The comparison of thermal insulation types of plaster with cement plaster

Plaster plays an important role in buildings. First of all it becomes the protection of external walls from the influence of weather conditions. In the paper it was checked whether it is beneficial to use thermal insulation bims granule or EPS plaster on the external walls of the building instead of cement plaster. The ecological and economic analyses were conducted for these three kinds of plaster depending on the heat source used in the building and the parameters of a wall without a layer of plaster. The calculations were done in Polish conditions. For the indication of the environmental impact LCA technique was used. Bims granule and EPS plaster brings an improvement of thermal insulation properties of walls and as a consequence the reduction of energy consumption to heat in the thermal phase of the building usage. A net ecological effect is positive, related to the use of these types of plaster, after 2-5 years, depending on the source of heat used, whereas for cement plaster it is as long as after 30 years while using an electric energy boiler. For ecological reasons, using bims granule plaster or EPS plaster becomes far more beneficial than using cement plaster. For economic reasons, profits do not fully cover the cost of using the plaster, even after 50 years. The biggest part of the cost is reimbursed in case when the electric energy boiler is used as a heat source: about 22% for bims granule plaster, about 25% for EPS plaster and about 2% for cement plaster.