Renewable Materials Used in Insulation

About Renewable Materials Used in Insulation

Wilmington Metropolitan Area construction seeks to minimize embodied carbon and choose materials that support long-term sustainability goals. These goals include minimizing resource extraction, avoiding materials with harmful chemicals and supporting local production. In addition, builders can also help reduce the energy footprint of a building by choosing high-performance insulation materials. These include recycled paper, plastic, and denim. Some of these eco-friendly options are made from renewable resources like wood, hemp, and kenaf and have low global warming potentials (GWP) and embodied carbon.

Recycled insulation makes use of existing manmade materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. This conserves natural resources and decreases the demand for new raw materials, while reducing waste management costs. This type of insulation typically requires less energy to produce compared with traditional products, which further contributes to reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Renewable Materials Used in Insulation: What’s Available Today

These eco-friendly options are available as blanket (batts and rolls) or loose-fill insulation. The most common options include cellulose insulation, which is primarily a shredded newspaper treated with fire retardants, and fiberglass and mineral wool (rock and slag wool). Other alternatives are polystyrene beads, vermiculite, and perlite.

A few companies offer more unusual options such as cotton, kenaf and hemp. These unconventional insulators have good R-values and are breathable, allowing moisture to escape from the home. They require low land use and are easy to grow and harvest, resulting in a lower whole life carbon impact than many other insulators. However, more research is needed on these materials’ durability and performance compared to the conventional ones.

CEC Spray Foam
203 Cole Dr, Hampstead, NC 28443
‭(910) 833-4521‬