Materials Matter: Insulation

If there’s one material that really matters in your home during the cold winter months, it’s your insulation.

At RIC design build we get pretty passionate and have strong opinions about insulation. We know that the kind of insulation you use and the way it’s installed (in addition to how well your home is air-sealed) are critical to the comfort of your home year-round. And according to Energy Star, “Most homes in the United States don't have enough insulation and have significant air leaks. In fact, if you added up all the leaks, holes and gaps in a typical home's envelope, it would be the equivalent of having a window open every day of the year!” Yikes!

Air Sealing

With renovations and older homes, it’s not always cost-feasible to re-insulate an entire house. In these cases, we recommend air sealing. Air sealing uses caulk or small amounts of spray foam to fill in any gaps or cracks that are allowing drafts into the home or are letting warm or cold air escape. This process can be done easily and for less money than re-insulation and can be very effective.

However, when we take a home down to the studs or when a project’s budget allows for new insulation, we put a lot of thought into what kind of insulation should be used and we take our time during installation to get it just right. The two types of insulation that we use are cellulose and spray foam.

 
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Cellulose

Cellulose is a great material to use up against new construction walls. It’s also a very environmentally friendly product with a small carbon footprint because it’s made from 85% recycled paper. Cellulose insulation can pack tightly into crevasses, walls, attics, and floors. Cellulose is also a great value and is less expensive than spray foam insulation.

 
 
 

Spray Foam

Spray foam insulation is our choice for when we are insulating walls in older homes where the masonry is exposed on the interior of the home. This is fairly common, and nothing adheres and insulates against brick quite like spray foam. Although it’s more expensive than batt and cellulose insulation, it’s worth it in the long run, as it has an extremely efficient rating and performance.

As with most building materials - buying the right material is only half the battle. The materials can only work their best when they are installed correctly, which is why our entire team is trained and experienced in installing cellulose and spray foam insulation. And we know they work better because we are able to test both the insulations and the air sealing process with a blower door test.

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We’ve seen great improvements on the buildings we’ve worked on, such as this Patterson Avenue home renovation which resulted in a 75% reduction in energy consumption for the building.

Both cellulose and spray foam insulation rate and test more efficient than traditional batt insulation for many reasons. Batt insulation can come loose, if it’s not measured perfectly it can cave in or leave gaps, it’s also difficult to manipulate around electrical boxes, framing and other building features. For this reason, we never choose batt insulation. However, for homes with batt insulation that would still like to increase their home’s efficiency, air sealing is a great, affordable option.