CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA Blog

Why Does Your Building Envelope Need Support From Updated Insulation?

As a homeowner, you're already juggling a mountain of tasks and reminders to help keep the ship smoothly sailing. That's why learning new information about how to keep your home safer and more comfortable is a never-ending adventure. If you're also invested in improving your household's monthly savings, you'll be interested in learning more about what it takes to support your building envelope (and why it matters!).

Building Envelopes 101

The divide between the interior and exterior of a structure is called “the building envelope”. This barrier helps to improve climate control capabilities to keep the inside of the building temperature regulated. It also provides support to the strength of your home’s structure, improving how well the building can handle external forces and weight.

The exterior system of your home’s building envelope includes windows, doors, the roof, floors, and even the foundation and insulation. If you’re experiencing irregular temperatures, poor indoor air quality, and air leaks, something could be wrong with this support system. When the building envelope and exterior system aren’t supported, your climate comfort, safety, and energy efficiency could be affected.

Why Is My Home Uncomfortable?

Quality insulation and air sealing coverage provide a key line of defense for your home as primary supporters of a strong and efficient building envelope. This is largely thanks to the fact that the materials share a common goal with the divide: improving climate control and temperature regulation.

The Role of Insulation and Air Sealing

Insulation reduces heat transfer, the rate at which heat enters and exits a building. During the winter, this keeps desired warmth in your home; in the summer, it reduces unwanted heat gain. The effectiveness of a material's ability to reduce heat transfer is measured using the insulation’s R-value, otherwise known as the resistance value. This numerical value differs based on the material and its type. For example, blown-in fiberglass has an average R-value of 2.7 per inch of depth, but fiberglass batts can have an R-value between 3.1 and 3.7.

Air sealing is a sealant that helps to reduce air leaks throughout the building envelope. These gaps and openings allow heat and conditioned air to escape while letting in outdoor air and pollutants. While air sealing is a major contributor to reducing cold spots and drafts, it also helps to significantly reduce health risks, especially if you have respiratory illnesses.

Maintaining The Comfort of a Home

Insulation and air sealing are installed throughout your home to provide support to the building envelope on every level. This doesn’t just mean between the inside and outdoors; these materials also contribute to temperature regulation from room to room and on each floor of the home. One of the first ways you may be able to tell that you need to upgrade your material is if there’s one room or even an entire side of the house that’s considered the “hottest/coldest” room in the house.

Your building envelope needs a variety of materials to maintain structural integrity and extended lifespan. While you may be familiar with the insulation in your attic, did you know you can find these helpful materials throughout your home? While the Department of Energy has a breakdown of guidelines and basic requirements to insulate a home, the specific needs and codes for your house can vary depending on where you live.

Regular evaluations and inspections are crucial in order to catch damages or hidden problems such as moisture, pests, and other disturbances that not only reduce the effectiveness of the material but also harm the house. While catching deterioration early on can prevent energy waste and higher bills, it also uncovers dangerous hazards like mold growth, rotting wood, or infestation that can break down the other systems of the building envelope.

Building Envelope Support Systems

We’ve already covered the fact that insulation works to help your building envelope improve temperature regulation and climate control by reducing the influence of outdoor temperatures on your interior environment. To provide the best form of support to your home’s building envelope, you need to have properly installed materials that have sufficient and effective coverage in the necessary areas of the building.

In addition to quality temperature regulation, the building envelope and its systems contribute to the safety and integrity of a building. There are many various insulation materials that have natural properties or chemical treatments that help by resisting moisture and fire or deterring the infestation of pests. When a house is affected by mold growth, bacteria, infestation, and heat damage, the building envelope can be at risk right along with the insulation material. In addition to significantly increasing the rate of deterioration of your material, these problems can also compromise your home’s sturdiness.

While reducing the risks from outdoor pollutants, insects, and moisture has a significant impact, there are also some materials that can even support the structural integrity of a house. For example, closed-cell spray foam is rigid when installed in the walls and ceiling, providing additional strength to the joists and surfaces it’s applied to. It also has an average R-value of 6.9 per inch, which is one of the highest values out of the common materials, meaning less needs to be applied to effectively resist heat transfer.

In order to choose the right insulation material to support the building envelope, it’s important to talk to industry experts. Your local professionals can point you in the right direction for cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions that meet your home’s unique requirements.

Creating Comfortable Central Pennsylvania Homes

You don’t need to be the next insulation expert in your neighborhood to benefit from the increased comfort, safety, and savings that upgraded materials can provide. Oh the other hand, knowing a little more about the systems that keep your home running smoothly can help you notice early warning signs before they begin to affect your budget and household habits. Contact your local pros at Koala Insulation of Central Pennsylvania today to learn more about how a free evaluation can improve your environment.