Polyurethane foam insulation contains low-conductivity gas, most commonly hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Over time, usually in the first couple years, this gas gradually escapes and is replaced by air, causing the R-value to decrease. This is called thermal drift. For example, the initial R-value per inch is R-9, but at the end of two years it has reduced to R-7. Still pretty good.

All closed-cell polyurethane foam insulation that is produced today uses only non-chlorofluorocarbon (non-CFC) gas as foaming agents. The foams made with HCFCs don’t insulate as well as foams made with CFC gas, but it is supposedly less destructive to the ozone layer.

Polyurethane foam insulations require some sort of flame retardant. The most common retardants used are brominated or phosphorous-based. Many use pentra-brominated diphenyl ether (Pentra-BDE) as the flame retardant. There is some fear about the health consequences this chemical has on humans. While there is still some doubt, it has been shown to damage the liver, harm developing brains, and lower thyroid hormone production in animals. According to studies by Health Canada and Environment Canada the presence of this chemical in human breast milk has increased fifteen percent. Unfortunately there is no labeling to inform the consumer whether the insulation they are purchasing is made with Penra-BDE or a phosohorous-based flame retardant.

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Urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI), also known as urea-methanal, is a thermosetting resin or plastic made from urea and formaldehyde heated in the presencec of a mild base such as ammonia or pyridine. It was developed in Europe in the 1950’s as an improved means of insulating hard-to-reach cavities in house walls. It was typically made on-site from a mixture of urea-formaldehyde resin, a foaming agent, and compressed air.

UFFI was fairly common in home construction throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, but due to improper installation, there were enough health-related court cases to cause the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban it from residential and school use in 1982. The reason given for banning UFFI were “unreasonable risks to comsumers from the irritation, sensitization, and possible carcinogenic effects of formaldehyde emitted by UFFI.”

Today UFFI is primarily used for masonry walls in commercial and industrial buildings, but it has been discredited because of its formaldehyde emissions and its shrinkage. It is also very susceptible to fire and will break down if it comes into contact with water.This breaking down could cause more formaldehyde emissions.

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Because of its ability to fill all of the smallest cavities, liquid foam, the kind that can either be sprayed, foamed-in-place, injected, or poured, has a R-value twice as high as traditional batting insulation. There are seven types of foam insulation that we will take a look at in this series:

• Cementitious
• Phenolic
• Poluisocyanurate
• Polyurethane
• Icynene
• Tripolymer
• and Urea-formaldehyde

In this article though, I’m just going to tackle a couple, Icynene and Tripolymer. I am starting with these because they are the least common of all the ones mentioned above.

Icynene: This type of foam insulation is the most versital because it can either be sprayed or injected into the walls. It has very good resistance to water and air intrusion.

Tripolymer: This one can only be injected into the walls, but it has excellent resistance to fire as well as air intrusion.

We’ll look at Urea-formaldehyde foam insulation in the next article.

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Soy insulation is sprayed into four inch walls. It expands to one hundred times it’s sprayed-in size; this fills in all the cracks, crevices, and voids. It doesn’t settle when sprayed in, and it has as good or better insulating properties in four inch walls as traditional batting insulation in six inch walls. Soy insulation is resistant to mold, mildew, rodents, and insects; the insulation is not attractive as food for rodents and insects. It also contains no urea or formaldehyde. It is thermoset plastic that is naturally inert. This type of spray-in insulation uses water as a blowing agent; this system provides no off-gassing.

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