thermal conductivity (dry
i. dry material, and wet after water immersion), e) loose bulk density, f) the
ii. wet material after freeze and thaw cycles, and density for the degrees of compaction, g) particle size contri-
iii. material dried after freeze and thaw cycles, bution, h) resistance to freeze and thaw, i) compactibility, j)
load-bearing capacity (declaration), k) tests for resistance to
e. thermal conductivity in dry and wet conditions (after 28 d crushing (giant odometer test), l) behavior under cyclic load,
of water immersion) m) settling properties, n) reaction to fire, and o) release of
f. water content after water immersion and after freeze and dangerous substances. A typical example for the usage of the
thaw cycles material under a ground slab can be seen on Figure 6.
g. determination of sandy abrasion In Figure 7, one can see the differences between a conven-
Furthermore, since 2009, release of the following danger- tional solution of an insulated ground slab and a solution with
ous substances has to be checked four times a year: Arsenic an insulation of cellular glass aggregate. If one compares a
(As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromate III (Cr), copper (Cu), conventional construction of an insulated ground slab with one
nickel (Ni), mercury (Hg), and zinc (Zn) are controlled to that is insulated with cellular glass aggregate it can be seen that
avoid contamination of soil and groundwater. For monitoring cellular glass aggregate requires an insulation layer that is
the durability of the insulation, the cellular glass aggregate about twice as thick as conventional insulation material like
insulation at three residential or industrial buildings has to be XPS. At the same time, the drainage and capillary braking

Figure 6 A typical application of a consolidated cellular glass aggregate insulation as load-bearing insulation below a
ground slab. (Reproduced by permission of Misapor AG.)

Figure 7 Construction of ground slab with insulation in a conventional manner and with a layer of consolidated cellular glass
aggregate. (Reproduced by permission of TECHNNOpor.)

6 Buildings XI
layer, a binding bed, and strip foundations are usually not the fact that it often takes less time to mount the insulation. The
necessary. following list gives an overview of the various application
Figure 8 shows how the loose cellular glass fill is mounted possibilities of cellular glass aggregates:
with the help of a special sheet and a crane at the construction
site. The truck tips its load onto a sheet with a plug valve in the • Structural engineering
middle. The valve allows a controlled distribution of the loose Insulation under ground slabs
fill. The same kind of insulation distribution is possible with Insulation flanking the ground slabs
the polypropelyne bags which have a plug valve as well, on the Perimeter insulation of basement walls
lower side. Perimeter insulation at industrial and commercial con-
struction
Further Applications Drainages (Figure 9)
Besides the above-mentioned applications there are Swimming pool insulation
further application possibilities. Advantages of the cellular Terrace insulation
glass aggregate are best demonstrated in situations where Light loose fill
insulation is in contact with soil, requires a high compressive Compensatory loose fill
strength and durability, is fire resistant, and has drainage qual- Industrial roofs
ities. The possibility of easily insulating all kinds of shapes, Greenroofs and flatroofs
like pipes or arched ceilings is another advantage along with High load bearing roof constructions (Figure 9)

Figure 8 Placement of cellular glass aggregate with the help of a crane and a sheet with a plug valve onto which the cellular
glass is unloaded from the truck. (Reproduced by permission of Misapor AG.)

Figure 9 Drivable grassed area construction used as a parkhouse roof. (Reproduced by permission of Misapor AG.)

Buildings XI 7
 Floor constructions Deutschland GmbH, Oelsnitz, BRD vom 24. April
Wooden and concrete ceilings 2008.
Timber frame and timber slab construction DIBt. 2009a. Allgemeine bauaufsichliche Zulassung Z-
• Civil engineering 23.34-1390 des Deutschen Instituts für Bautechnik, Ber-
Light loose fill lin für Schüttungen aus Schaumglasschotter „Misapor
Road construction – load bearing and frost proof 10/50“ und „Misapor 10/75“ als lastabtragende
Frostfree foundations of paths and building sites Wärmedämmung unter Gründungsplatten. Antragsteller
Soil stabilization Misapor AG, Schweiz vom 24. Februar 2009.
Slope stabilization DIBt. 2009b. Allgemeine bauaufsichliche Zulassung Z-
Drainage 23.34-1526 des Deutschen Instituts für Bautechnik, Ber-
Water and sewage line construction lin für Schüttungen aus Glasschaumgranulat „TECH-
Thermal insulation of district heating lines NOpor“ als lastabtragende Wärmedämmung unter
• Special construction projects Gründungsplatten. Antragsteller Technopor Handels
Sports fields GmbH, Großenhain,BRD vom 1. Juni 2009.
Ice skating rinks DIBt. 2009c. Allgemeine bauaufsichtliche Zulassung Z-
Design of surroundings and landscaping 23.34-1778 des Deutschen Instituts für Bautechnik, Ber-
lin für Schüttungen aus Schaumglas-Schotter
CONCLUSION „GLAPOR Schaumglasschotter S-G-150“ als lastabtra-
gende Wärmedämmung unter Gründungsplatten.
For more than 10 years, cellular glass aggregates have Antragsteller glapor Werk Mitterteich,BRD vom 25.
been used in structural and civil engineering. The most November 2009.
common application in the German-speaking countries of IBP. 2006. Fraunhofer-Institute for Building Physics (IBP),
Europe is load-bearing insulation under ground slabs. Because Prüfbericht P14-159/2006, Objektuntersuchungen und
of its beneficial properties (light weight, high compressive Prüfungen Schaumglasschotter „Misapor“ der drei
strength, an assumed durability of at least 50 years, frost resis- Objekte „Knöpfle“, „Implus GmbH“ und „Maier“,
tance, resistance against bacteria and vermin, fire resistance) Andreas Zegowitz und Norbert König, 30. Oktober
and its use of recycled glass as its base material, cellular glass 2006, Stuttgart, Deutschland.
aggregate finds a wide spectrum of applications in structural IBP. 2008a. Fraunhofer-Institut for Building Physics (IBP),
and civil engineering, and for various kind of special building Prüfbericht P14-205/2008, Objektuntersuchungen und
projects. The challenge of the future will be the adaptation of Prüfungen an Schaumglasschotter „Misapor“ der zwei
test procedures to the special material properties, the search Objekte „Sonnenzentrum Hartmann“ und „Fa. Schil-
for further applications, as well as the continuous development ling“, Andreas Zegowitz und Norbert König, 15 Oktober
of the insulation material itself. A research project of the 2008, Stuttgart, Deutschland.
Fraunhofer-Institute for Building Physics (IBP) together with IBP. 2008b. Fraunhofer-Institut for Building Physics (IBP),
industrial partners, which is promoted by the German Institute Prüfbericht P14-208/2008, Stellungnahme zur Wärmel-
for Building Technique (DIBt) in Berlin should create more eitfähigkeit von „Misapor“-Schaumglasschotter im
practical and theoretical knowledge. The research into the eingebauten Zustand, Andreas Zegowitz und Norbert
thermal conductivity and heat transport behavior of the cellu- König, 15 Oktober 2008, Stuttgart, Deutschland.
lar glass in different application situations under the influence
DIBt. 2001. Prüfplan für lose Schüttungen aus Schaumglas
of ground moisture and rain are objectives.
(Splitt, Schotter), nach Vorgabe verdichtet, für die
Anwendung als Perimeterdämmung unter lastab-
REFERENCES
tragenden Gründungsplatten, Deutsches Institut für
DIBt. 2008 Allgemeine bauaufsichliche Zulassung Z-23.34- Bautechnik, Berlin vom 16. November 2001.
1579 des Deutschen Instituts für Bautechnik, Berlin für CUAP. 2003. Common Understanding of Assessment Proce-
Schüttungen aus Schaumglas-Schotter und –Splitt dure, Factory made cellular glass loose fil. ETA request
„SGS-geozell“ als Wärmedämmung unter lastabtragen- N° 12.01/08, Draft October 2003-version 1, prepared by
den Gründungsplatten. Antragsteller Schaumglas The Norwegian Building Research Institut, Oslo.

8 Buildings XI