Supporting energy-efficient building upgrades and retrofits
According to the latest Buildings Energy Consumption Survey conducted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),1 commercial buildings, on average, are 42-years-old. When they were first built, their project teams would not have prioritized energy efficiency, nor did they have access to the advanced building materials and technologies available today. In turn, the U.S.’s aging building infrastructure might not be equipped to deal with the fluctuating temperatures across seasons due to the impacts of climate change. This results in the building envelope and thermal appliances having to work harder to reduce heat transfer and maintain stable interior temperatures.
Due to its versatility and thermal performance, polyiso is a proven solution to support energy-efficient retrofits on commercial buildings. Prioritizing such upgrades can elevate the performance of existing buildings, which can help make them more energy-efficient and prolong their service life. According to a report conducted by ICF,2 an international consulting firm with expertise in the energy and efficiency sector, insulation upgrades can reduce about 10 billion tons (9 billion tonnes) of carbon emissions over a period of 50 years. In addition, such practices can replace the need for newer buildings with stable thermal performance, eliminating the carbon-intensive process of new construction. As stated perfectly by Carl Elefante, former president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), “The greenest building is one that is already built.”
Looking beyond thermal performance
Polyiso works from a performance standpoint and contributes to reducing a structure’s carbon footprint by improving its energy performance. However, there is more to polyiso than its insulating properties. Polyiso’s well-tested fire performance and effective resistance to moisture and water intrusion can help to safeguard a building from the associated damage, repair, and replacement. Reduced maintenance and replacement needs can reduce the carbon emissions associated with new materials used for frequent replacement projects.
Meeting fire safety code requirements
Construction materials, including foam plastic insulation such as polyiso, require a suitable margin of fire safety. Thanks to its unique structure of strong isocyanurate chemical bonds, polyiso is tested to deliver code-required fire performance for a wide range of applications. For example, polyiso products are available as a Class A product, with a flame spread of 25 or less as tested in accordance with ASTM E84. In addition, polyiso can resist temperatures up to 198 C (390 F), which is more than twice the temperature resistance of some other building insulation products. In turn, polyiso products deliver exceptional versatility and can be used to meet the demands of modern building envelope assembly configurations.
Fire performance in roofs and wall assemblies
Building codes are especially stringent for exterior walls of commercial buildings and in many cases, the products must meet a flame spread index of 25 or less and a smoke-developed rating of 450 per ASTM E84. Polyiso stays intact by neither melting nor dripping during fire exposure. Instead, the product forms a protective surface char that enhances its fire resistance by reducing flame spread. In fact, many exterior wall assemblies with polyiso pass the stringent NFPA 285 test and those assemblies can be used in buildings of any type and any height.
