Energy Efficiency
According to a 2002 US Department of Energy report, heating and cooling costs amount to 50-70% of the energy used in the average American home. With the costs of heating and cooling going up, this is a concern of most home and building owners. Most of us know to turn off the lights to conserve energy but dont think to look to insulate our homes/buildings to more efficiently heat and cool them.
Builders and architects are now turning to spray polyurethane foam (SPF) to curb these problems. SPF is one of the most efficient insulation materials on the market today for roof and wall insulation, insulated windows and doors, and air barrier sealants.
Why is SPF Energy Efficient?
- Polyurethane foams have one of the highest insulating R-values per inch of all the available products on the market today. With typical values ranging from 3.5 to 6.0 per inch, it is possible to maximize efficiency, increase space utilization and reduce operating costs, while having thinner walls and a lower profile roofs.
- Studies show that increasing the thickness of your roof insulation by 1 or move about the ASHRAE required thickness significantly reduces your energy costs.
- SPF sealants that are applied to cracks around window frames expand to fill energy-wasting (escaping) gaps around the window, which increases your buildings energy efficiency.
- Energy studies performed by Texas A & M on their own roofs show the energy cost reductions obtained by applying SPF to more than 8 million square feet of roofing paid for the cost of the retrofit in a little over three years.
- Cool roofs (using reflective plastic coverings over SPF insulated roofs) bounce sunlight and radiant heat away from a building, helping the structure stay cool and reducing energy use for cooling.
Energy Star
ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping home and building owners save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices. In the home, energy efficient choices can help families save about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort.
Homes that earn the ENERGY STAR must meet guidelines for energy efficiency set by the EPA. ENERGY STAR qualified homes are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code. ENERGY STAR qualified homes can include a variety of energy-efficient features, such as effective insulation, high performance windows, tight construction and ducts, efficient heating and cooling equipment and ENERGY STAR qualified lighting and appliances.
For more information, log on to energystar.gov.
Federal Tax Incentives
Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF) will enable homeowners, commercial building owners, and builders and manufactures of new homes to take advantage of tax credits available as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. A tax credit is different from a tax deduction in that it reduces the amount of income tax you have to pay versus reducing the amount of income subject to tax.
Homeowners
Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, homeowners can take a credit of 10% of the cost up to $500 for installing spray polyurethane foam as an insulation material. This tax credit only applies to the cost of the insulation materials and not the labor costs associated with the installation of these materials.
For more information on this tax incentive for homeowners, consult the following helpful links:
Commercial Building Owners
A business owner or tenet of a new or existing commercial building that is constructed or re-constructed to save at least 50% of the heating, cooling, ventilation, water heating, and interior lighting energy costs over a building that meets ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001 is eligible for a tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot. Partial deductions of $0.60 per square foot are available for improvements to the building envelope, lighting, or heating and cooling systems that reduce the total heating, cooling, ventilation, water heating, and interior lighting energy use by 16 2/3%.
For more information on this tax incentive, consult the following helpful links:
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