When it comes to building a green environmentally friendly home, insulation is one of the most important factors. Its something you have to do regardless and with a little extra effort you can save tons of money and help save our environment. Optimized insulation and air sealing of your home reduces the amount of fossil fuels needed to heat and cool your home and also provides more comfortable median temperatures and humidity levels.

The first place you should focus your insulation efforts is the attic, open drafty spaces above promote overall heat loss in the home. Basements are also key, if you have an unfinished basement be sure to thoroughly insulate it’s ceiling to isolate this open environment from the rest of your home. The DOE (United States Department of Energy) website provides detailed guidelines regarding insulation measurements and materials. When consulting with a contractor remember that insulation materials with high R-values provide greater resistance to heat transfer. Insulation in the attic should be at least R-30 and standard walls should be R-15 or greater.

In the basement one should insulate with rigid foam boards. You should avoid using materials like cellulose or fiberglass for the basement particularly because of the high moisture levels that may damage these materials. If the basement has a crawl space you should use six millimeter thick polyethylene sheets for the floor/ground to protect against moister. In general it is better to insulate crawl spaces opposed to ventilating them.

In general there are four basics types of standard insulation and a plethora of organic insulation materials. Standard insulation materials include batts or rolls, loose fill insulation, blankets, and rigid foam. Most loose fill insulation is composed of fiberglass, cellulose, or rock wool. This type of insulation should be used to fill areas where it is difficult to lay sheeted insulation. Rigid foam is a very effective, though some what expensive insulation material. Rigid foam really works well in places such as the attic and basement that require higher R-values. Foam can be blown into the crevices of walls to dramatically decrease air leakage.
Organic sustainable and renewable insulation materials include old denim, recycled paper, hemp, and even mushroom spores.

Organic materials do not usually have the same high R-values as their fiberglass counterparts but when used in the correct quantities they can provide the same level of insulation and save the environment from fossil fuel usage needed to manufacture other types of insulation. Some of the highest R-rated organic materials include soil, softwood, dry saw dust, and straw.