Two of the best ways to green your home are recycling and conserving energy.  Cellulose insulation allows you to do both.  This insulation is comprised of recycled paper, usually recycled newspaper.  The paper is usually shredded and then soaked in a fluid  to reduce the chance of fire.

According to Ask the Builder, the recycled paper is treated with sodium borate, boric acid or ammonium sulfate.  These chemicals make the cellulose insulation fire retardant but not fire proof.  Whichever chemical is used will also discourage insects, rodents and mold from infesting your insulation.

This type of insulation is blown into walls, floor spaces or attics.  One of the problems of both cellulose and blown fiberglass is that both types of insulation settle.  Cellulose settles more than fiberglass ant that affects the insulating ability of the product.

A rare problem that has been known to happen with cellulose insulation is fire.  Even though this insulation has been treated with chemicals to reduce the chances of fire, fire can still occur when the insulation is packed around older recessed lighting fixtures.  The insulation causes the fixture to overheat.  Many modern light fixtures have thermostats that turn the fixture off if the light fixture becomes too hot.

The R-value for cellulose is higher than the R-value for standard fiberglass.  R-Value is the  Cellulose is approximately 3.0 per inch and fiberglass is between 2.1 and 1.7 per inch.  The higher the number the better the insulation.  Cellulose has one of the highest R-values of any type of insulation.

The Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association(CIMA) provides a lot of information to homeowners and builders, although it is sometime skewed.  According to the CIMA, cellulose insulation has a number of green features.  As with other green insulations, very little  energy is needed to produce cellulose insulation compared with the manufacture of fiberglass or foam insulations.  Cellulose insulation is composed of 85 percent recycled content and if all the paper that went to landfills were turned into insulation, “it would save approximately eight million tons of CO2 emissions”.  For the most part cellulose insulation is made locally so less energy is required to transport this insulation and less pollution is produced from transporting the insulation.

Over all, cellulose saves energy during production, transportation and after installation.  It is one of the best insulators and sound absorbers on the market.  Although most people are afraid that the insulation is more flammable than other types of insulation, it really isn’t

The green credentials of cellulose insulation makes this a product that should be seriously considered when building your new home.

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Entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 9:11 pm under Green Technology, Science and technology.

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