Building insulation materials is used depends on a wide variety of factors. Some insulation materials have health risks, some so significant the materials are no longer allowed to be used but remain in use in some older buildings such as asbestos fibers and urea. Factors affecting the type and amount of insulation to use in a building include: Considerations regarding building and climate: Often a combination of materials is used to achieve an optimum solution and there are products which combine different types of insulation into a single form. Spray foam is a type of insulation that is sprayed in place through a
Building insulation materials are less itchy and create less dust. You can also look for fiberglass products factory-wrapped in plastic or fabric. Fiberglass is energy intensive in manufacture. Fiberglass fibers are bound into batts using adhesive binders, which can contain phenol formaldehyde, a hazardous chemical known to slowly off-gas from the insulation over many years. The industry is mitigating this issue by switching to binder materials not containing phenol formaldehyde; some manufacturers offer agriculturally based binder resins made from soybean oil. Formaldehyde-free batts and batts made with varying amounts of recycled glass (some approaching 50% post-consumer recycled content) are available. Cellulose is 100%