Hopefully you know by now that fiberglass insulation products are cost effective and good for the environment. A recent NAIMA (North American Insulation Manufacturers Association) publication reinforces that they’re good for meeting climate goals for residential, commercial and industrial construction, while also debunking the myth that cellulose and wood fiber insulation is even better.
Some cellulose insulation manufacturers market their products as carbon negative – and therefore the best option for lowering building carbon emissions. What they fail to mention is that the temporary carbon savings are lost when cellulose and wood fiber insulation products are landfilled at the end of their useful life and degrade, releasing carbon back into the environment.
The NAIMA piece “Setting the Record Straight: Insulation and Low Carbon Buildings” focuses on an apples-to-apples comparison of the carbon payback periods of all commonly used insulation products. The findings are based on a third-party analysis commissioned by NAIMA last year that shows all insulation materials rapidly make up for their embodied carbon emissions through use-phase carbon emissions savings.
“Fiberglass insulation performs particularly well by this measure with an average carbon payback period of less than a month. Fiberglass and mineral insulation are truly ‘low carbon’ building materials,” NAIMA said.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, buildings account for more than one-third of total carbon emissions in the United States. Achieving low-carbon construction of residential and commercial buildings means assessing carbon impacts in three primary areas: resulting impact from the production of materials, the use phase carbon impact of building materials (operational carbon) and the end-of-life cycle (landfill) climate impacts of products.
Fiberglass and mineral wool are non-biodegradable, which increases their carbon payback. Other insulation types, including cellulose and wood fiber insulation, are biodegradable and will decompose over time, releasing methane that can have a high global warming potential if released into the atmosphere. Cellulose also requires chemicals to improve its fire performance and tends to lose R-value as it settles over time, making fiberglass and mineral wool more resilient options.
Overall, increasing insulation is one of the best ways to reduce building carbon emissions. Increasing air sealing and insulation in buildings is the best step toward decarbonizing new and existing residential, commercial and industrial buildings.
