Icynene Spray Foam Insulation

Icynene continues to set the standard in innovation and sustainability in the spray foam insulation market. That is why EcoLogical Insulation chooses to be an Icynene dealer for Alabama and West Georgia. Fresh off the introduction of Icynene LD-R-50, a low density open cell spray foam that has the highest renewable content of any spray foam on the market, Icynene unveiled Icynene MD-R-200. Icynene MD-R-200 will set the standard for the medium density spray foam market. MD-R-200 is a 2lb spray foam insulation that has a hybrid cell structure. It has both closed cell and open cell content, giving the consumer the benefits of both products. The product is 100% water blown. That means that is has no chemical blowing agents, HFC’s, no PBDE’s, or any other unwanted chemicals that will off gas over time. It even has ingredients that are made from recycled plastic bottles! Contact us for all of your spray foam insulation needs in Alabama or Georgia! Call our new Birmingham, AL spray foam insulation office!

Spray Foam Insulation - Birmingham, Alabama

EcoLogical Insulation is now serving Birmingham, Alabama and Tuscaloosa, AL from our Birmingham location. Visit the website for updated service areas. Call or visit the website for all of your Birmingham, AL spray foam insulation needs! We offer a full line of Icyenene foam insulation products! http://www.ecologicalinsulation.com

Icynene LD-R-50 earns USDA BioPreferred Status

Icynene LD-R-50 spray foam insulation has earned the United States Department of Agriculture’s BioPreferred status for use of rapidly renewable materials.  The insulation uses castor oil instead of petroleum based polyols.  Castor oil is a safe natural ingredient that is found in common products such as lip balm.  The castor plant is grown on marginal cropland, is not a food source, and requires little if any irrigation or pesticides.

 

Icynene LD-R-50 is a spray applied thermal insulation that is also an air barrier system. It insulates and air-seals in one step for maximum energy conservation while minimizing the environmental impact during manufacturing and construction.  All Icynene® spray foam insulation products are 100% water blown and contain no HCFC’s or PBDE’s.

 

Cap and Trade – A Hidden Tax Increase that Spray Foam Insulation Can Help Offset

Cap and Trade – A Hidden Tax Increase that Spray Foam Insulation Can Help Offset

 

The Obama administration has lofty goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 83% of 2005 levels by 2050.  Congress also supports these ambitious goals.  If the president and the legislative body are unable to enact regulations, the EPA has said that they will take regulation into their own hands.  No one can argue the importance of protecting our environment from carbon emissions; however, proposed cap and trade legislation would tax the polluters who would in turn have to pass along the burden of those taxes to the average consumer like you and me.

 

The cap and trade plan is essentially a carbon emissions tax that would hit electric utilities like the Southern Company that use coal as their primary energy source.  Southern Company currently gets approximately 71% of its energy from coal-fired power plants. This would also affect local electric co-ops who purchase their energy from the Southern Company.   If enacted the taxes would flow through to the consumer, as the utilities fight to remain profitable.  Southern Company recently increased electricity prices in Alabama; and if the cap and trade legislation is enacted, consumers should expect their electricity prices to skyrocket further.

 

Spray foam insulation is one product that can help reduce electricity consumption and therefore indirectly decrease the burden of this potential hidden tax increase.  It is a product that can be used in new construction or existing homes.  There are even tax credits available to put spray foam insulation into existing homes.  Products like Icynene LD-R-50 are environmentally responsible and drastically reduce electrical usage from heating and cooling.  

Green Spray Foam Insulation

What is "green"?  With all of the "green" products that we are bombarded with in our daily lives, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate between what is actually green and what is not.  Spray foam insulation is inherently a green product, because when properly installed it virtually eliminates air infiltration and exfiltration in buildings.  Air infiltration and exfiltration is estimated to cost US homeowners over $13 Billion annually.  A product that eliminates air infiltration and consequently conserves natural resources and reduces our dependence on petroleum definitely qualifies as green in my mind.  

You may ask how a product like Icynene® that contains petroleum based ingredients can be considered green?  It is true that some spray foam insulation manufacturers do indeed have petroleum-based products in their B component of the foam, however it is in small amounts.  Does this make it less green?  Sometimes you have to give a little to get a lot in return.  The cumulative savings of the product far outweigh the trivial amount of the petroleum-based ingredients.  The United States Green Building Council agrees, as do most other green building associations.  It reduces consumption and other material use; and Icynene® contains no CFC's, no HCFC's, no HFA's, no formaldehyde, or volatile organic compounds.

In recent years some spray foam manufacturers have proclaimed their product to be more green by replacing the petroleum-based products with soy-based products. The reduction of petroleum-based ingredients is beneficial to the environment, however the cumulative net gain in "greenness" over traditional spray foam like Icynene LD-C-50 "Classic" is minimal.  The manufacturers like to make people believe that the entire product is soy based; however, this is far from the truth.  

Spray foam insulation is a 2-component product made up of 50% "A" Component and 50% "B" component.  All manufacturers use a similar "A" component. Most manufacturers have their own proprietary blend of ingredients in their "B" component.  In the "soy based" products, only a small percentage of the "B" Component contains soy-based derivatives. If 10% of the "B" component contained soy derivatives, that only equates to 5% of the finished product. The finished product still has to be transported via freight, and it will not perform any better after installation.  Yes, it is a step in the right direction, however it is far from perfect.  Soybeans are in demand as a food product; they require insecticides, irrigation, and fertilization.  Unfortunately, they are not using organic soybeans.  Most people could not afford that.  Does it still sound greener?

In the first quarter of this year Icynene introduced Icynene LD-R-50.  The letters stand for Low Density - Renewable - .5 pounds per cubic foot.  Icynene LD-R-50 raises the green bar by replacing the petroleum derivatives with oil derived from Castor Beans.  It is not a food source, requires little if any irrigation, is grown on marginal cropland, and requires little if any fertilization.  Castor oil is a benign ingredient that is commonly used in organic lip balm.  Icynene LD-R-50 also has the highest verifiable agri-based content of any spray foam manufacturer.  This was determined by the ICC Evaluation Service and published in their Verifiable Attribute Report. Icynene LD-R-50 now can claim to be the greenest spray foam on the market. Period.  Are the soy-based products green?  Yes.  Are the petroleum-based products green? Yes.  But the greenest of the green is the Icynene LD-R-50!  It also has the Icynene name behind it, which means you can sleep well at night knowing you have the greenest, safest, and most thoroughly tested spray foam insulation on the market.  The Lifetime Warranty doesn't hurt either.

Getting Paid to Go Green

By now everyone has probably heard about the available tax credits to "green up" existing homes. If not read here:

EnergyStar.gov

Most of you are probably wondering how in the heck it is possible to insulate an existing house that already has sheetrock covering the walls. The answer lies in the attic and the crawlspace.

Don't even bother thinking about the "pink stuff" , more commonly known as fiberglass insulation. Think green, think healthy, think spray foam, think Icynene LD-C-50 or Icynene LD-R- 50. Icynene® can be sprayed to the rafters or ceiling of an existing attic. This can eliminate 50-60% of your heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter. That means it can drastically reduce heating and cooling costs!

The tax credit is also available if you want to turn that damp dirty crawlspace that your house sits on into a unvented crawlspace. We can insulate the perimeter foundation walls, install a vapor barrier the way it was meant to be installed, and reduce the relative humidity to levels that don't support mold or mildew growth. Sounds like a pretty good idea too me. Especially if you are an allergy sufferer like myself.

These applications fall under the available tax credits for 2009 and 2010. You could receive up to $1500 back at the end of the year!

For more information visit:

EcologicalInsulation.com

The website is up.

Finally! It took a while, but we feel it was worth the wait. We intend for EcologicalInsulation.com to be the most comprehensive educational tool available to consumers who are considering the use of spray foam insulation. It will be updated often.

On another note, I would highly suggest V3MG in Opelika if you are considering a new website. Dale and Jonathan were great to work with.

Did you know that $13 Billion worth of energy is wasted each year in American homes. Saving a commodity is a heck of a lot cheaper than producing one, so get busy saving.