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The Environment

Environmental Building News believes that cellulose insulation should be a preferred insulation material for environmentally concerned builders and designers. After intense study and thorough investigation, the journal reported that cellulose is clearly the environmentally-friendly insulation. Cellulose is more often than not, the best choice for architects, builders, contractors, and homeowners concerned about responsible environmental stewardship.

Embodied Energy Embodied energy is the amount of energy used to manufacture a product. Fiberglass is manufactured using enormous blast furnaces that consume a great amount of energy. Cellulose is manufactured using electrically-driven mills. Data reported to the Canadian Standards Association* suggest that fiberglass actually requires at least 25 to 30 times more energy to make than cellulose of equivalent R-value (adjustments for weight differences are included in the calculation).iv

Recycled Materials Fiberglass manufacturers typically use only 20% to 30%, if any, recycled glass cullet (broken, waste glass). Cellulose on average contains at least 75% recycled, post-consumer newsprint. (T·A·P contains 85%.) This saves millions of cubic yards of landfill space, provides a valuable product from what otherwise must be buried or burned, and helps reduce the rate of depletion of our nation's limited resources. Thanks in part to the efforts of cellulose manufacturers like T·A·P, newspaper is the most commonly recycled household material. Cellulose insulation manufactured from recycled paper is the least polluting and most energy efficient insulation.

* Letters to Canadian Standards Association from G. van der Zanden, Roxul; and B. Wiley, Therm-O-Comfort, Ltd.

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