IVIS 2022 connected the VIP sector again

Brussels, 20th April 2022

After two years of virtual meetings, events and working from home, we were delighted to meet old and new colleagues again from across the world at this year’s IVIS 2022.

Since its’ inception in 1998 in Milan (Italy), IVIS has emerged as the most important event in the calendar of the insulation community. This is especially the case for those whose work is related to high performing vacuum based thermal insulation systems. In this year’s IVIS, the focus was on sharing cutting edge research outcomes, manufacturing innovations and demonstrating case studies reporting deployment of vacuum insulation, superinsulation and other advanced thermal insulation systems.

VIPA International’s President Sebastian Baars participated in this year’s fifth International Vacuum Insulation Symposium (IVIS). The event took place in London and was organised by Brunel University. VIPA International was a proud platinum sponsor of this highly important and valuable symposium connecting people from across the world. One thing all attendees have in common is that they support research activities with VIPs to further improve the technology. This is also at the core of VIPA International.

We had a conversation with the VIPA International President about his attendance at this year’s symposium and what both he and we get out of being a part of this symposium!

What did you get out of this year’s IVIS in London?
Meeting in person was absolutely needed and highly appreciated from all sides. At this year’s IVIS, I had the opportunity to speak with VIPA members, other companies, institutes and universities. When joining IVIS, you really get a good understanding of what’s going on in our sector. All the presentations are great and give you up to date information, which is pertinent, inspiring and something we all love about IVIS. What was really special about this year was that we physically hadn’t seen each other in two years. A virtual meeting, will never replace the feeling of being together in person. Dr Harjit Singh, the event host, did a great job and you could feel that he and his team were so motivated to make this symposium successful.

So, you feel that VIPA Internal being a sponsor really matters?
Absolutely, and I would say the sponsorship is vital for us. We are deeply involved in the committee by IVIS as well. I very much look forward to participating in the next IVIS. VIP’s have such big potential. We have a product that fits perfectly into the current challenges the world is facing like climate change, rising transport and energy costs and the quest for energy efficiency.

We also ran a VIPA International session at the symposium which was highly engaging. It was very exciting to see presentations from our members Panasonic and va-q-tec, which in my opinion showed how big the impact of VIPs can be. A great example is in the building industry, where we still have so much potential. Many investors don’t know about VIP’s and they don’t know how cost efficient they are, because you can save space. You get more square metres, and you can save a lot of money, especially in big cities where the square metre prices can be high. A great example comes from Frankfurt. In the downtown banking quarter, they have a square metre price of around 8,000 – 10,000 euros. That means if you save just two square meters, it is can save you up to 20,000 euros, and of course, we don’t spent 20,000 euros on vacuum insulation panels for one apartment. Clearly, there is a sensible business case.

We look forward to seeing many of our members and colleagues from across the sector again next year.