Are you looking for a way to differentiate your business? Get closer to greener building practices such as the use of polyurethane foam insulation that offers greater energy efficiency while reducing installation costs.
Insulation with polyurethane foam in aerosol acts as an insulator and also as an air sealant in residential structures. The insulation is spread between the nooks and crannies of the houses - climbers, beams, crossbars - and it expands to fill the space. As a result, in one step the cavities in the walls are filled and the air holes are sealed.
LUCID 10 Inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress - Medium Feel - CertiPUR-US Certified - 10-Year U.S. Warranty - Twin XL
The two types of filling foams - open cell (isocyanurate) and closed cell (polyurethane) - are excellent thermal insulators. Closed cell foams generally weigh more and have a higher R value than the open cell foam.
Once dry, the excess foam is removed with a handsaw.
However, most polyurethane foam insulation products have R-value ratings per inch twice that of insulation rating on fiberglass blankets.
Applied in liquid form, the sealing foam insulation contains a polymer (such as polyurethane or modified urethane) and a foaming agent.
Certified installers, who are trained to use the equipment and chemical mixtures, spray the liquid preventing excessive spraying, and give the walls a proper finish.
Once the insulation is sprayed with polyurethane foam, it expands in a matter of minutes to fill the cavities. After it dries, the excess foam is cut out and a thermal barrier is installed, usually panels of compressed material (drywall). Because the expanded polyurethane insulation does not shrink, buckle or biodegrade, it helps minimize problems once the wall cavity is covered.
The sprayed foam completely fills the angular beams of the roofs.
Benefits of polyurethane foam
The ability to expand in narrow areas makes polyurethane foam an ideal product for insulating steel frame structures and for filling - areas in tiny places such as window lintels, small uprights, beam flange areas, around of electrical distribution boxes and other inputs- where cutting fiberglass fillings of the appropriate size is often difficult and labor-intensive.
By blocking wind and air filtration, foam sealant generally eliminates the need for additional techniques to seal tightly, such as caulking, applying drainage membranes and vapor barriers and taping joints.
Another benefit is the ecological composition of polyurethane foam. All polyurethane foams consist of resins derived from agriculture and do not contain any type of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) that are harmful to the earth's ozone layer. Nor do formaldehyde emanate - a potentially harmful volatile organic compound.
Although insulation materials with polyurethane foam may initially cost more than traditional fiberglass fill insulations, savings increase over time. First, the use of polyurethane spray foam insulation has a competitive cost because it reduces construction time.
Second, it reduces the number of specialized contractors needed for the job. Finally, the superior value R of the foam offers greater energy efficiency so that smaller cooling and heating systems can be installed. All these three reasons - higher productivity, energy savings and environmental protection - provide benefits to the contractor and, in the long run, also to the home buyer.
Process of certification
The NAHB Research Center administers the Insulation Contractors Certification (ICC) program, evaluating participating contractors externally. The Research Center joins with Certain Teed Corp., which supplies the Installer Quality and Training Systems for the program.
Certified installers are reexamined every two years and are subject to visits to workplaces conducted by the Research Center's auditors.
"Builders are smart to hire contractors who participate in a program evaluated by a name they can trust," says Michael Luzier, president of the NAHB Research Center. "In such a competitive current labor market, nobody has the time or money to pay for a repair visit for a job badly done."