Since there’s a concerted effort in the commercial building community toward all things green for new construction and there are solid economic reasons to specify genuinely cost-saving materials, polyiso insulation is without a doubt one of the best choices for roof and wall insulation efficiency as components of the building envelope. Polyiso is cost-effective to manufacture, but also creates environmental economies that set it apart as the insulation of choice in commercial applications.

Polyiso has the highest thermal efficiency per square inch of any insulation available on the market. Period. For individual products this is documented in the product’s LTTR(Long Term Thermal Resistance) values - a time weighted R-Value calculated over a 15 year period. Manufacturers of polyiso products also participate in a third party certification program “QualityMark.” through their professional association PIMA (Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association), which further verifies the thermal efficiency standards of each manufacturer.

Because polyiso performs so well as a wall and roofing insulation material, it can easily be credited for reducing energy consumption in a commercial building application. Buildings which consume less energy naturally impact the environment less in terms of resource consumption, whether those resources are renewable or otherwise. According to the PIMA web site, reducing energy consumption by just 10% in the 9 billion square feet of roof represented in the BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) would be equal to planting 344,922,103 trees in their reduction of atmospheric CO2 emissions caused by fossil fuels.

Polyiso insulation not only offers environmentally economical efficiencies in its use commercially, but is produced using environmentally responsible manufacturing processes that are continually being improved upon. Any polyiso manufactured by a PIMA member such as Atlas Roofing ACFoam® products are made using blowing agents that are classified as “zero ozone-depleting.” Additionally all polyiso products are HCFC-free (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) and CFC-free (chlorofluorocarbon).

Another outstanding environmental benefit of polyiso products is virtually all of them are manufactured using recycled materials. Many contain partially recycled content and some are up to 100% recycled. Atlas ACFoam® roof insulation contains between 16% and 43% recycled materials by weight, depending on thickness. The facers on products ACFoam®-II are made from 100% recycled materials so the thinner products actually contain a higher percentage of recycled content.