OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — A composite foam insulation panel being developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and partners could reduce wall-generated heating and cooling loads in buildings by 38 to 50 percent, potentially saving homeowners $150 or more per year.

The proposed 2-inch board will feature modified atmosphere insulation and target an R-value of 25 at a projected cost of 30 cents per square foot more than current insulation materials. That works out to a payback of 10 years.

“This project is in line with the Department of Energy’s goal to reduce energy consumption in buildings by 50 percent by 2030,” said Kaushik Biswas of ORNL’s Building Envelope Systems Research Group. ORNL researchers will use their extensive experimental and modeling capabilities to measure and optimize the material’s thermal performance.

Partners in this project are Firestone Building Products Co. of Indianapolis and NanoPore of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Publication date: 1/26/2015 

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