Andreas Guertler, EiiF Foundation Director, wrote an article for the 1st 2025 issue of the Dutch Isolatie4all magazine, highlighting the significant energy waste in European industries due to outdated or inadequate insulation, emphasizing the financial and environmental costs, and pushing for investments in energy-efficient technical insulation to reduce energy consumption, lower emissions, and improve competitiveness. The article also introduces the EN 17956 standard, which helps companies assess and improve their insulation performance.
We are publishing the original English article here:
Who Wants to Pay for Energy They Don’t Use?
No one would willingly pay for a product or service they don’t use. Or do you?
And yet, industry does exactly that - every single day.
Across Europe, factories, refineries, and power plants are wasting energy simply because their insulation is outdated, damaged, or even missing. The result? Unnecessary expenses for energy with zero return. Instead, steadily rising costs for easily avoidable CO₂ emissions.
This waste isn’t just a theoretical problem – it is a measurable and avoidable financial loss of more than 10 billion EUR - every year:
- 160 TWh of energy wasted = 8 billion EUR (0,05 EUR/kWh)
- 40 million tonnes of CO₂ emitted = 2,2 billion EUR (55 EUR/t CO₂ eq.)
To put these figures into perspective, this energy waste is equivalent to the energy consumption of 10 million European households. We will show later in this article where these figures come from. Let’s first, and against this backdrop, address one of the greatest challenges for European industry today:
The Pressure to Save Energy and Cut Emissions Has Never Been Higher
Yet, industry still acts like energy efficiency is a burden, or at least an investment outside their core business, and therefore any investment in energy efficiency is considered an expense rather than an opportunity. Taking the technical insulation case, and figures shown above, as one example for a best available and affordable technique, we suggest industry stops asking: "Can we afford to invest in insulation?". Instead, we recommend asking: "Can we afford to continue paying money on energy we don’t even use?"
The good news: Since December 2023, the EN 17956 standard is active, providing a clear method for calculating technical insulation energy efficiency classes for any industrial insulation system. It is an independent, material-neutral tool that applies to all geometries and operational temperatures from -30°C to 650°C, making it easier than ever for companies to assess and upgrade their insulation performance.
10 Good Reasons to Act Now and Invest in Energy Efficient Technical Insulation
1. Boosting the Competitiveness of your Company
- Lower energy consumption translates to reduced production costs, strengthening your global market position against international competition.
2. Fast and Attractive ROI – Technical Insulation Pays for Itself
- Technical insulation is an existing clean technology which, unlike costly retrofits, pays for itself quickly, reducing long-term operational costs.
3. A Proven Best Available Technique and a Win-Win Solution
- Essential environmental measures like emission filters and wastewater treatment help prevent pollution but come with significant costs.
- In contrast, technical insulation reduces emissions and delivers a financial return - a win-win solution for both industry and climate.
4. Addressing the Process Heat Challenge
- Two-thirds of industrial energy demand is for process heat, which remains largely fossil-fuel dependent.
- The high energy and CO₂ intensity of process heat is becoming an existential risk for any EU industry - energy-efficient insulation helps mitigate this risk.
5. Improved Workplace Safety
- Insulation reduces surface temperatures, preventing burns and workplace accidents.
6. Improved Comfort & Noise Reduction
- Better insulation stabilizes temperatures, reducing exposure to extreme heat or cold.
- Minimizes noise levels, improving working conditions.
7. Higher Product Quality & Waste Reduction
- More stable process temperatures lead to higher product consistency.
- Less material waste = reduced costs and improved sustainability.
8. Proven Effectiveness – Backed by Real-World Data
- +3.000 TIPCHECK audits worldwide show that 3 out of 4 clients invest in insulation improvements after the TIPCHECK. However, today, insulation remains a low priority, causing missed opportunities for decarbonization and industrial competitiveness.
9. Legislative Alignment with the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED)
- The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) already recommends optimized insulation in most BREFs (Best Available Technique Reference Documents).
- EN 17956 translates “optimized” into a concrete insulation energy performance, delivering measurable savings and financial returns.
10. Legislative Alignment with the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)
- Aligns with broader EU climate and energy efficiency targets and regulations like the Energy Efficiency Directive.
It is also up to us, the insulation branch, to change our mindset and to actively start promoting technical insulation
How long will industry continue to pay for energy they are not using? Nobody knows, but it is also up to us, the insulation branch, to actively promote EN 17956 and TIPCHECK to change their and our mindset – this is a business opportunity for us. We encourage the readers of this article to make use of the ten good reasons next time they are talking to their clients. How about contacting them with the open question: “Are you interested to know how I can help you stop paying for energy you don’t use?”
We would very much like to hear how your clients reacted to the question – please don’t hesitate to let us know: tipcheck@eiif.org
And, as promised in the beginning of this article, here is the source of the figures regarding the technical insulation potential: In 2021, the European Industrial Insulation Foundation (EiiF) published its study with the title “The insulation contribution to decarbonise industry”. The study identified that if all industrial insulation in EU 27 were upgraded to EN 17956 Insulation Energy Efficiency Class C (EEC-C), European industry could save at least 14 million tonnes of oil equivalent (or 160 TWh) annually. Furthermore, it was estimated in the study that with today’s energy mix used by industry, 40 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions would be avoided every year.
The study can be downloaded for free here: https://www.eiif.org/tipcheck/publications
For more information, please see www.eiif.org or contact EiiF directly: info@eiif.org
The article in Dutch can be viewed here: Isolatie4All, nummer 1, maart 2025 by Business Media....4All - Issuu
