Radiant Barrier’s Growth

by Jonathan McGaha | 3 March 2014 12:00 am

Space-age insulation technology ready to enter new frontier

The caller was curious. His neighbor had installed a radiant barrier in his attic and was experiencing a 35 percent reduction in his air-conditioning energy costs. And yet he was hesitant. “If your product is so effective,” he challenged, “why haven’t I heard about it?” Very few of us understand the physics of heat. Greatly simplified, heat seeks cold. In the summer, when you are trying to keep your building cool, the heat is trying to get in. In the winter when you are trying to keep your building warm, heat is trying to get out.

Traditional mass insulations work on the principle that thicker is better. The thicker the roll-in, spray-in or foam insulation in the walls or attic, the prevailing wisdom goes, the better insulated a home is. Traditional mass insulations, however, don’t actually stop heat from entering or leaving your structure. They merely slow down the rate of heat transfer. And how effectively they accomplish this task is measured in R-value. An R-60 insulating material, for example, will be more effective than an R-19 because it will take heat longer to pass through it. The heat is still coming in or going out of your home, and energy will still be required to replace the heat gain or loss.

A radiant barrier manages heat in a completely different way. A radiant barrier reflects heat instead of absorbing it or slowing it down. NASA developed a radiant barrier to protect astronauts from the extreme temperature swings of outer space because it was impractical to outfit astronauts with a 40-foot layer of foam or fiberglass. In effect, NASA developed a mirror that reflected heat.

At the time radiant barriers were developed, energy costs were cheap, global warming unheard of and conservation unneeded.
Times have changed. While radiant barriers may not yet be mainstream, hundreds of thousands of homeowners who do their homework have sustained the radiant barrier industry for over a quarter of a century. Radiant barriers have evolved into a strong, tough, durable material that meets all necessary building fire codes and has been proven effective in hot and cold weather climates.

Just as homeowners turned to radiant barriers to cut their energy consumption, the market slowly spread from home residential applications to high-tech agricultural and commercial building uses. Radiant barriers are so effective in building and warehouse applications that gains in yield and productivity have been documented by governmental agencies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture states authoritatively that animals raised in a barn or structure with a radiant barrier will live longer, mature quicker, and require less food and water than those with no or other types of building insulation.

But now radiant barriers are entering the final frontier, making their way into commercial applications where even a meager reduction in energy consumption can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars. An ice rink in New York, for example, saw a significant reduction in ice chilling costs and an extension of their skating season with the installation of radiant barriers in the ceiling.

Auto manufacturers are experimenting with radiant barriers to encase their paint ovens, searching for a reduction in the energy needed to power the booths and a reduction of air conditioning costs to the rest of the manufacturing facility. How long before it spreads to the assembly line to insulate planes, trains and automobiles?

As America struggles to keep pace with an ever-growing economy, radiant barriers will continue to grow as a trusted corporate partner contributing to the bottom line by keeping energy prices from skyrocketing.

Herman Torres is executive director of Arlington, Texas-based Innovative Insulation. For more information, visit www.radiantbarrier.com[1].

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/articles/radiant-barriers-growth/

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