Environmentally Friendly Building Insulation
When it comes to protecting the environment, no other building insulation comes close to cellulose insulation. Please take five minutes to learn why.
Made from Recycled Newspaper
Cellulose Insulation is 85% recycled paper—most of it post-consumer--treated with fire retardants. The paper normally comes from community based recycling programs. Paper drives, used for fund raising purposes by non-profit groups, also provide a lot of the newspapers used to produce cellulose insulation.
The fire retardants are so effective that cellulose insulation is one of the most fire resistant building materials found in a home. It will actually slow the spread of fire, giving occupants extra time they need to reach safety and the fire company more time to arrive and possibly save the structure.
Natural Air Barrier
Air infiltration is often the largest cause for heat loss from a structure. Cellulose Insulation naturally 
protects against air infiltration and air leaks due to its low air permeability. Some insulation materials, such as fiberglass insulation, require the use of an air membrane on the outside of the house to prevent air from blowing through the insulation in the walls. This added expense can be skipped with Cellulose Insulation.
Embodied Energy
The process for producing Cellulose Insulation is extremely energy efficient. “R” for “R” it takes at least ten times more energy to make fiberglass insulation by melting sand or glass in gas-fired furnaces than to manufacture cellulose insulation in electrically-driven mills. This is referred to as “embodied energy.”
Foam insulations contain approximately 20 times as much embodied energy as cellulose insulation, because they are made mostly from petroleum. If you are choosing building insulation to save energy, doesn’t it make sense to choose the insulation which had dramatically lower embodied energy?
Here is an analogy. Suppose you are going to drive 300 miles to see a friend. You have the following three vehicles to choose from:
Vehicle |
Miles per Gallon |
Gallons of Fuel Used |
Comparison |
A |
30 |
10 |
Cellulose Insulation |
B |
3 |
100 |
Fiberglass Insulation |
C |
1.5 |
200 |
Foam Insulation |
All three vehicles will get you where you want to go. Cellulose Insulation is like to the vehicle which gets 30 miles per gallon. Which one would you choose if you are interested in saving energy and reducing green house gasses?
But this analogy is only tells part of the story. Decades of real world experience demonstrate that cellulose-insulated houses typically require 15% to 30% less energy for heating and cooling than homes insulated with fiber glass batts. It’s as if the 30 mpg vehicle was a Ferrari that could take you to your destination at 150 mph (speed limits permitting, of course), while vehicle “B” is an under-powered economy car that struggles to get up to 60.
Carbon Sinks
Scientists around the world are working overtime trying to find a way to sequester the carbon dioxide produced by humans, so it cannot reenter the atmosphere and cause global warming. Mother Nature has the most effective method of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, when trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into plant cells containing carbon. 
This carbon will not reenter the atmosphere until the wood or plant fiber is burned or decays. Some scientists are proposing that we capture carbon dioxide from power plants and pump it into large underground mines to keep it from entering the atmosphere, using the underground mines as “carbon sinks.”
Homeowners have a unique opportunity to create their own low cost Carbon Sinks by insulating their attics, walls and floors with Cellulose Insulation. Waste paper decays in landfills and produces greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide in the process. If this waste paper were recycled and converted into Cellulose Insulation, this paper could be prevented from reverting to greenhouse gases for the life of the structure, while saving a tremendous amount of energy. No other low cost building insulation can do this.
In 2007 about 3,000,000 tons of newspapers went to U.S. landfills. This paper could have been used to produce an additional 200,000,000 bags of Cellulose Insulation. There is enough paper going to landfills to produce enough Cellulose Insulation to replace nearly all other types of insulation.
Locally Produced
Cellulose Insulation can be locally produced, because the factories to produce Cellulose Insulation are much smaller and cost much less to build than factories to produce other kinds of insulation. Local recycling programs, insulation contractors, and lumber yards minimize the transportation needed to produce and use Cellulose Insulation.
Conclusion
Cellulose Insulation can be used in nearly every wall, attic, or floor of any house. It can also be used in many commercial and industrial buildings. 
It is no less effective as an insulating material than the other types of insulation available. Some people think it is more effective at saving energy. There is no doubt that it is far superior to all other forms of building insulation if you are concerned about the environment.
The next time you or a friend need building insulation, choose cellulose insulation and do the whole world a favor! One simple decision can have huge consequences for the environment for the life of the structure. Please recycle all of your paper at the same time and you can make a difference while setting a good example for your friends and family.
