Energy saving solutions are becoming mainstream in today’s building industry. Reducing carbon footprints, increasing cost-savings, and positively impacting the environment are all factors that drive the need for long-term building performance. Atlas believes in incorporating those ideas into the craftmanship of their products. This is the reason they lead the industry in the manufacture of polyiso insulation board products for roof and wall applications that have zero ozone depletion and zero global warming potential.

Polyiso has the perfect combination of features to support long-term performance:

• Moisture resistance

• Dimensional stability

• Compressive strength

• Superior performance in fire tests

• Compatibility with most solvents

• Long Term R-value

Polyiso performance remains consistent as it ages without losing its insulation properties over time, like gypsum and wood fiber do.. Its lasting durability ensures that the insulation will not rot, decay, or corrode—giving it peak life-cycle payback rates as opposed to other wall sheathing, like batt insulation, which is prone to moisture damage.

A scientific analysis, known as a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), is performed on a building product to identify the lifecycle stages, including production, use, and disposal, in order to attempt to quantify the product’s environmental impacts. A product’s LCA is a key measure of its sustainability. Since polyiso insulation has high energy savings and and low carbon emissions, it produces a positive LCA. This demonstrates that the collective energy used to create, transport, install, and dispose of polyiso, is far less than the great amount of energy savings accumulated over its lifecycle.

You can think of a positive lifecycle as one that goes around full-circle, like the image below.

For polyiso, it goes:

Raw material extraction--> raw material processing--> polyiso manufacturing--> polyiso installation--> polyiso use--> end-of-life

The measurable energy used in each step from “cradle to grave”, including transportation costs, is how the LCA is calculated.

1. The process begins with the extraction of raw materials, like crude oil and natural gas. The mining of coal, cultivation of crops, and refining of crude oil are necessary building blocks for creating foam components, facer materials, and packaging for polyiso.

2. The processing of raw materials is needed to make chemicals, like blowing agents, and additives, like flame retardants.

3. The manufacturing of polyiso involves a reactive chemical mix of those major raw materials. It is then cut, shaped, wrapped, and shipped to the end-user.

4. The light weight of polyiso and ease of installation assists in saving energy in this phase. Due to the way it is constructed, much less insulation per square inch is necessary than other types, like fiberglass or blown insulation.

5. Whole Building Energy Analysis, based on the US DOE EnergyPlus simulation program, is used to estimate energy savings and GWP emissions prevented during the use phase. Estimations are made because energy savings and associated environmental impacts prevented during insulation use, depend of specifics like building type, configuration, and location.

6. The end of service life for polyiso is usually decades after installation. Existing roofs and walls containing polyiso can be maintained and upgraded without removing the polyiso insulation. If it is removed, insulation materials can be (and often are) reused in order to reduce demand for virgin materials and reduce waste. National programs are now available to reclaim and recycle polyiso insulation from an existing building.

Above all the other long-term benefits of using polyiso insulation in your building projects and as part of your total roof system, it saves energy and prevents most Global Warming Potential (GWP) emissions. As shown in its positive LCA, the savings and preventions accumulated during use, far outweigh the energy and GWP emissions associated with manufacturing, transporting, installing, and managing polyiso insulation at its end-of-life.