Residential Insulation

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Residential Insulation
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• A Comparative Assessment

David Leung Linda Dix-Cooper Sandy Do Anthony
Hoac
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Introduction

• Insulation is used to control temperature and
  sound in buildings
• Three main types of insulation
• cellulose fiberglass spray foam
• All insulation products installed in U.S.
  buildings save consumers
• 12 quadrillion Btu annually
• 42 of energy that would have been consumed with
  no insulation in place.

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Insulation Types
http//greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/home-
green-home-insulation-materials/?scp1sqinsulati
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Quick Facts

• Grown since the Victorian age
• Developed to insulate floors, walls, and roofs
• Made mandatory during war
• Properly insulated? can save homeowner

http//www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/insulati
on_sealing.html
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R-Value

• Ratio of the temperature difference and the heat
  flux in m2K/W
• In theory, doubling the thickness of the
  insulation doubles the R value, but not always
  the case
• Determine insulations heat loss retardation
  under test conditions

Aerogel with very high R-30
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R Value Calculator (Berkeley)
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Our Comparison Criteria

• Cost - per square foot in Berkeley
• R Value - thermal efficiency
• Noise - barrier efficiency
• Health short and long term effects
• Environmental impacts
• Flammability
• Ease of installation
• Resilience longevity of life w/ water damage

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Fiberglass Batt/Roll

• Two types
• Batts or Rolls
• Easy Installation
• Do it yourself
• Small strands of glass
• Most common insulation type

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Fiberglass
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Cellulose

• 15 of Insulation Market
• Heavily Recycled (85), made of old newspapers,
  telephone directories, borates, and ammonium
  sulfate
• Lowest embodied energy based on LCA studied of
  any insulation (3.3 MJ/kg)

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tion-Blow-in/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xglZbedg/R-100318635/h_
d2/ProductDisplay?langId-1storeId10051catalogI
d10053
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Cellulose
Installation
http//mdinsulation.net/installing-cellulose-blow-
in-insulation.jpg

• Dry blow-in or moist installation
• Can be rented for use at home or subcontracted

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Flamability
http//greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/home-
green-home-insulation-materials/?scp1sqinsulati
onstcse
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Cellulose
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Polyurethane Spray Foam

• Types
• Open cell 0.4-0.75lb/cu ft
• Closed cell 1.7-2 lb/cu ft
• Roofing 2.8-3.0 lb/cu ft
• Forms to walls, floors, and roofs as a tight seal
• Strong
• Requires skilled installer

http//www.advanced-insulation.net/faq
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Polyurethane Spray Foam
http//www.spraytechfoaminsulation.com/sprayfoam.h
tml
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Environmental Health Effects of Insulation

• Insulation residential energy use
• saved can be used for healthcare
• Warm homes improve health by
• moisture
• mold growth (asthma)
• immune system defense
• Proper insulation improves ambient air quality
  by
• PM2.5 emissions from energy production
  plants
• leading to
• 60 fewer fatalities
• 2000 fewer asthma attacks
• 30,000 fewer restricted activity days/10 yrs

(Reference Niskioka, 2002)
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Why?

• Fiberglass Insulation
• Induces dermatitis (Farkas, 1983 Lee, 1992
  Verbeck, 91)

• Spray Foam Insulation
• No human studies yet
• (ReprodToxin) Kidney tumors in rats benign
  testicular tumors in mice (Turnbull, 1994)
• Made of isocyanates, ether, polyol, and flame
  retardants
• Immune response and
• Dermatitis (Baur, 2009)
• Releases fluorocarbons (CFCs) in landfills
  (Kjeldsen, 2003)
• Ozone depletion

• Cellulose Insulation
• Alveolar proteinosis
• (McDonald, 2000)
• Mold Pathogen growth
• (Godish, 2006)
• Dust Mold s asthma attacks allergic
  reactions

• Knowledge Gaps
• What are the production and disposal practices?
• How energy intensive are these processes and how
  do they compare?

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Environmental Health Ranking?

• Severity of Acute health effects
• Fiberglass Cellulose Spray Foam
• Severity of Long-term health effects
• Spray foam Cellulose Fiberglass

gt
gt
gt

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Our Comparison Criteria

• Cost - per sq. ft in Berkeley
• Thermal R value
• Noise - barrier efficiency
• Health short and long term effects
• Environmental impacts
• Flammability
• Ease of installation
• Resilience longevity of life w/ water damage

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Our Star Rating
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Conclusions Future Directions
1. Insulations are fairly equal in performance
when you ignore pricing. 2. Focus on installing
it properly and selecting the right type for the
job to ensure effective performance. 3. We need
more Life Cycle Assessments on the environmental
impacts. 4. The benefits that warmth
bring outweigh
any of the
underlying risks.
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References

• Farkas, J. (1983). "Fibreglass dermatitis in
  employees of a project-office in a new building."
  Contact Dermatitis 9(1) 79.
• Godish, T. J. and D. R. Godish (2006). "Mold
  infestation of wet spray-applied cellulose
  insulation." J Air Waste Manag Assoc 56(1) 90-5.
• Kjeldsen, P. and C. Scheutz (2003). "Short- and
  long-term releases of fluorocarbons from disposal
  of polyurethane foam waste." Environ Sci Technol
  37(21) 5071-9.
• Lee, T. Y. and T. H. Lam (1992). "Occupational
  fibreglass dermatitis in Hong Kong." Contact
  Dermatitis 27(5) 341-3.
• McDonald, J. W., F. Alvarez, et al. (2000).
  "Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in association
  with household exposure to fibrous insulation
  material." Chest 117(6) 1813-7.
• Morgan, D. L., Y. F. Su, et al. (2004). "Chemical
  and physical characteristics of cellulose
  insulation particulates, and evaluation of
  potential acute pulmonary toxicity." Am J Ind Med
  46(6) 554-69.
• Nishioka, Y., J. I. Levy, et al. (2002).
  "Integrating risk assessment and life cycle
  assessment a case study of insulation." Risk
  Anal 22(5) 1003-17.
• Turnbull, D., R. J. Machado, et al. (1994).
  "Safety assessment of HCFC-141b use as a blowing
  agent for insulation in building construction and
  refrigeration." Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 19(3)
  282-96.