----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 10:49
PM
Subject: Fw: [VGBNTALK] not natural
building products?
Iver Magoon,
Does "Preferred Building Systems" have any input or
experience that would speak to the question of settling or not, of the
cellulose used in their homes. Does it happen during transportation as
the writer below alludes to?
I don't expect it to be a problem. But I thought you or someone
at PBS might want to add words of concerning transporting the
cellulose insulated modular.
Jonathan Miller made me aware of this conversation by others. All
communications are included below.
Sincerely,
John
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:55 PM
Subject: Fwd: [VGBNTALK] not natural building
products?
Hello John:
Here's hoping you are doing well !
Happy Holidays!
Jonathan
Jonathan Miller, FCSI, SCIP,
AIA, NCARB
802.349.9992
Begin forwarded message:
Date: December 11, 2008 1:47:59 PM EST
Subject: Re: [VGBNTALK] not natural building
products?
I do work with a
modular manufacturer and have contacts with others. They have all stayed
away from cellulose because of settlement during transportation. Does your
group feel the dense-pack eliminates the risk of settlement by eliminating
the space for settlement to occur??
Chad Lacasse wrote:
[log in to unmask]
type="cite">
Embodied energy is
the energy consumed in producing products. Mineral insulation comes from
furnaces that gulp natural gas to melt sand, slag, or rock. Foam
plastics are petrochemicals. They are literally made out of energy!
Cellulose insulation is made by processing recycled wood fibers through
electrically driven mills that consume relatively little energy when
they are operating, and which can be shut down completely with the flip
of a switch at the end of the shift -- or even for lunch and coffee
breaks. Fiber glass, rock wool, and plastic insulation may have from 50
to over 200 times more embodied energy than cellulose.
Preferred Building Systems, our modular home
factory installs dense-pack cellulose at a 3.8 per inch R value and
provides tremendous air sealing along with the additional air sealing we
install. The cellulose is 85% post consumer recycled newspapers with a
fungicide and fire retarder.
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 (≈1.45, 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:
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.
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