Energy Efficiency Increases in Madison, WI Home with Foam Insulation

Gratiot, Wis. (Dec 8, 2009) – A local Madison family has a lot to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving. Meier Energy Solutions recently donated their time to help remodel a local family’s home, but this remodel was about more than just aesthetics.

The Green Built Home Makeover, lead by the Madison Area Builders’ Association, focused on increasing the energy efficiency of the 800-square-foot home and increasing the health and safety of the home for all six members of the Moss family.

Meier Energy Solutions, the local certified BioBased Insulation® dealer, donated the spray polyurethane foam insulation and the labor to insulate the home with BioBased 1701s®.

“The real reward for us was seeing the look of joy in the eyes of the Moss family as they came back to their newly remodeled home,” said Randy Meier, owner of Meier Energy Solutions. “This is about more than just remodeling a home; it’s about helping a family live better.”

During the six-week project to upgrade the South Madison home, volunteers nearly gutted the home. All materials used in the remodel helped to increase the energy efficiency and/or the sustainability of the home.

BioBased 1701s® is a closed cell foam insulation that integrates natural, renewable materials – in this instance soybean oil – as a replacement for a portion of the petroleum in the product.

The insulation is spray-applied as a liquid that expands in seconds to seal, insulate and create an air barrier in one step. That air barrier helps is a key factor to increase the energy efficiency of the home because it stops air infiltration.

“It was vital for us to be able to use the closed cell spray foam insulation in the ceiling because of the limited space that we had,” said Abe Degnan, president of Degnan Design Builders and the builder for the project. “We were able to achieve an R-38 in a 2 inch by 6 inch rafter space and air seal the home to make it more energy efficient. By using sheet foam insulation on the exterior walls and spray foam in the interior, we increased the air-tightness of the home by 24%.”

Additional improvements included heating the home’s three bedrooms, repairing water damage and mold damage, replacing the furnace, tankless water heater and water softener with ENERGYSTAR rated product.
“I was overwhelmed,” said homeowner Terry Moss. “We thought that it would just be something minor like siding, because that’s all we thought we needed. But this is going to make a huge difference. It’s helping us financially, and we are going to be able to get over that hill because of the help from the community.”

To find out more about BioBased Insulation®, contact Meier Energy Solutions at 608-219-1899 or visit www.meierenergysolutions.com. For more information on the Green Built Home Makeover visit www.greenbuilthomemakeover.com.

About BioBased Insulation®
BioBased Insulation® is committed to decreasing the impact of buildings on the environment by developing and marketing performance-tested spray foam insulation products with sustainable attributes through a global network of certified dealers. Our goal is to reduce dependence on petroleum products by correctly sealing buildings to make them energy efficient and by utilizing the latest technology to incorporate renewable ingredients into our products and sustainable practices into our business. BioBased Insulation® is manufactured by BioBased Technologies®, the developer of the Agrol® family of soy-based polyols.