Radiant Barrier | Energy Efficiency

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.

Why is spray foam insulation so popular with today’s builders? Simple. Used in most residential construction, it fills and seals wall and ceiling cavities better than fiberglass – but at twice the cost.

According to most builders, not only does spray foam provide better heating bills, it creates a more comfortable living space because there is less fluctuation in the temperature of the room.

But paying twice the cost is moe than most builders can afford.

That’s why many have turned to a hybrid – Flash & Batt. This combination of fiberglass batt and spray foam insulation allows the builder to “flash” a quarter-inch of spray foam on the wall, then finish the job with fiberglass insulation.

But now Fi-Foil – America’s leading manufacturer of insulation products – has introduced a new national solution for frame walls that reduces costs and increases R-Values by combining the company’s VR Plus Shield® Reflective Insulation with spray foam insulation.

Call Flash & Foil, this unique combination produces a higher R-Value – from R-11 to R-20 – and costs significantly less compared to fiberglass batts. Combined with spray foam, the multiple layers in VR Plus Shield® Reflective Insulation help stop radiation, virtually eliminating heat transfer.

The principle is the same: Simply spray a desired thickness of spray foam on the back-side of a frame wall to seal the joints. Then apply Fi-Foil’s VR Plus Shield® Reflective Insulation to the face of the studs. The three layers of VR Plus Shield® expand to form reflective air spaces in the remaining portion of the cavity.

The result is a superior insulation solution that saves you money!

What’s more, VR Plus Shield® is available in both perforated and non-perforated versions, so it can be used as a vapor transmitter or a vapor retarder. And because it is a Green Building material, it contributes to LEED and NAHB credits.

With increasing energy costs and concerns about over-consumption, electrical companies have come to believe that they can make more money selling less electricity.

To that end, forward-thinking companies have moved into the business of installing heating and cooling systems for their customers and offering other energy-related services, including advising consumers about the energy-saving benefits of installing a radiant barrier system in their homes’ attics. For between $1,000 and $2,000, a radiant barrier can keep the attic cooler and reduce air-conditioning use.

Not only is attic radiant barrier one of the least expensive, most energy-efficient systems available, its installation helps blocks up to 97 percent of heat, stopping warm air from entering the home during the summer and preventing it from escaping during the winter.

Energy companies believe that by putting more energy-management tools in the hands of customers, it will also help the industry by smoothing demand spikes that otherwise must be met with new capacity.

Fi-Foil’s Silver Shield Radiant Barrier saves energy, reduces attic temperatures up to 30 degrees F, improves duct and insulation performance, and is the industry’s highest performing radiant barrier application.

The company’s 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. For detailed information, contact Fi-Foil at 1-800-448-3401.