Radiant Barrier | Energy Efficiency

What is green?

Both builders and homeowners are struggling with that question these days – especially with the price of fuel oil at an all-time high and the cost of heating and cooling homes at the top of everyone’s mind.

For the average homeowner hears all about reducing his “environment footprint” – recycling; minimizing the amount of trash; seeking out Energy Star® appliances; turning off lights and other electronic equipment off when not in use; replacing a/c filters regularly; adding insulation to the attic; and using a radiant barrier under the roof to reflect radiant heat back outside.

At Fi-Foil, our products are designed to be energy-efficient, so we started out thinking in terms of energy conservation, life-cycle performance, and minimal landfill impact more than 20 years ago. Our radiant barrier and reflective insulation products are Energy Star® compliant and meet or exceed various performance and code criteria established by national, regional and local governing bodies.

The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) was developed and is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, a national non-profit organization formed in 1993 to promote environment responsibility within the building construction industry. Fi-Foil’s radiant barrier and reflective insulation products can contribute LEED credits for “Energy, Materials & Resources” to residential building projects – confirming our commitment to you, the industry, and our world.

The LEED criteria for certification continues to evolve as ongoing testing and evaluations produce new and more consistent results. Environmental responsibility will remain a major issue in the construction industry well into the foreseeable future. Products within the LEED framework that can produce a measurable positive impact on the environment along with cost justification, such as the Fi-Foil Company’s line of radiant barrier and reflective insulation products, will continue to grow in popularity as more and more of their benefits are realized.

We know how hot is on a summer afternoon by the pool. Imagine how it feels to someone working in an attic!

But experts say that something known as a radiant barrier may cool things off in the attic while saving homeowners lots of money.

How does a radiant barrier work?

A radiant barrier is based on a concept called emissivity or basically, how much a material can repel radiant energy. The lower the number the better and according to the Florida Energy Center a radiant barrier should measure less than 0.06.

They say that the radiant barrier can help cut air conditioning costs by as much as 20%.

But does a radiant barrier work? Experts say yes.

They say it works on the same principle as a lunar module lined with foil or that shiny reflective shield you put in your parked car windshield.

Experts say it is a home insulating idea that’s been around for decades.

In fact, the Department of Energy recommends radiant barriers in residential attics. And the Florida Solar Energy Center says that radiant barriers offer significant potential for impeding solar driven heat gains in buildings.

All of those recommendations are for actual rolls of reflective material that is attached in a retrofit to an existing attic or on building materials in new construction. Just like the radiant barrier products offered by Fi-Foil Company, the leader and innovator in energy-efficient reflective insulation and radiant barriers for residential, commercial, and agricultural buildings.

From “dual-flush high-efficiency toilets” to “soil retention drivable grass,” green, eco-friendly, energy-efficient and sustainable building products were all the rage at the recent Pacific Coast Builders Conference home building trade show in San Francisco.

New laws and building standards are forcing builders to create homes that are easier on the environment now and in the future. Virtually every year, California building codes impose new rules mandating better energy efficiency, reduced use of water and increased use of recycled materials.

“This is not a fad,” said one attendee. “This is now building science.”

One company that has received a lot of attention – both for its radiant barrier and reflective insulation products, and because of its commitment to the principles of sustainable construction – is Fi-Foil Company, the leader and the innovator in energy-efficient reflective insulation and radiant barriers for residential, commercial, and agricultural buildings. Fi-Foil’s products are designed to be energy-efficient, because the company began more than 20 years ago thinking in terms of energy conservation, life-cycle performance, and minimal landfill impact. Its radiant barrier and reflective insulation products are Energy Star® compliant and meet or exceed various performance and code criteria established by national, regional and local governing bodies.

Fi-Foil’s attic radiant barrier is particularly popular with today’s builders – not only because it is a green, sustainable product, but because it has been proven to reduce radiant heat transfer up to 97%. What’s more:

• Fi-Foil’s radiant barrier provides A/C savings up to 12%.
• Fi-Foil’s radiant barrier significantly reduces attic temperatures up to 30 degrees.
• Fi-Foil’s radiant barrier increases insulation and air conditioning duct efficiency.
• Fi-Foil’s radiant barrier lowers temperatures and improves comfort in areas that are not typically air conditioned, such as garages and lanais.
• Fi-Foil’s radiant barrier qualifies for Florida Energy Code credits.
• Fi-Foil’s radiant barrier offers an Energy Star Rating that helps homeowners qualify for energy efficient mortgages.

To find more about out the green, energy-efficient benefits of Fi-Foil’s radiant barriers, call 1-800-448-3401.

With temperatures across the country soaring into the nineties, and fuel costs higher than they’ve ever been, consumers are looking for newer, better ways to reduce their utility costs. One way that has been available for years, but is often overlooked, is the use of radiant barrier insulation, which has been proven to be more effective than the common pink insulation found in most homes.

Attic radiant barrier insulation is one of the more effective options to help keep rising energy costs from driving your summer air conditioning bills through the roof. In fact, tests have shown that attic radiant barriers are an effective method for helping to maintain energy costs at their lowest possible level by reducing winter heat loss and summer heat gain.

During the summer, as your roof gets hotter, the heat radiates from the roof’s surface. A lot of that radiant heat is transferred to the air inside your attic or the air space between your ceiling and the roof, which heats the air in that space. Often, a home’s air conditioning ducts are in the attic, so using a radiant barrier to reduce the attic’s air temperature will also cut down on the heat gain in your air conditioning ducts.

Insulation is designed to trap air, providing a barrier that keeps the hot attic air from moving down into your home. Radiant barriers work with insulation, but in a much different way. Radiant barriers actually reflect the hot air away from the living space, keeping it out of the attic and maintaining the comfort of your home.

Buy adding attic radiant barriers to your existing insulation, you can realize even greater energy savings.

To find more about out the benefits of radiant barriers, contact Fi-Foil, America’s leading manufacturer of radiant barriers, at 1-800-448-3401.

Despite the fact that radiant barrier has been around for more than a quarter of a century, and it has been proven effective by hundreds of research trials and onsite testing, there are still misconceptions about how radiant barriers work. Consumers have even questioned whether or not reflecting the heat out through the roof can negatively affect the roof shingles.

First of all, radiant barriers are part of a “system,” a cooling/heating strategy. The basic product is a type of aluminum foil – much enhanced from your typical kitchen foil. This material is stapled to the underside of the top chord of the roof trusses or to the underside of the roof decking so that there will be an airspace below it to the attic floor. The radiant barrier blocks the radiant heat transfer between a surface that is giving off heat, such as a hot roof, and a surface that can absorb this heat, like conventional attic insulation.

Without a radiant barrier to block the heat coming into the attic through the roof, the heat gets radiated to the insulation which transfers it to the material it touches, primarily your home’s ceiling. Now you’ve got a hotter house, making you uncomfortable and causing the air conditioner to run longer to get rid of the heat.

Research has found that a radiant barrier system can block up to 97% of the heat that gets radiated downward by the roof before it gets to the insulation.

Even if your attic is well-ventilated, temperatures in a typical attic on a hot summer day can easily reach or exceed 150 degrees F. That’s why you need to get this heat out of the attic before it gets into your living space.

As for its effects on roofing material, it is pretty unlikely that radiant barrier systems can cause any damage to roof shingles even on the hottest days. Roofing materials are obviously made to withstand very high temperatures, and research has found that a radiant barrier only increases their peak temperatures by five degrees or less – not very significant when you consider that peak temperatures on the shingles can easily reach 160 to 190 degrees without causing any damage.

According to the Waco Tribune, demand for “green” products that protect the environment and save energy is coloring the way local builders and re-modelers do business.

Some are responding with lower ceilings, dual-flush commodes, and countertops made from glass rescued from trash containers.

Insulation that makes a home easier to heat in the winter and cool in the summer is key to any green approach to homebuilding.

One insulating tool that is becoming popular with builders is something called radiant barrier, which basically is a foil sheet pre-attached to oriented strand board. Radiant barrier is used as decking for roofs.

Placed beneath the shingles of a home, radiant barrier keeps attics cooler, which can make cooling a home less of a chore.

Some builders use radiant barrier as a marketing tool. Others are building custom homes, and the homebuyers are specifically requesting that radiant barrier be used, according to some Texas homebuilders.

Building material costs are so depressed that radiant barrier is not much more expensive than plain-oriented strand board.

A lot of people are trying to conserve energy and radiant barrier is one of the most cost-effective, sustainable ways for both builders and homeowners to achieve that goal.