Get these benefits by improving your home's building envelope

Residential insulation is a key element for a more comfortable and energy efficient home. You need a continuous boundary of insulation between the conditioned, indoor spaces and the unconditioned, outdoor spaces. This boundary is referred to as the “building envelope” and it includes the walls, floors, and ceiling or roof. Inadequate insulation levels and space in the insulation materials provide paths for heat loss from your home.

Building codes typically require a minimum insulation level for each component of the building envelope. When building a new home it is both easy and cost effective to increase these insulation levels beyond the minimum code requirements of most climates. For an older home, it is easiest to increase insulation levels in the attic.

There are many types of insulation materials and at Georgian we offer several choices. Insulation is rated according to the materials ability to resist heat flow. This thermal resistance rating is commonly known as an “R-value”. The higher the R-value of a material, the better its ability to resist heat flow. The reciprocal of the R-value is the U-value, which characterizes the rate of heat loss.

What are some of the benefits of improving your home's building envelope with increased insulation?

1. Improved comfort; Increased insulation reduces conductive heat losses and gains resulting in warmer interior surfaces in the winter and cooler interior surfaces in the summer. Approximately 40 percent of our physical comfort in homes is due to radiant heat exchange between our bodies and the surrounding interior surfaces. Increased insulation reduces this radiant heat exchange and minimizes temperature differences between rooms, thus maintaining a more consistent level of comfort throughout a house. 
2. Improved indoor air quality; When a house has been air sealed and insulation has been increased and properly installed, there are fewer gaps and voids through which unconditioned air can leak into a house. This helps avoid dirt, dust, and other impurities that can negatively affect indoor air quality. A tight building envelope is a critical component to ensure good indoor air quality.
3. Increased construction quality; Building codes establish the legal minimum construction standards. Increased insulation levels with a higher R-value or increased thickness of the building envelope component results in better quality construction. This is particularly true in cases where special care is taken during installation to insure no gaps or voids are left in the insulation. 
4. Reduced obsolescence; Based on recent trends for improved efficiency, building envelopes with increased insulation levels are expected to become industry practice. It is more cost effective to increase insulation levels during the original construction. 
5. Lower energy bills; More than 40 percent of the energy consumed in a typical household goes to heating and cooling. Increased insulation reduces this energy consumption which lowers energy bills.

"Insulation," says Bob Vila, host of the nationally syndicated TV program that bears his name, "is the most efficient energy-saving expenditure." Vila says homeowners should check attics to determine the amount of insulation already installed. "Most homes built before 1980 have inadequate insulation," he said, noting that if insulation between the joists of the attic floor comes only to the top of the joist, it probably makes sense to install more insulation. (source: EnergyStar.org)

Georgian Insulation Systems, is Central Ontario's premium spray foam insulation contractor. We're recommended by leading custom home builders, commercial design/builders, architects, home inspectors and our many customers. We provide Polyurethane Spray foam, Cellulose, Fibreglas, Roxull, Fireproofing, Insulation Removal, concrete slab lifting with injected polyurethane and epoxy crack filling.

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