So when it came time for him and his wife to choose the insulation system for their new retirement home on the Olympic Peninsula, their choice was no surprise. They chose COMFORT FOAM^® insulation and air barrier.

“We knew from the start that COMFORT FOAM insulation would be the best choice for insulating our new house and we were right,” says Dr. Alumbaugh.

The Alumbaugh home is situated on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The weather is cold and wet in the winter, and there is generally a large amount of moisture year-round. In this climate, a home with uncontrolled air leakage can suffer from drafts and dampness inside. Cool, damp air from outside the home comes through gaps, cracks and holes in the building envelope, while warm, conditioned air from inside the house escapes through other cracks, gaps and holes. This results in the heating system running overtime to keep the indoor environment comfortable.

COMFORT FOAM insulation, applied while the home is being built, eliminates uncontrolled air leakage. It blocks unwanted moisture and air infiltration at the source by sealing cracks and crevices in the building envelope.

“The temperature-controlling properties of COMFORT FOAM technology are excellent. We use less energy to keep our home completely comfortable; even in the winter months,” says Dr. Alumbaugh. “Our large RV garage has COMFORT FOAM insulation in the walls and ceiling. When winter temperatures outside dropped to 15 degrees F, the interior temperature in this unheated space was never less than 40 degrees.”

Custom home builder David Highlander was equally impressed with COMFORT FOAM when he built the Alumbaughs’ house.

“I usually use fiberglass batt insulation, but I was quite impressed with the spray-applied polyurethane foam we used on the house I built for Dr. and Mrs. Alumbaugh,” he says. “It was easily applied and particularly effective for sealing around wires, pipes and electrical boxes.”

The exterior walls, floor and ceiling of the Alumbaugh house were sprayed with a nominal 1-inch-thick application of COMFORT FOAM insulation, with the remaining cavity filled with glass fiber. This system provides a higher insulation R-value than glass fiber alone, as well as providing the air sealing required to stop costly uncontrolled air leakage.

COMFORT FOAM technology is a closed-cell, spray-applied polyurethane foam insulation system that creates a seamless, insulating air barrier that has been used to improve the energy efficiency, comfort and durability of single-family homes for over 20 years.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports that 40 percent of the energy cost of heating and cooling a building is wasted by uncontrolled air leakage, which also contributes to premature building deterioration, condensation, spalling, ice damming, poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and mold growth. An effective air barrier system substantially reduces both air leakage and the passage of moisture through the building envelope.

The COMFORT FOAM system eliminates costly uncontrolled air leakage by contributing to a monolithic, air-impermeable building envelope system. The COMFORT FOAM insulation system is accepted by all major building codes, including the International Code Council encompassing both commercial and residential applications.

New homes built with COMFORT FOAM technology may be eligible to obtain energy efficiency incentives under the Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005. Under the Act, builders of site-built or manufactured homes are eligible for a rebate of $2,000 for energy efficiency measures that achieve 50 percent savings over the 2004 IECC Standard. Envelope improvements to existing homes that meet the 2003 IECC and supplements are eligible for a rebate equal to 10 percent of the cost of improvements, up to $500.