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cellulose insulation made with recycled paper is a good green option with performance - high R value and low ghg emissions On 11 Dec 2008, at 12:55, Robert Riversong wrote: > Icynene vs straw is a good example of the difficulty in making > appropriate choices of "green" materials. > > While I don't think that spray foams should be used in new > construction, stuffing straw into existing walls for a retrofit/ > upgrade is not a sensible option and with a limited wall cavity > Icynene may be the best alternative for renovation. Even for new > construction, straw bales - with their low R-value per inch (Å1.45, > about the same as lumber) may not be the best choice. > > Besides having no global warming or ozone-depleting installation by- > products, Icynene has only a little more embodied energy per cubic > foot than fiberglass (not that I would recommend fiberglass for > anything), typically less installed embodied energy (since framing > bays are not generally completely filled) and better efficiency > payback. > > Best use of remaining fossil energy and petrochemicals? Not so > simple to discern. > > --- On Thu, 12/11/08, Michelle Smith Mullarkey <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > Point taken. I admittedly was thinking of products like Icynene > vs. straw, but it seems fossil fuels really are part of our entire > world. > > On 12/10/2008 6:21 PM, Robert Riversong wrote: >> >> --- On Wed, 12/10/08, Michelle Smith Mullarkey <[log in to unmask]> >> wrote: >> Fossil fuel is still used to manufacture and transport the >> majority of green building products (not natural building products >> such as straw bales)... >> >> I'm afraid that fossil fuels are used for the production of most >> straw and since some of it is coming from Canada, there's also >> transportation costs. "Natural" building materials are not >> necessarily immune from the environmental costs of other materials. >