Determining Insulation Materials for Low-Income People in Rural Areas with an Innovative Technology

Abstract

Many rural low-income communities throughout the United States have families that are forced to live in houses that are poorly constructed, which can create a variety of health issues, reduce the quality of life, and increase energy burdens. Rural low-income people often have difficulties accessing home energy improvements, expert people, and/or technology. There are many technologies and techniques for testing the performance of insulation materials. This study investigates innovative technology to test the performance of various insulation materials that include fiberglass, mineral wool, expanded polystyrene, cellulose, and four developed composites. Testing was performed for one hour using innovative technology to measure the OSB sheathing/insulation material surface temperatures, chamber air temperatures, and relative humidity every five minutes. The performance data collected were analyzed after all insulation materials were individually tested. The innovative technology could perform consistent tests on insulation materials to show the user materials that could promote a stable interior environment. Insulation materials composed of cellulose outperformed other materials and can promote a circular economy in the targeted communities. Cellulose can resist a high amount of heat transfer, be sourced locally, is organic, and recyclable. Finding solutions to address the high energy usage of buildings from being insufficiently (or non) insulated is going to be a challenge in the years to come as climate change becomes more prevalent.