Insulation Institute Blog

Posts Categorized: Performance

Super-Efficient, Super Insulated and Sustainable: Thermal Envelope

Lucas Hamilton has more than 20 years’ experience in the building and construction industry – working with builders, designers and building product manufacturers. Over the years, he’s seen many advanced technologies employed to make a significant contribution to energy management in buildings. But, he says, insulation remains the most effective product for reducing carbon emissions while offering an immediate return on investment in terms of energy savings. And, he believes insulation will play an ever larger role in the future – as an increasing number of builders nationwide are super insulating homes to boost energy efficiency.

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Super-Efficient, Super Insulated and Sustainable: Thermal Envelope

Architect La Vardera Makes the Case for Mineral Wool Insulation

Early uses of the rock wool insulation trace back to the Hawaiian Islands hundreds of years ago – where huts were blanketed with fibrous wool collected from volcanic deposits where steam had broken the molten lava into fluffy fibers. And although rock wool and slag wool insulations are commonly perceived to be solely for commercial or industrial use by many people today, in reality, they are ideal choices for residential buildings because of their thermal performance, as well as mold and fire resistance.

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Architect La Vardera Makes the Case for Mineral Wool Insulation

Air Infiltration and Insulation: what it means for R-value

In recent years, there has been some debate over which insulation products are better at reducing air infiltration. The fact is reducing air infiltration in a home is largely dependent on the air sealing package, not the insulation installed in the wall cavity. A new report published this fall from Building Science Corporation (BSC) affirms that insulation, of any type, is no substitute for proper air sealing and prevention of air infiltration. BSC’s multi-year insulation research project entailed a baseline set of seven test walls, including fiber glass batts, cellulose, spray foam and extruded polystyrene.

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Air Infiltration and Insulation: what it means for R-value

A New Place for Knowledge

Today’s ever-changing building codes and requirements call for builders, architects, contractors, code officials and other building material professionals to have quick access to the facts that help them select the best insulation solution for their specific project.

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A New Place for Knowledge