Insulating a new home
with E:zero Spray Foam Insulation
Building a new home provides you with a great opportunity to incorporate the latest green building technologies, resulting in long-term savings, a sharply-reduced environmental impact, health benefits, comfort, and more. Even though most home owners are aware of the many options available in building greener homes, most of us have to make choices due to budget constraints. The purpose of this guide is to help you make the best long-term decisions in terms of saving money and saving the environment.
What areas should be insulated?
First of all, the entire building envelope must be insulated. This is required almost everywhere by building codes. The building envelope includes all surface areas surrounding the living spaces: outside walls, ceilings/attics/roofs, basement walls, foundation walls and raised foundations. The purpose of insulating the entire living space is obviously to maximize comfort, while minimizing heating or cooling expenses and related carbon emissions. Optionally, home owners may decide to insulate certain areas for sound purposes.
Insulating the Building EnvelopeMore important than R-value is the complete air-tightness provided by E:zero spray foam solutions. Insulating the entire building envelope with a continuous layer of E:zero spray foam is critical for long-term energy performance.
The insulation system should be selected under consideration of all major factors, from energy efficiency and sound control to indoor air quality and health and environmental impact. While E:zero is the best choice in every respect, let’s just look at energy efficiency and money savings potential. The most important factor is ACH, (involuntary) air changes per hour through the building envelope. All E:zero insulation foam systems reduce the ACH by 85%, the deciding factor in energy savings, health impact, and indoor quality. Secondly, the minimum R-value as required by code must be installed. The table above shows respective values. Unless the house is located in an extremely cold climate with severe vapor drive, we recommend the E:zero 500 soft foam for all typical above-ground construction. Basically, this would apply to most of the U.S., except for regions like North Dakota or much of Alaska. What if a vapor barrier is needed?Theoretically, there are two choices: install a vapor barrier plus E:500 soft foam, or use E:2000, which is a true vapor barrier in itself when applied at a thickness of 2” or more. E:2000 represents the optimal solution, since the entire foam layer is a vapor barrier. The problem with traditional vapor barriers is that they should be on the warm side of the wall. Homes which are both heated and air conditioned during the course of the year need the vapor barrier on the inside during the winter and on the outside during the summer. With E:2000, the vapor barrier is on both sides of the foam, which means it is always where it is needed. Likewise, if your home features an indoor Jacuzzi, indoor pool or wine cellar, we strongly recommend E:2000, as it will not absorb vapor or moisture. A word of warning: some soft foam manufacturers claim that their soft foam is “hydrophobic”. Given enough humidity or vapor drive, water will penetrate any soft foam by diffusion. Obviously, this problem is even worse when it comes to fiberglass.Basement WallsBasements are potentially exposed to more moisture than other areas of the house, and thus we clearly recommend the E:2000 spray foam system. Never consider fiberglass for insulating basement walls, as they are prone to mold infestations. In case of floods, E:2000 also stands a much higher chance of surviving the incident unscathed.Sound ControlSound control is easily accomplished in a new home. Outside noises are kept out when you build an airtight structure. Internally, sound can be easily contained by foaming the interior walls around bathrooms, laundry rooms, entertainment rooms, pipes, etc. We recommend the use of E:500 since it is quite soft, and accordingly absorbs sound effectively. A thin, complete layer of 1.5” to 2” inside the walls will provide excellent results at low cost.Choosing the right E:zero Spray Foam SolutionE:zero offers two different interior insulation foams to suit different purposes. This table highlights the most important characteristics to help you make the best choice.
First of all, E:2000 high density insulation foam can be used everywhere whereas the more affordable E:500 products should not be used in structures or rooms with high interior moistures. The second point is that in most homes, both E:500 and E:2000 should be used in different areas. The different E:zero foams were designed to be completely compatible for this purpose. All E:zero installers are trained and certified to apply both products correctly. You can safely use the lower cost E:500 or E:2000 in all normal residential or office construction for all sections above ground, including bathrooms and kitchens. When it comes to basements, wine cellars, or rooms housing indoor hot tubs, only E:2000 is suitable. For sound control, E:500 is preferred. How much R-value?When it comes to R-value, our recommendation may surprise you: R-13 for the walls and R-21 for the ceilings, if your local building codes allow that. The key is the air-tightness achieved with E:zero, which is about seven times better than that of fiberglass or cellulose. If building codes require higher R-values, then that is the value you’ll need to put in your home. There is a handy tool from the U.S. Department of Energy called REScheck which calculates minimum R-value requirements for your project. It is accepted by building code officials in about 45 states of the U.S. If you need help with this tool, any E:zero partner can help you. |
1What areas should be insulated? 2Insulating the buidling envelope 3What if a vapor barrier is need? 4567 |
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