A comprehensive life cycle assessment of vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) for applications at up to 70 °C

This paper presents a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) with four core materials: fumed silica (FS) and three FS-based composites incorporating tree-based natural fibre (TNF) waste and tree-based natural ash (TNA), using a typical car painting booth (CPB) as a case study. A cradle-to-cradle evaluation is performed using two functional units: material transport capacity (6.2 tonnes per truck) and VIP dimensions (1 m × 1 m × 25 mm). VIPs were manufactured and their thermal conductivity measured over pressures of 0.64–1000 mbar and temperatures of 20–70 °C. Ageing effects were assessed by storing VIPs at 70 °C and 75% relative humidity for 12 months. Measured thermal conductivities were used to predict CPB energy consumption over a 10-year operational lifetime. Results show that FS–TNA VIPs (S4) reduced total cradle-to-cradle energy demand by 82,761 MJ compared with FS VIPs (S1) using Cut-off approach. However, this energy benefit did not translate into a climate advantage, as S4 exhibited a higher climate change impact of 893 kg CO 2 eq, primarily due to pyrolysis-related emissions. Under the Allocation at Point of Substitution (APOS) approach, S4 reduced total energy demand by 17,216 MJ and climate change impact by 141 kg CO 2 eq relative to FS, reflecting both operational energy savings and avoided biomass degradation emissions. When expressed per unit of energy saved relative to S1, S4 resulted in 55.0 kg CO 2 eq per GJ under the modified Cut-off scenario used as the main modelling approach in this study, and (-) 8.2 kg CO 2 eq per GJ under the modified APOS scenario used as an alternative allocation approach, highlighting the scenario-dependent energy–climate trade-off. Overall, the study demonstrates that trade-offs between embodied emissions, operational energy demand, and end-of-life modelling influence VIP environmental performance and provides a transparent methodology to support material selection for high-temperature industrial applications. • Cradle-to-cradle LCA for VIPs of three innovative tree-based core materials. • Impact categories were evaluated in conjunction with the UK energy mix. • Influence of oil, natural gas and renewables evaluated on climate change. • Predictions of the LCA outcomes beyond 2050.