Active Insulation Market Expected to Reach $512.8 Million by 2031—Allied Market Research

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Active Insulation Market," The active insulation market size was valued at $288.5 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $512.8 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 5.9% from 2022 to 2031.

Active insulation is a thermal insulation or a type of clothing layer that is used as an ideal mid-layer for protecting against cold. Polyester, cotton, wool, nylon, glass wool, and expanded polystyrene (EPS) are few materials that are used during production of active insulation materials.

Glass wool insulation is environment friendly and glass wool active insulation offers efficient thermal insulation. Glass wool active insulation offers excellent thermal resistance coupled with minimal environmental impact. In addition, other factors such as acoustic performance, fire protection, and lightweight characteristics of glass wool active insulation makes it suitable for Textile production. Use of glass wool active insulation in building & construction application is the key active insulation market trends. Insulation of building is important and coupled with environment friendly nature of glass wool makes it widely used active insulation in building and construction application. In addition, growing concern over minimizing CO2 emission and minimizing energy consumption has created immense opportunities for growth of insulation materials for thermal regulation. Glass wool being environment friendly and its ability to offer improved thermal resistance. All these factors are the major active insulation market growth factors.

Passive house design includes thick walls and air tight construction to minimize heat loss and infiltration. U-value determines the intensity of active insulation products used in building & construction industry. Use of thick conventional insulation lowers the U-value and improves intensity of active insulation used in passive house design.

However, retrofitting of houses with active insulation is high cost process and potential risk of interstitial condensation may occur in the retrofitted buildings. Use of thicker insulation helps to achieve minimal U-value. All these factors tend to hamper the market growth.

Fabrics insulated with wool as an active insulation material is proven to offer high active insulation capability is the key market trend. Active wool apparel insulation material is natural, renewable, offers high level of breathability, high odor-inhibiting capability, and moisture management. Thus, wool is majorly used as material for production of active insulation material. Blend of polylactic acid (PLA) with wool makes it suitable for production of active insulation material that can be further employed in performance outwear fabrics and textiles is another considerable factor anticipated to drive the demand of the global market. Moreover, wool active insulation material finds its use in luxury and fashion outerwear is anticipated to create remunerative opportunities for the expansion of the active insulation market in the coming future.

The active insulation market analysis is done on the basis of material, application, and region. By material, the market is segregated into polyester, cotton, wool, nylon, glass wool, and expanded polystyrene (XPS). The polyester segment dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with over 26% of the total share. Use of polyester blend active insulation for production of protective textile and rise in use of this protective textile by defense sector is the key market trend. Protective textiles used by army personnel require textile that should be light weight, should have high breathability, and should offer efficient thermal insulation. Polyester blend active insulated protective textiles are proven to offer high breathability during army activities that in turn creates proper comfort to the army persons. 

By application, the global active insulation market is segmented into textile and building & construction. The building & construction application dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with over 66% of the total share. Growth in concern over exhaustion of natural energy resources and rise in environmental pollution from building & construction industry are anticipated to offer growth opportunities for active insulation market. For instance, according to publication by ScienceDirect in 2019, the residential construction segment accounted for 25% energy consumption in Europe. Thus, in order to minimize energy consumption, several regulations and standards are implemented. For example, near zero energy demand (NZEB) building standard is implemented in order to minimize energy consumption and support the development of energy-efficient technologies. This in turn has put forward several growth factors that are anticipated to drive the demand for the active insulation market in building & construction application.

Region-wise, the active insulation market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. The Asia-Pacific active insulation market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Nylon is mainly used during production of active insulation pants that are used during trekking, mountain climbing, and others. Nylon active insulation pants are developed such that the heat produced during activity can be easily transferred internally within the textile that in turn creates cool climatic condition and vice-versa. Presence of several trekking destinations near Australia such as Fraser Island Great Walk, Heysen Trail, Kangaroo Island, and others has attracted large number of trekkers across these trekking destinations. This in turn has escalated the demand for active insulated trekking pants is driving the demand for the global market. In addition, presence of abundant hills and mountains across South Korea has created numerous opportunities for growth of mountaineering in South Korea.

Key players operating in the global active insulation market include BASF Corporation, Hdwool Ltd., Invista Textiles, 3M Company, Polartec, LLC, Polybond Insulation Private Limited, Remmers, Stoney Creek Limited, Toray Industries, Inc., and W.L. Gore & Associates. The global market analysis covers in-depth information of the major active insulation industry participants.

Key findings of the study

• The expanded polystyrene (XPS) segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 6.7% from 2022 to 2031.
• The textile application segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 6.2% from 2022 to 2031.
• Europe accounted for 36.0% of active insulation market share in 2021, in terms of revenue, growing at a CAGR of 5.2%

COVID-19 Analysis: 

The novel coronavirus is an incomparable pandemic that has spread to over 180 countries and caused huge losses of lives and economy around the globe. The global active insulation market has been negatively affected amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The major end-users of active insulation include textiles and building & construction. Active insulation is used for thermal protection in building & construction application. Building & construction industry is highest energy consumer sector.

For instance, heat loss from building & construction sector accounts for 60% in sunny climatic condition while it accounts for 50% in cold climatic conditions. Active thermal insulation products are used in order to minimize heat loss by building external walls. Building & construction industry is prone to economic change. For instance, emergence of COVID-19 had a significant impact on the construction industry owing to change in economic trends across the globe. This in turn has negatively impacted the growth of the active insulation market during the pandemic. In addition, outbreak of COVID-19 has affected the global economy, global trade, and infrastructure companies, thereby negatively affecting the building & construction sector. All these factors had a negative impact on the global active insulation market in the pandemic situation.

However, construction industry is anticipated to regain its growth post the pandemic, owing to high potential of jobs across building & construction industry coupled with other recovery measures such as transformation toward sustainability and digitalization.