Guidance for Specifying Healthier Insulation and Air-Sealing Materials

This document provides information that can be used to evaluate, select, and write specifications for products that incorporate healthier insulation and air-sealing materials for energy-efficiency upgrade projects. The information is meant to provide guidance to a purchaser or specifier and should be modified as needed to meet specific project needs. Such modifications may be, for example, language adjustment or inclusion of performance requirements, such as R-value. Some product recommendations may not meet code requirements for all geographic areas or building types. Check that the specified products meet the requirements of your project. Keep in mind that the recommendations and product rankings in this guide are based on the best available information at the time the research was conducted.

This document is a supplement to the report, Making Affordable Multifamily Housing More Energy Efficient: A Guide to Healthier Upgrade Materials. It provides information that can be used to evaluate and select healthier products and to write project specifications that incorporate healthier insulation and air-sealing materials. See the full report for information about why it is important to be aware of the use of hazardous chemicals in building products, references to the scientific literature on health impacts of building upgrades and materials, the methodology behind our recommendations, and detailed research into the common content of various insulation and air-sealing materials. General ranking tables from the report are included in the Appendix of this document for reference.