Saving energy with slim-line polyurethanes

Developments in Dubai

Heat insulation is worth the effort, even in the heat of the oil-rich Emirates of the Arabian Gulf. Polyurethane insulating boards made from Bayer raw materials keep air-conditioned rooms pleasantly cool for longer, thereby reducing energy consumption.

Ask someone from Central Europe what he or she associates with the term "heat insulation" and the most likely answer will be to keep the house warm by keeping snow, ice and cold at bay. And so it may well seem like something of a paradox that in less temperate regions, where the thermometer rarely falls below 30 degrees Celsius during the day, there is a growing interest amongst architects for heat insulation. Take Dubai City for example: the "Pearl of the Arabian Gulf" is currently witnessing the construction of several ambitious hotels, which, due to the fact that they are being built in accordance with the recently enacted heat insulation guidelines, are being fitted with state-of-the-art heat insulation systems. An example of this is the Madinat Jumeriah, a luxury hotel complex that will soon be the ultimate in comfort. The first floor of the hotel, with its air-conditioning, has been insulated from the basement, which has no air-conditioning, using around 7,000 square meters of polyurethane panels made with raw materials from Bayer MaterialScience. The size of the project is 51,000 square meters of polyurethane board insulation.
"Thanks to its beaches that go on for miles and its beautiful golf courses, tourism is an extremely fast-growing industry in Dubai," explains Joachim Kleser, who, as an insulation expert at Leverkusen's Bayer MaterialScience, a subgroup of Bayer AG, was one of the first to familiarize himself with the situation on the ground. "These new buildings led to questions about the energy consumed by air-conditioning systems that are after all so important in the Gulf climate." In order to tackle this problem, the Dubai Municipality is opting for a forward-looking solution. Rather than build a completely new power station just to cater for the city's projected electricity requirements, the authorities are pinning their hopes on thorough heat insulation using state-of-the-art materials. "After all, it goes without saying that an effective layer of insulation can keep an air-conditioned room pleasantly cool for longer, thereby reducing the energy that is consumed by air-conditioning systems, just like it does in the case of our heating systems here at home – the argument is clearly no less convincing in oil-rich Dubai than it is here in Europe."