SawHorse- Design, Build and Green Living Tips

My friend and green mentor (Carl Seville) wrote this post on his blog about Lambs’ wool as insulation in houses.  I like the idea.  We use spray foam insulation on all of our jobs rights now, but some of our clients do ask for other types such as recycles blue jeans or recycled newspaper.  Read on to get Carl’s view on Lambs’ Wool as an option here in Atlanta

Lambs’ Wool Insulation Enters US Market

Can They Create Enough Demand to Be Viable?

Posted on Aug 1 by Carl Seville, GBA Advisor

Lambs’ wool insulation from New Zealand, available in batts and loose fill, is staking a claim in the US green building market.

I had an interesting meeting recently with a group of gentlemen who plan to distribute lambs’ wool insulation imported from New Zealand. Their company, Lambsulation, is gearing up to distribute throughout the US. They contacted me to get my impressions of their product and how they might effectively market it to the green building community. I know that wool is a good insulator. As a kid at sleep-away camp, I clearly remember having to wear wool sweaters that made my skin itch when camping, so we would stay warm in case we got wet. So why not use it for thermal insulation in a house?

At the meeting was Stephen Fookes, their New Zealand representative and Chairman of the National Council of New Zealand Wool Interests. I was told that he knows more about wool than anyone. He was clearly knowledgeable and passionate about it, and gave me enough information to make my eyes glaze over. According to their information, wool has an R-value of 3.37 per inch, has virtually no embodied energy in manufacture, and the fire and insect resistant additives are all non-toxic, although I don’t have specific information on them. They claim it doesn’t settle like cellulose and fiberglass, but I will wait to see some proof on that. One interesting tidbit I learned was that this product is not made from the shearing of live sheep, in fact it is removed chemically from the hides of organic lambs that were slaughtered for meat. Not being a vegetarian, this doesn’t bother me, but it might cause others to pause before using it.

The insulation is available in both batts and loose fill, which is applied with standard equipment used for fiberglass. According to their reports, the insulation fibers absorb moisture into their cores when relative humidity exceeds 65%, while keeping the exterior of each fiber dry at all times. This sounds like an interesting benefit, but I wonder about the value. Regardless, from the standpoint of performance and environmental impact, wool insulation seems like a reasonable choice.

Will People Buy It?

Down to the business of our meeting. These guys wanted to know what I thought of their product and if they could pick up enough of the market to make it a viable alternative. Their cost structure may be as much as twice that of cellulose and fiberglass, which offer roughly the same basic performance. Wool certainly does have some benefits over the competition, but I think they will have a limited market unless they can really spur consumer demand, not unlike companies like Icynene have successfully done. Wool has some green street cred – low embodied energy, low toxicity, renewably harvested insulation sure seems appealing, but how many people will be willing to pay a premium for something that they can’t show off. Too bad they don’t make kitchen counters out of the stuff.

via Lambs’ Wool Insulation Enters US Market | GreenBuildingAdvisor.com.