Protecting our only truly non-renewable resource

Protecting our earth begins at home - literally. Gaco WallFoam insulation can reduce your household's carbon footprint up to 13%.

Hidden away in the walls of your home is an opportunity to reduce climate change. Inconspicuously tucked between the exterior siding and interior walls, wall insulation quietly works to lower your family's use of energy resources by keeping outside air out and inside air in.

Energy use directly correlates to a family's carbon footprint, defined as the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions produced each year. Contributing factors include electricity use, heating and cooling the home, and transportation needs. These factors and others add up. According to the EPA, greenhouse gas emissions for a household of two people over a year averages 41,500 pounds.¹

Perhaps you're selecting an insulation material for your new dream home, or perhaps it's time to remodel or retrofit a home that seems more like an old friend. In either case, conscientious homeowners know that a home's environmental impact goes beyond the construction period.

While roofs are replaced or repaired every 15 years, home insulation is rarely changed except during remodeling. Many other aspects of a home can be upgraded at a later date with little disruption to every day life; energy-saving appliances or water-conserving fixtures are among such relatively easy changes. Wall insulation, on the other hand, is a one-time choice of material which must continue to reliably function throughout the life of the home. In this case, long term energy savings depend upon the quality of the insulation chosen up-front.

Gaco Western's WallFoam spray foam insulation, applied by a licensed contractor, has been tested and proven to be one of the best options on the market. Choose Gaco WallFoam for your new home, and your family's carbon footprint can be reduced up to 5,600 pounds, or 13% per year.

What makes Gaco WallFoam spray insulation so effective at reducing a home's carbon emissions? Gaco WallFoam 's superior air seal keeps outside air out and inside air in. Up to 40% of a home's heating and cooling costs result from air leakage, according to the US Government's Energy Star® web site.²

While conventional fiberglass insulation does little to impede the flow of air slipping out between small cracks and gaps in the walls, Gaco WallFoam molds to interior wall structures, safely filling hard to reach areas around electrical outlets and wiring. Gaco WallFoam eliminates the air leakage problem, providing an immediate 40% energy savings in reduced heating and cooling costs.

Gaco WallFoam's effectiveness is also due in part to its high R-value.³ Spray Foam insulation has the highest R value of any insulation material, and Gaco Western's two pound wall foams have an average per-inch R value of 7. The R-value of fiberglass insulation ranges between 2.9 and 4.3 per inch. In fact, the actual R-value of fiberglass is often reduced even further, due to wrinkling and compression from improper installation.

These days it seems hard to escape the media buzz over climate change, and even more difficult to separate fact from fiction. There are, however, some things that can be predicted with more certainty. The scientific community is in agreement that our earth is slowly getting warmer, with possible effects ranging from extinctions and drought to increasingly destructive hurricanes and tropical storms. Current estimates show that in the United States, one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions come from individual households.⁴ Faced with changes on such a global scale, can the individual homeowner make a difference?

Yes, according to a March 2007 United Nations report from the Sustainable Construction and Building Initiative. “Energy efficiency . . . is one of the pillars upon which a de-carbonized world will stand or fall. The savings that can be made right now are potentially huge and the costs to implement them relatively low if sufficient numbers of governments, industries, businesses and consumers act.”⁵

Both the UN and the Conservation Fund, among others, agree that proper home insulation is one step conscientious home builders can use to help slow climate change. With a high R-value and superior air seal, Gaco Western's WallFoam insulation is up to this task.

Family owned and operated for more than 50 years, Gaco Western manufactures waterproofing and insulation materials with a commitment to the welfare of future generations. Gaco WallFoam is available nationwide through a network of regional representatives. Gaco's regional representatives bring extensive knowledge of local building codes and regulations, and have many years of experience in recommending the most effective insulation system for local climate conditions.

Take the next step towards a 13% reduction in your family's carbon footprint. Choosing Gaco WallFoam insulation means more than just energy savings, reducing carbon emissions will help leave a better earth for our grandchildren.

To calculate your carbon footprint, visit http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html.

To locate a regional representative, visit www.gaco.com/contact.html.

¹http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html

²http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_homes_features.hm_f_reduced_air_infiltration

³R-value is the traditional measure of the effectiveness of an insulation material, measuring the insulation material's resistance to heat flow while taking into account the type of material, thickness, and density.

⁴Alex Fryer, "Can we change our lives to save the planet?," Seattle Times, 15 April 2007.

⁵United Nations Environment Programme, "Press Release: Buildings Can Play a Key Role in Combating Climate Change," 19 March 2007.