It may be out of sight, in your walls or attic, but fiber glass insulation is a critically important building material for your home. That's because it's one of the most thermally-efficient and cost-effective ways to save energy while making homes quieter and more comfortable to live in. Made from recycled and renewable resources, fiberglass insulation is also a sustainable building product--one that has a positive impact on our environment, helping reduce energy consumption and the effects of global warming. Though it's been used successfully for decades in homes worldwide, fiber glass insulation is still the state of the art when it comes to energy efficiency, delivering maximum R-value performance in standard wood-frame construction.

A Harvard study found that by insulating the over 1.2 million new homes built each year in the U.S. to current International Energy Conservation Code levels, our country would save well over 300 billion BTUs over ten years. At the same time, increasing insulation in existing housing stock could save more than 800 trillion BTUs each year.

 

Another study conducted by ICF Consulting (a leading consultant to the Energy Star program) measured the cost-effectiveness of increasing insulation R-values to those recommended in the 2004 International Energy Conservation Code. After examining 324 house configurations and running 1.23 million simulations of home energy performance, ICF confirmed that increasing the insulation R-value was a cost-effective measure for energy savings in homes, and offered homeowners measurable savings on energy bills as well as tax savings in the form of upgrades.

Visit www.naima.org/icf for the complete study.

Upgrading home insulation levels is not only a good way to help lower monthly utility bills, it adds to the overall comfort in your home. Insulation helps maintain a consistent temperature by reducing air leakage and resisting the flow of heat. Properly insulating your home not only saves money, but will help reduce drafts and create a comfortable temperature inside no matter what the weather is outside.

In addition to greater energy-savings, fiber glass insulation delivers excellent sound absorption. When installed between walls and in ceilings, fiber glass insulation significantly reduces the transmission of sound from other rooms or from the outside.

 

For example, installing 3-1/2 inches of acoustical fiber glass batt insulation between a 2x4 wood stud wall with 1/2 inch gypsum board absorbs and dampens sound waves resulting in a significantly better sound rating, improving STC (Sound Transmission Class) rating by 3 to 11 points, a significant and discernable difference. The best time to add acoustical insulation is when a new home or addition is built. Ask your builder for details about insulation upgrades.

As insulation saves energy it significantly decreases the generation of harmful air pollutants to the atmosphere. In fact, according to a Harvard study, insulating homes in the U.S. to even modest 2000 International Energy Conservation Code levels would reduce hundreds of thousands of tons of nitrous oxide and sulfur oxide released into the atmosphere each year.

Not only does fiber glass insulation contribute to cleaner air, it is an inherently "green" product in terms of assessing its environmental impact over its lifetime. Manufactured with recycled and renewable resources, every pound of insulation ultimately saves twelve times more energy than it takes to produce it. So along with greater energy savings, insulation delivers a measurable impact on our environment, reducing the amount of energy consumption and pollution.

 

Insulation also prevents the depletion of our natural resources. Today's fiber glass insulation contains more than 25% recycled glass and uses renewable resources such as sand. In fact, according to the Glass Packaging Institute, Fiber glass insulation is the largest secondary market for recycled glass containers.

 

For more information on how insulation makes for a more sustainable planet, visit http://www.naima.org/pages/benefits/environ/environ.html.