Cellulose Insulation

Green Insulation

Cellulose insulation is our insulation of choice. It is not appropriate for all applications but usually cellulose is the most cost effective and most green insulation solution. Cellulose is a blown in insulation that looks grey and fluffy. We use stabilized cellulose which we install with a little moisture in order to keep the dust to a minimum and to prevent settling. Blown cellulose is appropriate for attic insulation and for wall cavity drill and fill applications.

•Cellulose is composed of 85% post-consumer papers (newspapers, yellow pages, etc) with a 15% borate additive.

•Fiberglass insulation has at most 40% recycled content and foam which has virtually none.

•Cellulose insulation takes less energy to make than any other insulation material. In fact, fiberglass takes 10 time more embodied energy and foam takes up to 64 times more.

Fire Resistance

The borate that is added to the cellulose acts as an effective fire-retardant. Studies have shown that a house with cellulose insulation in the walls will withstand a house fire much better than a house without insulation. We did our own experiment and tried lighting the cellulose with a blow-torch; as promised the cellulose charred but did not catch fire.

Rodent and Mold Prevention

Borate also acts to inhibit mold and repel rodents. Unlike fiberglass, which rodents love to use for nests, rodents will not borrow through cellulose.

High Density Walls

Cellulose blown into an attic is fluffy and has air pockets that slow the movement of heat. Wall insulation is installed very differently so that it has a high density, completely fills the bay and does not settle. This technique is called “dense-pack” wall insulation because of the way cellulose is blown in.

Noise Reduction

In addition to providing excellent thermal protection, dense-pack wall insulation provides significant noise reduction. In fact, cellulose is approximately three times denser then fiberglass and can deaden the sound through walls and between floor levels.

Further Information on Cellulose Insulation:

Cellulose Insulation MSDS Sheet (Green Fiber).pdf
Data sheet detailing information on energy efficient cellulose insulation.

Dense Pack Cellulose Wall Insulation.pdf
"More than 85% of the content of cellulose insulation is processed from recycled paper fibers which have been chemically treated for flame resistance (these additives do not contain formaldehyde) making cellulose the “greenest” product you can use for insulation. Cellulose insulation provides outstanding resistance to heat flow for thermal applications, noise control for acoustical treatments, and fire control in wall applications."