Most people evaluates the comfort and therefore value of the houses by considering the apparent criteria such as how many rooms the house has, whether it has a central location or not, aesthetic sight of the materials used in kitchen and bathroom. But, the most important matter that determine the comfort and value of a house is whether or not that house has a good insulation. Thermal, acoustic insulation, and providing fire security with the correct materials and a good application allows long term comfort, quality of living environment, and energy saving.
Energy Identification Certification (EIC) obligation which went into effect in 1 January made the value of buildings from the perspective of thermal insulation a lot more visible. We now know that EIC should be declared when purchasing, selling, and leasing buildings. It is expected from new buildings to have at least a C class EIC and new buildings that are not built according to thermal insulation standards and get less than C class EIC can not get permit. EIC is not a matter that should be considered for new buildings, but also for old buildings. If thermal insulation is considered during maintenance of old buildings, both EIC class can be improved and house value can be increased; and natural gas bills for the household can be reduced up to 60 percent.
One of the most important matter that determine the living comfort in a house is to reach the correct thermal values with correct insulation. Correct insulation means performing the insulation application using the proper materials and at thickness, as the regulations state, while considering the fire risk and flammability load of the buildings while performing thermal insulation. While correct insulation increases the value of the house, it also contributes to economy of the country.
In Turkey in 2019, energy import formed 20.3% of the total import of 202.7 billions of dollars with 41.2 billions of dollars. The total cost of energy import for economy of our country in the last 10 years is more than 450 billion dollars... We import nearly three quarters of the energy we consume from foreign sources. Energy import of these levels forms the most significant part of our foreign trade deficit. To reduce the current deficit to lower levels and to reduce foreign dependency, energy efficiency and good insulation applications are imperative. This means we will do a lot more thermal insulation in the future.
On the other hand, the impact of insulation on houses is not limited with just thermal insulation and energy saving. A house that is insulated with acoustic insulation, acoustic comfort, and fire safety in consideration provides a healthy and safe living environment for the household.
Especially the acoustic insulation is one of the core matters that defines the value of houses today. To stay away from the stress caused by the noise of the city, it is necessary to keep the noise away from living environments where a lot of time is spent. In advanced cities, people spend 90% of their time indoors. Especially in the houses, being protected from neighbour and street noise, providing quite living environments is now possible with Multi-Comfort Building conditions. To reach the quietness in Multi-Comfort Buildings, noise is kept away with insulation applications of the correct thickness on the inner surfaces of the walls along with façade insulations, and in the partition walls and different floors; and acoustic comfort is provided inside the house. In these buildings, stone wool and glass wool products which has high sound absorption features are preferred.
In sum, healthy living spaces and comfort is amongst the priorities of individuals today and this plays a big role in determining the value of houses. And houses that are insulated close to Multi-Comfort Building conditions are in the front in this value race.