Spray foam insulation stops pollutants such as mold, allergens, dust, snow, and rain from entering your home or building, all with a safe environmentally clean solution. Imagine an attic that is clean forever and that you could go into and breath comfortably.
Here’s how:
- Environmentally safe products
- Indoor Air Quality
- Blocks harmful outdoor contaminants (mold, pollen, allergens)
- Maintains indoor air quality
Environmentally safe
Spray foam solutions are completely “Green”, 100% water blown products that are free from harmful fibers, gasses, or other contaminants such as asbestos, glass fibers, formaldehyde, and ozone depleting hydrocarbons. Furthermore, there is no off gassing overtime. No other insulation material can make this claim.
Air Quality EPA
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air quality is one of the greatest health concerns in the nation. In fact, the number of Americans with respiratory ailments is steadily increasing. The latest statistics show that more than 50 million U.S. citizens suffer from allergies. As all of us spend significant time indoors, we need to consider designing homes and offices with proper consideration of the indoor air.
Indoor Air Leakage issues
Air leakage leads to moisture transfer throughout the building envelope, both from outside and inside air. This results in poor quality air, condensation, and mold issues. Most of our homes have mold due to condensation, we just can’t see it because it is covered by drywall. I’ve seen many new buildings and homes have total failures due to mold (see Colorado’s mold climate below).
Air leakage throughout our building envelope gets filtered through traditional insulation materials (i.e. fiberglass and cellulose), and winds up as poor quality breathable air. This air has traveled through many bad glass fibers and chemical treated materials, etc. We don’t have to run through the many issues with running air through batts and then breathing them here (refer to the internet). A typical home will leak about 17 ACH, that is 17 times a day the air is changed within your home (and yes you paid to heat or cool it). Most of this air is leaking through your insulation. Not a good idea.
Spray foam greatly improves indoor air quality by eliminating air leakage through the building envelope, and insulation materials like fiberglass or cellulous. Instead, we bring fresh air through the HVAC system connected to a duct directly to the outside.
Harmful outdoor air contaminants
- Molds
- Pollutants
- Allergens
- Dust
Molds
You say Colorado is so dry we don’t have mold issues?
How do we make mold in Colorado?
Colorado has dramatic mold issues within our climate due to the large temperature swings within a given 24 hours.
Mold on the underside of a roof deck.
Air leakage throughout the building envelope brings in moisture carried by air (water vapor) into wall and roof cavities. We have many nice warm days (warm air laden with moisture), then at night temperature drops like a rock. Here is the problem, warm moist air trapped within walls and attics cools to dew point were it condenses and makes water. Once you have water you will have mold growth. Mold growth is very common in Colorado despite common sense thinking.
Mold on framing members and trusses.
Another potential mold problem occurs when we have warm moist air from inside the building entering our wall and ceiling cavities. Given moisture always goes to cold (funny how that works), this warm moist air leaks through our insulation and comes in contact with the very cold exterior building envelope. Magic, we condense on the cold surfaces make water and then have mold issues.
Mold on underside of roof deck.
Mold growth needs only three things, water, air, and a food source such as wood, drywall, or organic insulation materials. Our insulation materials are completely inorganic and are not a food source for mold.
Mold in fiberglass insulation in attic.
Mold in fiberglass in commercial building.
Spray foam insulation is an air barrier by itself, thus eliminating building envelope air leakage in either direction, and thereby preventing condensation. The surface of our spray foam becomes the condensing surface and it will never reach dew point and make water.
Pollutants, Allergens, and Dust
Penguin’s Coat insulation solutions create a continuous air barrier that seals the building envelope and blocks harmful irritants such as mold spores, pollen, dust, and other allergens from entering your structure. Our solution remains clean and dry and does not provide an environment in which mold will grow.
Our solutions allow complete control over clean healthy indoor air quality.
