The new national standard for polyurethane building insulation will become the industry's "barometer"

Clarify the positioning of PIR materials, refine the classification of insulation performance, guide the industry to increase research and development investment, and promote the upgrading of insulation materials towards high performance and diversification——

Recently, the field of building thermal insulation materials in China ushered in an important signal of technological innovation - the new national standard GB/T21558 Rigid Polyurethane Foam for Building Thermal Insulation was officially approved and released on December 31, 2025, and will be fully implemented on July 1, 2026. As the first drafter of this standard and the Director of Construction Market at Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd., Jin Yanli stated in an interview with China Chemical News that the new version of the standard has achieved a comprehensive upgrade based on the 2008 version, with technological innovation leading and safety bottom line adhering as the core. It will force the industry to optimize and upgrade, standardize development, and build a standard barrier for building energy conservation and fire safety, helping the high-quality transformation of the building insulation industry under the "dual carbon" goal.

It is reported that the standard revision plan was officially issued on April 30, 2025, led by Wanhua Chemical, Beijing Technology and Business University and other units. Under the guidance of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Plastic Products (TC48), a professional revision working group was formed to complete all revision tasks. This revision is closely related to the industry development needs of building energy efficiency upgrading and fire safety strengthening. In response to the problems of unclear classification and outdated technical requirements in the old version of the standards, systematic optimization has been carried out, especially in promoting technological innovation and ensuring building safety, achieving significant breakthroughs in the two dimensions, becoming a "barometer" leading the industry development.

One of the core highlights of the new standard is to clarify the positioning of PIR materials, refine the classification of insulation performance, guide the industry to increase research and development investment, and promote the upgrading of insulation materials towards high-performance and diversified directions. ”Jin Yanli emphasized that the current energy consumption of buildings in China accounts for 37% of the total energy consumption of the whole society. As the core carrier of building energy conservation, the performance of insulation materials directly determines the energy efficiency of the entire life cycle of buildings, and technological innovation is the key to breaking the performance bottleneck of the industry.

According to Jin Yanli, the new standard defines rigid polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) and its classification relationship with rigid polyurethane foam (PUR) for the first time, and adds special performance requirements for PIR materials. PIR material has significant advantages in high temperature resistance and dimensional stability. Its insulation performance is more than twice that of traditional rock wool, and its weight is only 1/8 of rock wool. When exposed to fire, it carbonizes and its fire resistance is close to that of rock wool, surpassing traditional thermoplastic insulation materials. ”She stated that previously, the market application of PIR materials was limited due to the lack of clear standard basis. This standard revision fills this gap and will stimulate enterprises' enthusiasm for the research and development of PIR materials, promote their widespread application in the high-end building insulation field, and help promote the popularization and promotion of high-performance insulation materials.

In terms of insulation performance grading, the new version of the standard has achieved a refined upgrade, breaking the old single classification mode and setting 8 insulation grades (020-040), with thermal conductivity requirements covering from 0.020W/(m · K) to 0.040W/(m · K). This subdivision is in line with the increasing demand for building energy efficiency standards and also conforms to the development trend of 'low thermal conductivity, high strength, and lightweight' in the industry, "Jin Yanli explained. With the promotion of the" dual carbon "goal, the market's requirements for insulation performance of insulation materials are becoming increasingly stringent. Traditional materials are no longer able to meet the needs of high-end projects, and refined insulation grading will guide enterprises to increase research and development investment, focus on the research and production of low thermal conductivity products, solve the problem of homogeneous competition in the industry, promote continuous upgrading of product performance, and provide clearer selection basis for design and construction units to achieve precise matching between insulation materials and application scenarios.

In addition to promoting technological innovation, strengthening the bottom line of building fire safety is also the core focus of this standard revision. Jin Yanli stated that the fire resistance of building insulation materials is directly related to the safety of people's lives and property. The new version of the standard further clarifies the classification requirements for combustion performance, still classified according to GB8624. At the same time, it is mandatory for products to comply with national mandatory fire safety regulations such as GB46520, GB55037, GB50016, and GB50072.

This requirement is equivalent to setting a 'red line' for fire prevention of building insulation materials from the source, which will force enterprises to optimize production processes, improve product fire performance, and eliminate outdated production capacity that does not meet safety standards. Jin Yanli emphasized that the implementation of the standard will promote the formation of a competitive pattern of 'safety first, high quality and good price' in the industry, effectively improve the level of building fire safety, prevent building fire hazards from the material end, and safeguard building safety.

This standard revision also comprehensively optimized the product classification system, physical and mechanical properties, labeling requirements, etc. In the classification system, a three-dimensional grading system for bearing requirements, combustion performance, and insulation performance has been established, which divides the bearing requirements into 7 compression performance levels and accurately matches different application scenarios such as wall insulation, accessible roofs, and cold storage floors; In terms of physical and mechanical properties, adjust the core density requirements, encourage the research and development of low-density, high-strength, and high-performance products, and add dimensional stability testing under humid and hot conditions, which is more in line with the actual engineering application environment; In terms of labeling requirements, we will strengthen product traceability and require complete information to be labeled on the smallest unit of packaging and body for market supervision and selection by all parties.

Jin Yanli stated that as a leading global chemical new materials enterprise, Wanhua Chemical has always been deeply involved in the field of polyurethane insulation materials. With more than 20 years of technological accumulation, it has built a systematic innovative solution covering building exterior enclosure and environmental interior decoration. This leading standard revision is not only a manifestation of corporate responsibility, but also a practice of promoting industry upgrading. Next, Wanhua Chemical will actively leverage its technological advantages, promote the implementation of standards, promote innovative solutions for polyurethane building insulation, strengthen industry chain collaboration, guide industry enterprises to adapt to new standard requirements, optimize production processes and quality control systems, and jointly promote the development of the building insulation industry towards high-quality, standardized, and green direction

Industry insiders said that the release and implementation of the new national standard GB/T21558 is an important milestone in the standardization work in the field of building insulation materials in China, which meets the development requirements of current building energy conservation, green building and fire safety, and will provide solid technical support for the scientific application of rigid polyurethane foam in the construction field. The comprehensive implementation of standards will help to solve prominent problems such as industry performance bottlenecks, homogeneous competition, and safety hazards, promote the continuous improvement of industry technological innovation capabilities, and assist in achieving the "dual carbon" goals and upgrading building quality in the construction industry.