Spray Foam Insulation Benefits
SPF Saves You Money and Pays for Itself
SPF home insulation saves on energy costs and lowers utility bills. SPF is used to seal the entire “building envelope” of your home to prevent air and moisture infiltration. The US Department of Energy (DOE) studies show that 40% of your home’s energy is lost due to air infiltration. This air infiltrates the home in the form of drafts through walls sockets, windows and doorways.
Often times no expensive building wrap or additional vapor protection is required during construction when using SPF, saving money yet again.
High R-Value
Sprayed polyurethane foam has an aged R-value of approximately 6.3 per 1 inch thickness (Closed Cell foam), and 3.9 per 1 inch thickness(open Cell Foam) enabling it to provide more thermal resistance with less material than any other type of commercial insulation material. SPF systems are frequently used to insulate and protect a wide variety of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.
Monthly energy and utility savings of 30% or greater can be achieved when compared to the alternative roofing and insulation systems. The cost of an SPF roof or insulation system can often be recovered in less than 5 years, simply through energy savings alone.
Prevents Air, Moisture and Gas Infiltration
Studies have shown that as much as 40% of a building’s total energy loss is due to air infiltration. Traditional fiberglass insulation is only stapled, or placed into the wall cavities and does not seal the stud and wall cavities from end to end, or top to bottom. Air infiltration can pass through these gaps, making it far less efficient than SPF. SPF not only adheres to, but forms to the walls and floors to create a tight seal and insulating barrier that stops this air leakage. This air barrier system makes your home more comfortable and less expensive to heat in the winter, and cool in the summer.
Since SPF acts as an air barrier, it also helps to reduce moisture infiltration, which is a source of dangerous mold and mildew growth in the home, and can cause severe health problems to its occupants. So save your family and save money at the same time with SPF home insulation systems. Moisture infiltration can also cause structural damage to your home or building.
Helps Reduce Moisture and Mold
Molds produce tiny spores to reproduce. Mold spores waft through the indoor and outdoor air continually. When mold spores land on a damp spot indoors, they may begin growing and digesting whatever they are growing on in order to survive. There are molds that can grow on wood, paper, carpet, and foods. When excessive moisture or water accumulates indoors, mold growth will often occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or un-addressed. There is no practical way to eliminate all mold and mold spores in the indoor environment; the way to control indoor mold growth is to control moisture. SPF insulation is the key. Watch Video…
Enhances Overall Building Stability
Since SPF is seamless and monolithic, foam sprayed into the walls enhances overall building stability and reduces “rack and sheer”
Deadens Sound Travel and Noise
SPF also reduces airborne sound making the home acoustically tighter and more private from room to room.
SPRAY FOAM IN THE BUILDING ENVELOPE
The building envelope is a total system of construction materials and design components that control the temperature, movement of air, and moisture both into and out of the building. A building’s insulation, air barrier and vapor barrier all need to work together to achieve a more stable, comfortable and healthier indoor environment. Many new materials and design practices are being implemeted to extend the sustainable service life of buildings and homes.
Build it Tight, Ventilate Right.
Ventilating the Attic and the Crawl Spaces has long been the traditional and code required method of home design and building. However, ventilation of these spaces was required because standard materials and building design practices were not capable of addressing radiant heat transfer, condensation, and the results of “stack-effect issues.”
In order to address heat transfer form weather issues, utilities, and the formation of moisture due to condensation and air infiltration, the only option was to ventilate the attics and crawl spaces. The major problem with ventilating these spaces is that the air brings moisture, pollution and other adverse problems and challenges with it. Furthermore, the vents to allow it in create voids in the building for insects and rodents to enter, and all our nice conditioned air that escapes, or is pulled from the living spaces to exit.
In fact, in the summer, the incoming air needs power consuming fans to bring it in, and it will never get any cooler than the outside air temperature. Why would we want 95 degree hot, humid, potentially pollution ridden air into our attic and crawl space? In the winter this air is freezing cold.
If our heating/cooling utilities and ducts are located in the attic and/or crawl spaces (most usually are) then their radiant contact with the ducts will cause them to loose up to 10% or more of the hot or cold air flowing through them due to radiant transfer. Worse yet,
Moisture and mold can also form within the ducts during certain temperature conditions, causing adverse health affects to the building occupants or your family.
Another major reason that traditional methods call for attic ventilation is that during the hot summer months, heat from the sun builds on the roof and radiates into the attic space. In fact, it can build to upwards of 130 to 150 degrees or more. (see our ). This extreme heat radiates into the attic and the living space causing condensation and the potential for mold. Our air conditioning systems also need to work harder and consume more energy with all this heat directly above our heads. The extreme heat also makes it very uncomfortable to enter these spaces.
Most builders and design professionals are not familiar with modern materials and progressive building science techniques that can virtually eliminate all of these problems that force the traditional, less effective requirement for ventilation in these building spaces.
Builders and design professionals will also make the argument that your home needs to breathe. Well, they are absolutely correct. But why rely on cracks, gaps and holes in your building for passive ventilation, when you can build your home tight, healthy and energy efficient, and let the mechanical ventilation systems due the job properly.
Spray foam insulation can still provide benefits far greater than traditional materials such as fiberglass and cellulose, regardless of whether you decide to ventilate these spaces or not. By using spray polyurethane foam insulation you can increase your home’s energy performance, structural integrity and air quality.