Insulation and Green Building Products

AppleBlossom Insulators can actually change the thermal barrier in a home by moving it from your ceiling to the roof with the use of reflectives. In many homes, the HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) ducts are in the attic where temperatures can be 120° or higher. By changing the thermal barrier, the ducts will operate inside a controlled space thereby increasing performance while reducing energy consumption and prolonging the life of the system. And contrary previous reports, the use of reflectives does not affect your roofing materials' life span.

A reflective is a lightweight product, sometimes called bubble-foil, and consists of a layer of polyethylene bubble that is sandwiched between layers of foil. A radiant barrier reflects heat energy instead of trying to absorb it. This product can be used as a radiant barrier along pitch lines (reflecting up to 97% of all radiant energy) and as a vapor barrier in crawl spaces (it is 100% waterproof). It also can provide Class A/Class 1 Fire Rating and reduces ice dam potential.

Understanding Thermal Insulation

The term thermal insulation can refer to materials used to reduce the rate of heat transfer, or the methods and processes used to reduce heat transfer. Heat energy can be transferred by conduction, convection, radiation or by actual movement of material from one location to another.

Thermal insulation is the method of preventing heat from escaping a container or from entering the container. In other words, thermal insulation can keep an enclosed area such as a building warm, or it can keep the inside of a container cold.

Heat is transferred by from one material to another by conduction, convection and/or radiation. Insulators are used to minimize that transfer of heat energy.

In home insulation, the R-value is an indication of how well a material insulates. The flow of heat can be reduced by addressing one or more of these mechanisms and is dependent on the physical properties of the material employed to do this.

Reflective insulations are typically fabricated from aluminum foils with a variety of core materials such as low-density polyethylene foam, polyethylene bubbles, fiberglass, or similar materials.

When aluminum foils are used as the facing material reflective insulation can stop 97% of radiant heat transfer.

Reflective insulation can be installed in a variety of applications and locations to include but not limited to; residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial structures.

Some common installs include house wraps, duct wraps, pipe wraps, under radiant floors, inside wall cavity’s, roof systems, attic systems and crawl spaces.

Reflective insulations can be used as a stand-alone product in many applications but can also be used in combination systems with mass insulations where higher r-values are required.