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Take a Closer Look at ...
Spray Foam Insulation
Allow us a bit of time on our electronic soapbox to extol the benefits of insulation. Whether in new construction or an existing home, the importance of a well insulated structure cannot be over emphasized. High quality insulation is one of the best investments you'll ever make to your home.
But which product should you choose? We have three words for you - spray foam insulation.
Spray foam insulation offers many benefits, the top three being
1) Saves on energy costs.
The price of better insulation is quickly paid back by the money saved on your energy bills.
2) Stops air infiltration.
SPF insulation reaches cracks and crevices on all surfaces - horizontal and vertical. Most homeowners are aware that air leaks into and out of their homes through small openings around doors and windows or through fireplaces. Air also travels through
- any openings or cracks where two walls meet, where the wall meets the ceiling, or near interior door frames;
- gaps around electrical outlets, switch boxes, and recessed fixtures;
- gaps behind recessed cabinets, and furred or false ceilings such as kitchen or bathroom soffits;
- gaps around attic access hatches and pull-down stairs; behind bath tubs and shower stall units;
- through floor cavities of finished attics adjacent to unconditioned attic spaces; utility chase ways for ducts, etc., and plumbing and electrical wiring penetrations.
3) Improves the comfort of a home.
Cost effectively keeps your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer!
Spray foam insulations combine high R-value and air infiltration control, the two major factors in achieving energy efficiency in homes. Most other insulations do very little to control air infiltration which can account for as much as 40% of a home's energy losses.
SPF insulation is initially more expensive - but those figures must be weighed against initial equipment costs and long term energy use. The size of HVAC equipment may be reduced by controlling air leakage - giving the ability to scale the HVAC systems to the efficiency of your house.
There are two types of spray foam insulation - open and closed cell. The advantages of closed-cell foam compared to open-cell foam include its strength, higher R-value, and its greater resistance to the leakage of air or water vapor. The disadvantage of the closed-cell foam is that it is denser, requires more material, and therefore, is more expensive. Even though it has a better R-value, typically the cost per R is still higher than open-cell foam. According to the July issue of Fine Homebuilding magazine, more is not necessarily better. 'At a certain depth, either product reaches a point of diminishing return - that is to say additional product does not significantly increase the R-value. For this reason, in most parts of the country, 6 inches of foam is perfectly adequate.'
The performance of any insulation system depends on the quality of its installation. Most manufacturers have extensive training programs for their installers to be sure that their product is installed safely and correctly. The UMASS (www.umass.edu) website makes several good points in securing a contractor. 'Once you have chosen a contractor, be sure the total cost, payment schedule and warranty are clearly expressed. Be sure the installed R-value is documented. And be very cautious about contracts using wiggle words like "average" or "nominal." Your antennae should rise if the job quote is expressed only in terms of thickness. You want to know the installed R-value.'
While we're promoting SPF insulation, keep in mind there are numerous insulation products available. The USGBC (US Green Building Council) advises 'when selecting an insulation material, the most important consideration is its performance and suitability for your application. Over the lifespan of a home, the energy saved with a well-insulated building envelope far outweighs the environmental impact of insulation's manufacture. The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association states that the insulation produced annually in the United States saves 12 times the energy its manufacture consumes. While this calculation may ignore the energy required to extract and process materials used to make insulation, it gives you an idea of how much energy insulation can save.'
Get audited! Free on-line tools and in-home audits are available through many local utility companies. Or consider hiring a professional energy auditor to determine the energy efficiency of your home. There are numerous things you can do to conserve energy in your home. The Department of Energy offers many web sites to help you save energy by sealing air leaks, selecting more energy-efficient appliances, etc. Check out their list by clicking on the insulation logo in the feature blocks in this newsletter. Or click here to visit the US EPA Energy Star website.
Need more motivation? U.S. home improvement tax credits are available for home improvements from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010. Home improvement tax credits of up to $1,500 are available for insulation upgrades.
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It's all in The Details
good tidings from past newsletters
Environmental Design
July 1998 The problems of controlling his environment and creating condiitions favorable to his needs and activities are as old as man himself. Through the ages men have sought, in the building of shelter, to fulfill two basic human needs - protection from the elements and achieving a comfortable indoor climate. Throughout history house design has reflected the different solutions advanced by each period to the continuing problem of securing a small controlled environment within a large scale natural setting affected by adverse forces of cold, heat, wind water and sun.
Each period seems to have had its philosophy of house design, the past, therefore, provides us with the experience found in the dwellings of our ancestors. In recent years, however, architects and builders have been bombarded with new technologies which have allowed them to ignore the rich history of climatic solutions left for them to use. Instead, they have concentrated on finding ways to shut off the natural world and create a totally self-contained and conditioned environment. Air conditioning and central heating have opened up possibilities never before realized in home design, but they have brought with them the ever increasing consumption of the earth's natural resources. High energy cost and pollution are the by-products of this turn of progress.
Realizing that the earth and man cannot continue down this destructive path, we are exploring ways to rekindle the more natural and economical ideas exercised in past eras. The use of natural elements in the landscape, proper site selection and design, the use of natural wind currents, development of regional building types, proper material selection, and solar control are ancient ideas which have been reintroduced by designers and builders.
Finding ways to insure the survival of our planet is everyone's responsibility. Selecting a designer willing and able to help their clients conserve natural resources through the design of environmentally sensitive buildings should be a priority of every homebuilder and home buyer. J. Bryant Boyd, Architect is committed to designing homes that not only can save you money but can help save the earth as well. |
