Improvement in French insulation techniques for opaque parts of the envelope.

In the field of insulation techniques, technical advances are mainly due to an interactive approach resulting from three complementary factors: * National building standards and government supported incentive programmes which aim to increase the thermal efficiency of residential and commercial buildings. * Research and Development programmes set up by manufacturers in order to lead to new or improved insulation materials or components with increasing R-values. * New construction techniques used by designers and builders to reduce heat loss through building envelopes. This paper gives a brief description of the consequences of the French thermal regulations on the efficiency of the building sheath, the most efficient insulation techniques used to meet standards and on going research on elaborate insulation products.