Episode #3: Icynene ProSeal & Icynene ProSeal Eco closed cell spray foam

Building Genius Podcast

In this episode of the Building Genius podcast, our guest John Broniek talks about the characteristics of two popular Icynene spray foam products: Icynene ProSeal, a high-performance closed-cell spray foam insulation, and Icynene ProSeal Eco, a 100% water-blown closed-cell spray foam insulation product. John is senior engineer with Icynene, and has been involved in improving the energy efficiency and durability of buildings throughout North America since 1990. Interviewer: John, Icynene entered the closed-cell spray foam market only recently. Can you give us an insight into how Icynene got into the market and the current product line-up? John: Yes. Icynene got into the closed-cell medium-density spray foam market around 2009. It seemed to be a natural progression of our product line-up, which up to that point, consisted of open-cell, low- or light-density foams. We wanted to give our customers greater flexibility, greater choice, in terms of product options because closed-cell, medium-density foams have different attributes. There are some differences between them and the closed-cell, low-density foams, particularly on the R-value per inch and vapor barrier, vapor retarder aspects and, also, where they can be used on the building envelope, so that the current product line-up consists of ProSeal, which is a higher R-value product, and ProSeal Eco, which main attribute is that it's a water-blown, closed-cell, medium-density spray foam. Interviewer: What are the advantages or benefits of closed-cell spray foam? What advantages do they offer that differ from open-cell foam? John: Closed-cell spray foam as a higher R-value, so, for example, the ProSeal product has an R-value of 7.1 per inch versus an R-4 or R-3.7 per inch for our open-cell products. You can get a higher R-value. That could mean building envelopes, walls, whatever, roofs, that can be thinner because they don't need as much thickness of insulation, if the closed-cell is used in them. The other aspect of importance is that the medium-density, closed-cell foams can act as a vapor barrier or a Class 2 vapor retardant for U.S. code requirements. That can mean some savings in terms of having a separate vapor diffusion retarder or vapor barrier in the wall system or roof system, for that matter. Those are the two main aspects. Also, another aspect is that there's more flexibility in where the closed-cell foam can be used. It can be used not only within the interior of the building like open-cell is but it can also be used on the exterior of the building, so on the exterior of walls as continuous insulation, for instance. Interviewer: Can you tell us a little bit about Icynene ProSeal? John: ProSeal is our highest R-value product. It basically, for the U.S. standards, meets an R-value of R-7.1 per inch. That's very important. That R-value is very high and very attractive to architects and building owners who try to achieve high R-values particularly. It can be sprayed in a three-inch thickness for its first pass, as we say. You can get R-21 immediately with an application of ProSeal, which is very attractive, particularly for continuous insulation applications. That level of insulation would meet the vast majority of the code requirements for exterior continuous insulation out there. It's been tested for use in all types of commercial buildings. It's gone through the appropriate fire testing. It can be used in fire-rated assemblies, whether we're talking about walls, floors or roofs. It is a very versatile, high insulation product. Interviewer: I understand that Icynene ProSeal recently received GREENGUARD Gold certification. Now what does this mean? What does it mean to the architect who's considering using the product? John: GREENGUARD Gold certification is a certification of products through Underwriters Lab. Basically, it is a certification for low emissions, low chemical emissions. We're very happy that ProSeal achieved that level of certification. We weren't surprised. It has received other levels, similar levels, of low chemical emissions in other testing that has gone on. It gives architects a certain level of confidence that the chemical emissions or volatile organic compounds, VOCs, being emitted by the product are low. They can pass that information onto their clients and assure them that their indoor air quality of their building will not be compromised. Interviewer: I would imagine that kind of certification would be important to architects because building green seems to be growing in importance. Is it driven by market demand, this whole idea of having this kind of certification? John: Yes, definitely. Architects, building owners, are asking more and more for such certifications to satisfy themselves. We're more than happy to go through the testing that was required to get that certification and prove what we knew all along. Interviewer: Right. How does this product stand out compared to comparable products on the market? John: ProSeal has one of the leading R-values in the marketplace. Also, the fact that it can be sprayed three inches at once on the first pass is a leader, as well, in the market. It offers a lot of good attributes for customers out there who are trying to achieve particularly your higher R-values. Its design flexibility, its ability to be in all kinds of commercial buildings, means that architects can be assured that it can be used in pretty much all of their projects. Interviewer: Icynene also introduced the first known water-blown, closed-cell spray foam, ProSeal Eco. Tell us a little bit about that product. John: ProSeal Eco, like you mentioned, is a water-blown, closed-cell spray foam. The main advantage of that aspect is environmental because it means that that product has a low global warming potential or GWP. That is in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. That can be a benefit to those architects who want to specify products of that nature that have low GWP. I think there is a lot of interest in specifying such products. That's a big reason why Icynene took that route to get that product out there. It is a product that has comparable R-values to rigid foam board, XPS board, around 5 per inch. It is highly competitive in that regard, particularly with the global warming potential being much lower for the ProSeal Eco than the XPS board. Interviewer: What are the differences between water-blown and chemically blown spray foam? Does it really affect whether an architect specifies one over the other? John: The difference between the water-blown and chemically blown spray foam is a matter of the blowing agent. That's what's referred to there. Chemical blowing agents have been used in closed-cell spray foams for many years, many decades, and have produced good results and have their value because they also add to the R-value of the closed-cell spray foam but, like I said earlier, there is a interest in products that are less onerous from an environmental viewpoint that have that low global warming potential. So the water-blown blowing agent helps to achieve that aspect. That's where ProSeal Eco shines. Interviewer: It sounds good. How is the market reacting to the introduction of this kind of product? John: The market has been very favorable. We're very excited about ProSeal Eco in terms of its environmental benefits and the fact that it still has a very competitive R-value. There's still some architects that prefer ProSeal because it has that higher R-value per inch, too. It does give some flexibility of choice for architects in terms of where their priority lies, whether it's the higher R-value or whether it's the lower global warming potential. Interviewer: John, do you think this kind of innovation is driving change in the industry overall? Are there changes coming across the whole industry or is Icynene leading the charge or standing alone on this type of innovation? John: We think Icynene is leading the charge in this kind of innovation with low global warming potential, closed-cell products. We've seen other products come out there with, also, low global warming potential. Icynene is going to continue to move in that regard. We're looking at that aspect for ProSeal in order to achieve low global warming potential and still maintain those high R-values. That's something that our R&D people are looking at right now to try and make sure that we can get those two benefits in there in one. Yes, the change is coming. We're listening to customers and architects and trying to get both sides of the product mix going, the good environmental benefits, along with the higher R-value. Interviewer: In which applications is closed-cell spray foam best suited? How can architects consider using these products in their designs? John: Closed-cell is best suited to instances where you're trying to achieve a higher R-value per inch in a certain part of the building. You might have limited space. Let's say you're trying to achieve R-20. Then three inches of ProSeal would work just fantastically in such an application. Because the R-value requirements are typically higher in colder climate areas, we see a little bit more usage of closed-cell in the colder climates, in the more northern climates. Also, the closed-cell can be used as exterior continuous insulation. It can be used on the exterior of block, concrete or the wall sheathing and provide that layer of continuous exterior insulation. It performs admirably there. Interviewer: One last question about ProSeal and ProSeal Eco. Are there other certifications that these products have achieved that architects might want to be aware of? John: ProSeal has been tested by the Air Barrier Association of America, ABAA, as a air barrier material and is part of an air barrier system evaluated by that association, as well. That gives architects some assurance that it can perform well from an air barrier perspective. Both products, ProSeal and ProSeal Eco, have been tested according to the California Department of Health for VOC or volatile organic compound emissions with regard to that, as well as formaldehyde within schools and buildings. They have very good low emission levels that you can hang your hat on. I think those are the main certifications at this point. Interviewer: Probably more to come. John: Yes. Donna: Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge today, John. Thanks for listening. To learn more about Icynene, you can visit our website at http://www.icynene.com/. While at our website, take a minute to subscribe to our “Building Genius Blog.” If you have a specific project in mind, talk to your local Icynene contractor. To send us a comment about the podcast, please email us at [e-mail]. Disclaimer Please note that the views and opinions expressed herein may not necessarily be the views of Icynene. All comments, opinions and views expressed are of a general nature and should not be considered as advice to purchase or to sell mentioned products.