Insulation may not be sexy, but it’s everywhere – and without it we spend more money and lose the ability to regulate both heat and air conditioning in our homes. With Open Cell Spray Foam Insulation Approved by CEC we have more options. Recently, there’s been a new growth area in the insulation and weatherization sector that’s spurring all sorts of new technology for finding better ways to cram insulation into the standard pocket areas created in home construction. Now, after some time, the California Energy Commission (CEC) has voted unanimously to officially recognize open-cell spray foam as an accepted insulation.
At issue was the inclusion of open-cell spray foam in the CEC’s 2008 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (take a breath before you say this next part), “Alternative Quality Insulation Installation (QII) Procedure for Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation: Medium-Density Closed Cell and Low-Density Open Cell SPF”. With Open Cell Spray Foam Insulation Approved by CEC there are more options for keeping your home cool and warm.
The inclusion was proposed by the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA). What was at stake was the ability for buildings insulated using the open-cell foam spray insulation to be eligible for the many available state energy tax credits and utility rebate programs. And this is California, so you had both the difficulty of the approval process as well as the proliferation of available tax incentives and credits. This is a big deal for the SPFA, plus it signals a new era of alternative insulation methods that can provide even greater levels of R-value within spaces that were otherwise limited in their ability to separate cold from heat.
This decision by the CEC actually enables, for the first time, open-cell spray foam to join closed-cell spray foam and other insulation materials already recognized by California’s 2008 energy code. Since a variety of home builders were already using open-cell foam sprays for insulation, getting these products into the running for rebates and incentives is going to help a lot of companies. And the work is apparently just beginning because, during the next few months, the SPFA California Task Group will continue to work with CEC Staff providing input during the development of the 2013 Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings so that spray foam insulation and roofing systems are properly addressed. Good stuff.
