Before the publication of its standards for factory made thermal insulation products, manufacturers, certifiers and laboratories recognized, through official Round Robin tests performed between independent laboratories in Europe, that there may be differences in calibration level of up to 3 mW/mK (and ± 5% for some product families). Although these differences are not larger than described in the European testing standard, they were so important that, in a highly competitive open European market were every mW may increase or decrease sales considerably, action was required to ensure transparency and a level and fair playing field, both for manufacturers and laboratories.
To ensure conformity with the European level of thermal conductivity at 10°C (λ10 level), registered laboratories have been designated in accordance with the requirements of the Scheme Development Group 5 scheme rules. These registered laboratories are in agreement with the European λ10 level to within ± 1,5%. In addition to the registered laboratories, a small expert group, whose members are experts in the field of thermal testing and work with an identified reference guarded hot plate equipment, have been identified to define the λ10 level.
Since its creation, some 1000 Keymark certificates have been issued to manufacturers all over Europe for 5 different product families and 19 laboratories have managed to demonstrate to the expert group that they work in accordance with the λ10 level.
The foremost objective of this conference is for registered laboratories to share experiences and for potential or candidate registered laboratories to see how they can improve and become registered. However, the conference targets other stakeholders as well: