Trying to decide what type of home insulation to use?  Your primary goal should be to reduce the amount of energy it takes to heat and cool your home.  But did you ever stop to think about the amount of energy that goes into producing insulation itself?

Green-building experts use the term “embodied energy” to describe the energy used to make any product, bring it to market and (eventually) dispose of it.  To evaluate how green an insulation material is in the terms of energy usage, you must weigh its embodied energy against the energy it saves when it’s insulating a home.  Using material that save considerable amounts of a home’s operating energy, even if the material’s embodied energy is a bit higher, is a good direction, but using material that save operating energy and have a low embodied energy is even better.

Cellulose Insulation has by far has the least embodied energy.  Fiberglass has up to 10 times more embodied energy than cellulose and foam products have even more—up to 64 times.

Of course, there are other questions to consider when assessing the environmental impact of any insulation, including; does its manufacture or disposal create pollution; is it made from a rapidly renewable resource; does it contain recycled content; and whether it is recyclable itself.

Cellulose insulation is the most environmentally friendly insulation on the market today.  It is manufactured from 80% recycled paper from locally sourced post-consumer was newsprint. It is safe to install, easy to handle and simple to recover onsite.  In most cases, with proper job management by professional insulation contracts, virtually all the excess cellulose insulation from an installation project can be recovered and used right on site leaving almost no wasted material.

If you are looking for a product that has the least amount of embodied energy and the highest amount of recycled content, then choosing Cellulose Insulation is the right choice!