Renewable thermic insulation and recycled sheep wool and cotton: a contribution to sustainable construction

Buildings have a large repercussion on the environmental impact of society mainly due to the extraction and use of construction materials. With this problem in mind, part of the building industry is refocusing itself towards sustainable construction with the renovation and recycling of materials playing an important role. Thermic insulation made of sheep’s wool (natural, renewable) and cotton (industrial, recyclable) are clear examples of this change, because they help to significantly reduce the environmental impact of most materials, a problem that can be synthesized in both the consumption of non-renewable resources and the generation of pollutant wastes. The life cycle analysis summary presented in this article, using environmental indicators like energy consumption, CO 2 emissions and environmental toxicity, confirms that nowadays sheep’s wool and cotton are two of the best options available for insulating buildings.