Since the late 1970s, NPL's work in the thermal performance of materials and structures area has been responding to an ever-changing background of political and commercial drivers relating to energy use in buildings and process plant.

The Energy Crises in 1973 and 1979 re-started NPL's involvement in this field. Since then increasing concern about energy use (or waste) in buildings has stimulated a constant stream of regulations aimed at improving the efficiency of energy use in buildings. These have included: EU Construction Products Directive with its associated EU Product Standards; the Kyoto Protocol; Part L of the UK Building Regulations dealing with energy use in buildings; the Government's white paper: 'Our energy future - creating a low carbon economy', the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2006) and of course the Climate Change Act with its commitment to reducing CO₂ emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050.

The latest addition to the NPL's facilities is an apparatus to measure the thermal performance of pipe insulation. It was built to meet an imminent requirement for UK industry to be able to certify the thermal performance of these types of insulation in order that they can be CE marked and show compliance to the appropriate EU Product Standard.

It is now validated and is an UKAS accredited measurement service. The long term aim is to extend the apparatus to allow measurements on pipe insulation with different bore sizes and possibly at higher temperatures.

For more information, please contact Ray Williams

Find out more about NPL's research in Environmental Measurement

Measurement Service: Thermal performance of pipe insulation