What if insulation did not slow heat down but decided about it?
Active isolation instead of passive insulation
Why can heat not be stopped exactly where you want it?
Every insulation layer is a compromise: it slows the heat flow in both directions and cannot be switched off. In summer it keeps heat inside that you want outside. ZeroTerm starts here and asks whether the heat transfer of a building element can be actively controlled rather than merely damped. The principle is on paper; until a prototype exists we make no performance claims.
The idea
- 01A thermal principle developed theoretically rather than derived from existing insulation materials.
- 02The focus is control of heat transfer, not an improved insulation value.
- 03The first prototype is the point at which the theory becomes testable.
How it works
- The element is designed so its heat transfer can switch between a blocking and a conducting state.
- Control follows temperature difference and demand rather than material thickness.
- The same assembly can therefore act as a barrier in winter and as a heat path in summer.
What is different about it
- Switchable rather than fixed heat transfer.
- Direction-dependent behaviour a passive layer cannot provide.
- Aimed at existing buildings where thicker insulation packages are not structurally possible.
What we already have
- A theoretically worked-through operating principle for active isolation.
- A defined test arrangement for the first build.
What we still want to prove
- The measurable difference in heat transfer between blocking and conducting state.
- The control energy required relative to the heat saved.
- Switching speed, durability and behaviour under real climatic loads.
Where it could matter
- Building envelopes in retrofit and new build
- Industrial process heat and plant engineering
- Thermal storage and recovery
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