These days, everybody’s building green. There are lots of ways to build that are both friendly to the environment, and more energy efficient than traditional building techniques. These not only do right by planet earth; they also save you money.

Insulation is a major concern in house building. Using green materials to insulate your house is more efficient and healthier than using potentially toxic materials. Green is the way to go!

Done With That Newspaper?

If you want to insulate your house with green materials, there are several green products available. One of the most common is fiber insulation, which is s recycled paper that is used as to insulate your home. This is not fiberglass, which some studies have shown to be bad for your lungs.

Most of the paper for fiber insulation comes from newspapers, but cardboard and other paper materials are used as well. This material is just as effective, if not better, than traditional materials.

Fiber insulation is often referred to as "loose fill." Bags of loose fill, or recycled paper, are blown into the spaces between walls and compacted until it is solid. This technique is always being improved, and in the future it may be an even more efficient means of keeping your house insulated. It’s also a good way to re-use those Sunday papers.

Good Old Fashioned Cotton

What happens to all those clothes that you can’t hand-me-down anymore? Some of it is used to insulate houses. Recycled cotton, a material that has been used for centuries to keep warm, is a great way of insulating your house.

Recycled cotton is very energy efficient. The process of getting the cotton ready for insulation takes less energy than most other recycling processes. It is blown into the area between the walls and packed there. This is a particularly good choice for those who live in colder climates.

Expanding Spray Foam

By far, the best and most efficient green product is polyurethane spray foam insulation. This is a vegetable oil based substance that is sprayed in, and then expands and hardens. It is the most efficient way of insulating a house because, as it expands, it fills all the cracks and holes completely.

In addition to providing excellent insulation, it is the only way to keep water and moisture completely out of your home. It is effective at keeping out pests as well, and is naturally fire resistant unlike other kinds of insulation.

Spray foam is environmentally friendly and saves homeowners anywhere from 20% to 40% of their utility bill every month, depending on where they live. This saves you money, and it also helps save the planet.

You might also be surprised to know that using green products are almost always cheaper than installing insulation the old fashioned way. And of course, it saves you money in the long run by providing superior energy efficiency.

Look into green insulation products today, whether you are building a home or thinking about remodeling and going green.

Author: Andrew Stratton

Spray foam insulation is the choice of experts for an energy efficient and environmentally friendly insulation product. Apex Foam offers several varieties that can meet your insulating needs. http://www.apexfoam.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Stratton

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If you are considering insulating the walls of your old house there are several things to consider before you get started on this home improvement project: how your house was constructed, the type of blown-in insulation, if you are up to the challenge of doing it yourself or will you need to hire someone to do it, and the possible negative aesthetic impact. This energy conservation method can easily save you hundreds of dollars every year on your heating and cooling bills, but it’s a bit more involved than adding a layer of "pink" in your attic.

First you must examine how your house was built. If you have solid masonry walls of brick, stone and/or claty masonry units you really should not add any insulation. The second red flag to look for is if your house has "knob and tube wiring." If so, it must be removed and replaced since covering this type of wiring with blown-in insulation is a fire hazard. If your house was built in or before the 1950’s it may be "balloon framed" instead of "platform framed" which means that the cavity between the wall studs will extend from the top of the foundation wall all the way up to the roof rafters. These cavities are obviously interrupted by doors and windows, but they are not interrupted by floor framing as is the case with "platform framing." The implication here is that with balloon framing fewer holes will need to be drilled into your walls.

The three most common types of blown-in insulation are: cellulose, fiberglass and foam. Each type has its positives and its negatives. Cellulose insulation is basically recycled ground up newsprint that has been mixed with chemicals that deters mold, fire and vermin. This is typically going to be your least expensive option and is a little better than fiberglass at preventing water damage in your walls. One drawback of cellulose insulation is that it will not fully fill the inside of the wall cavities as it will not expand like foam into cracks and around obstacles in the wall. Furthermore, it can settle a little over time leaving small gaps of no insulation at the tops of your walls. This however can take many years to happen and is most often insignificant. Fiberglass is one of the most familiar types of insulation. This solution will usually be a little more expensive than cellulose and its insulating capabilities are slightly less effective. It is less likely to settle than cellulose, but only contains about half of the recycled content. Foam insulation is by far the most effective energy conservation improvement for your walls. Foam will completely fill the entire wall cavity and any minor cracks and openings, this creates an effective air barrier that will seal any source for air leakage. The basic insulating properties of foam are about 33% better than cellulose and 60% better than loose fill fiberglass. However, overall foam performs even better because of its air barrier qualities. The only drawback to foam is cost, only you can decide if the added savings will be worth the added cost.

The blown-in insulation of choice for the do-it-yourselfer is cellulose. The materials and equipment for installing cellulose insulation can be found at most large home improvement stores, but you should have some general knowledge of wood framing and other home improvement skills. If you do decide to take on this challenge make sure to plan carefully and take all safety precautions including using dust masks. You could blow fiberglass into your attic yourself fairly easily, but leave it to the professionals to blow it or foam into your walls. The materials and equipment for installing foam insulation are not typically available to the general public.

Finally, the last consideration is how this project may impact the looks of your house. Many blown-in insulation contactors will prefer to drill holes directly through your siding or stucco into the wall cavity and repair them at the end of the job by placing a painted plastic plug into the hole, this will be your least expensive option, but it will have a negative impact on the look of your house. A second option is to carefully remove the siding in the required locations, drill holes through only the sheathing, install the insulation, plug the holes and then replace the siding. This solution will be more expensive and may require you to repaint your entire house, but it will leave your house looking just as before. One complication is that some sidings are very difficult if not impossible to remove without damaging them. Homeowners with brick or stone veneer do not have the option of insulating from the exterior and must do it from the inside. This solution, available to everyone, creates a bit of a mess in your house, but drywall and plaster is much easier to patch and repair without leaving a trace.

Regardless of which options you choose, adding insulation to your home is one of the most cost effective energy conservation strategies that you can use to reduce your heating and cooling bills. Depending on the efficiency of your heating and cooling equipment and the cost of energy in your area insulating the walls in your older home could pay for itself in as few as two years or as many as ten. However, if viewed as an investment, insulating your older home is one of the best and safest that you could make, returning you a 10% to 50% return on your investment, and that is with today’s energy costs.

Author: Dan Bossenbroek

Dan Bossenbroek is an Architect who has promoted energy efficient solutions in his projects for over 17 years. For energy conservation strategies and home improvement advice, I recommend http://www.justgreenhomes.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Bossenbroek

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We’ve talked about the importance of insulating your home to save energy and money. While you’re at it, why not go a step further-for the good of the environment and your health-with environmentally friendly insulation? There are a lot of options available right now. Here are a few.

Recycled

Keep waste out of the landfill and stay warm by opting for recycled insulation. Recycled insulation may be made from a number of materials, including melted minerals and sand or recycled glass (fiberglass), recycled newspaper (cellulose, paper), recycled steel slag (rockwool), and mill waste and low-grade and recycled cotton (cotton).

One recycled-content insulation that has received quite a lot of press lately is UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation, produced by Bonded Logic. This insulation is made from 85 percent post-industrial cotton (think denim manufacturing scraps). It’s treated with a natural fire retardant, is 100 percent recyclable, and is VOC-free.

Hemp

HempFlax insulation mats are made from natural hemp fibers with some polyester fiber for reinforcing. They are available in several thicknesses for insulating roofs, walls, and floors. Hemp processing is clean and low on dust.

Sheep’s Wool

Thermafleece sheep’s wool insulation is produced by Second Nature. Sheep’s wool is safe and easy to handle and, unlike traditional insulation, won’t cause itching and skin irritation. Plus, wool captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which, according to the company website, gives Thermafleece a negative global warming potential.

Spray-In Foam

Spray-in foam starts out as a liquid and, once it is sprayed, expands and solidifies, working as an air barrier to stop more than 90 percent of air infiltration and minimizing allergens and pollution in your house. Some spray-in foam is loaded with chemicals, but others, like Icynene, are water-blown and don’t offgas nasty chemicals. (Icynene is free of formaldehyde too.)

Soy

Another spray-in option: soy-based polyurethane, produced by BioBased Insulation. It’s made with soybean oil, so there aren’t any petrochemicals, and you won’t have to worry about mold growth (or pests eating it). Soy-based polyurethane is also free of CFCs and VOCs. BioBased Insulation was the first polyurethane spray foam insulation to earn GREENGUARD certification.

Mushrooms

OK. This insulation isn’t made solely from mushrooms. But Greensulate is made from agricultural waste products-think rice and buckwheat hulls-combined with mycelium, which is a fibrous network created by mushrooms. The petroleum-free insulation is priced similar to standard rigid board insulation (like Styrofoam) and has a comparable R-value. And, perhaps best of all, when you’re done with it, Greensulate will rapidly break down, enriching the soil and even helping nearby waste breakdown too. The only catch? You’ll have to wait a while to try it out-it probably won’t be available as insulation until the end of 2010 (although you can buy other Greensulate products, such as coolers, now).

Author: Julie Collins

Lexicon Consulting, Inc

The Home Know-It-All – Your One-Stop Shop for Home Design, Improvement, and Repair

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julie_Collins

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