How the Spray Foam Insulation Building Envelope Works
"The building envelope is the physical separator between the interior and the exterior environments of a building. Another emerging term is "Building Enclosure". It serves as the outer shell to help maintain the indoor environment (together with the mechanical conditioning systems) and facilitate its climate control. Building envelope design is a specialized area of architectural and [[engineering practice that draws from all areas of building science and indoor climate control." Cited from, and more can be read at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Building_envelope&oldid=432330358
We wanted to start with a good clear definition of the "Building Envelope" so that homeowners and business owners will know what we are referring to, when we talk about the building envelope.The building envelope is very vital to the overall efficiency of the way a home or business is heated and cooled. The way homes and most commercial buildings create the building envelope is by using insulation and some kind of vapor barrier, to prevent moisture from developing inside the home. The best example of this would be the typical R-13 Kraft Faced Fiberglass insulation that goes into most home in South Carolina. Both fiberglass and Spray Foam Insulation create a buidling envelope system sustainable to control indoor temperatures, however their is a huge difference in the building envelope designs that each insulation system incorporates. What we are going to try to educate you on in this blog post is how the building envelope is designed for fiberglass insulation vs. the design used for Spray Foam Insulation. We are also going to show you how the Spray Foam Insulation building envelope design is far more superior design to that of traditional fiberglass insulation designs. Then we will talk about how Spray Foam Insulation improves temperature balance in your home, with its unique building envelope design, and how this will improve overall comfortability in your home.
The biggest reasons why homeowners in North and South Carolina experience "Hot Homes" persay, even in very well fiberglass insulated home, is because of the building envelope design that is created when fiberglass insulation is properly installed. Fiberglass insulation is typically installed in the ceiling rafters of the attic, walls, and floor joist of your home, with the vapor retardant side (paper side) facing the controlled enviroment. This creates a building envelope, that is designed to trap cool or warm air inside the home, and eliminate heating & cooling non-liveable space. Proper attic ventilation, soffit vents, solar fans, electric fans, gable vents, ridge vents, and other venting methods are then used to release hot or cool air. Venting also allows air to flow on the underside of the roof, preventing condensation and moisture in the attic area. The main reason why fiberglass is installed differently from spray foam insulation is because if fiberglass insulation is attached to the rafters of a home, especially in extreme temperatures summer brings in the Carolina's, it does not eliminate air flow, thus creating conditions for condenstion, leading to moisture in the attic space.. Even in cathedral ceilings, cellulose injections, foam injections, and other newer methods of insulation are being used because of serious moisture issues many homeowners have seen with fiberglass insulation installed in cathedral ceilings. In crawlspaces, fiberglass insulation is attached to floor rafters, taking the crawlspace out of the equation. New fiberglass insulation systems will save homeowners a good amount on utilities, however over time many figerglass insulation systems begin to lose R-value and fail to insulate, due to sagging sagging, and loss of depth of insulation. Even if your not in the price range for spray foam insulation, fiberglass is definitely a good way to save short term on utility bills. Now that we know how the fiberglass insulation building envelope works, lets compare it to the building envelope design using spray foam insulation in a home in South Carolina.
In every home, duct work is installed in either the attic or the basement, with the furnace and air handling units normally being located in the same spaces, and condesing units and compressors located outside of the home. The most popular places for the ductwork systems and air handling units in homes in South Carolina is the crawlspace or the attic, or both in larger 2 or more story homes. Your probably saying, duh, thats an obvious, but this is the main reason that Spray Foam Insulation's building envelope design can out save fiberglass by 33% or more in utility savings. With the Spray Foam Insulation building envelope design, spray foam is then applied to the rafters of the roofing system, versus the ceiling joist of the home. During retrofit spray foam insulation projects, ceiling insulation is then removed to create more air flow into the attic from living space below or above. With spray foam insulation being made in place, it can seal all gaps and cracks, enabling it to be applied to roof rafters, because there is no air left to create condensation, thus eliminating moisture possiblities in the attic. The gable walls and soffitts are then eliminated by creating a spray foam insulation wall that is in line with the existing wall below, eliminating any outside envrioment condtions coming thru the soffit vent. Both open cell spray foam insulation & closed cell spray foam insulation work the same way, adding the attic space into the building envelope desing. During crawl space encapsulation, the walls of the crawlspace & floor of the crawlspace lined with 3 mil plastic, then sealed with closed cell spray foam insulation, adding the crawlspace into the building equation.
The reason spray foam insulation building envelope design works so well, is that the ductwork and a/c system are brought into the equation, and the inefficiencies of your HVAC ductwork system, no ceiling insulation, and increased interior airflow; all work to balance the temperature of your home. With ductwork being conditioned as well, trapped air in the ductwork system will not be as hot upon HVAC start up, thus shortening time for cool fresh air to reach the conditioned space. Spray Foam Insulation systems takes out venting, with windows, doors, and fans as the main sources of ventilation in the home. The overall improvement to temperature balance in the home, improves overall efficiency of your HVAC system, thus creating a cooler more comfortable homes in South Carolina during extreme heat of the summer. The better your HVAC system is, usually results in better energy savings as well, as newer HVAC units can really blast the cool air in your home at incredible speeds in spray foam insulated homes.
The temperature balances between fiberglass and spray foam insulation building envelope designs vary greatly. Its not so much that fiberglass insulation is a poor insulator, its just the extreme temperatures of the Southeast like NC, SC, GA, AL, and FL, have some really hot days for long periods, thus creating extreme heat in attic spaces. Attic temperatures in homes in these states with fiberglass insulation systems can sometimes reach 180 degrees because venting is just not enough to let out the hot air fast enough. With the a/c being a sealed system with most cool air being lost in registers and returns your attic can get up to 180 degrees in some cases, thus meaning the duct work is also a 180 degrees. This means cool air is being heated for a period of time, before it reaches living space. If your HVAC usit is always cooling 180 degree metal ductwork before it gets into living space it means that the air coming out is not coming out as cold as it was designed too, thus making fiberglass insulation work against your overall efficiency of your HVAC system in extreme heat conditions.
Spray Foam Insulation works with HVAC systems, leaving attic space and crawl space temperatures 10 degrees cooler or warmer than lliving conditions, improving efficiency of HVAC systems in South Carolina homes. Spray foram Insulation and new HVAC systems work together they make a great energy savings combo. We hope this has been an informative blog on how to improve a hot home in North Carolina & South Carolina. If your in North or South Carolina and interested in having spray foam insulation or any other energy efficient "Green" insulation systems, give us a call today at 706-951-0158. We look forward to providing homeowners with more energy saving home improvement information, and if your not in our coverage area please contact a spray foam insulation contractor today to start saving on utility bills.
Myrtle Beach Services & Construction Company
1357 Wycliffe Drive
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Phone: 706-951-0158
Website: http://www.scroofingcontractors.com
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