Better Comfort and Lower Utility Bills with Plasti-Fab ® Continuous Insulation

Location: Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Ted Hubert is no ordinary homeowner. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the construction industry as the President of Superseal Construction Products, a supplier of waterproofing materials. So when Hubert decided to build a custom 5,400 sq. ft. home (including 2,300 sq. ft. developed basement) in Langley, he wanted a home that not only suited his needs, but was durable and energy efficient.

While researching the best insulation strategy for his new home, Hubert discovered the impact of thermal bridging on the effectiveness of cavity insulation.

“Up to 20 percent of your wall’s surface area is wood with an R-value of one per inch,” said Hubert. “A lot of your R-value is lost to thermal bridging.”

To combat this, he installed 1 ½ inches of DuroFoam® insulation. Applied over the above-grade exterior walls, the DuroFoam created a layer of continuous insulation that eliminated thermal bridging and improved energy efficiency. “We added foam and stopped the thermal transfer from the inside out and the outside in,” said Hubert.

Hubert then installed 3 inches of PlastiSpan® HD EPS insulation to the home’s below grade walls. Opting for continuous insulation instead of cavity insulation in the basement avoided thermal bridging, increased the total effective R-value, and added to Hubert’s energy savings. He also added high performance windows and doors, and a 98 percent AFUE natural gas furnace.

Natural gas costs averaged just $136 per month over the course of a year, less than half that of Hubert’s previous similarly-sized home that was built in the 1960s.

“It stays so cool in there that it’s unbelievable,” said Hubert. “People come over to our house during the summer and they are amazed.”

“We didn’t do anything extraordinary; we just used good products to keep the energy use under control,” he said. “DuroFoam and PlastiSpan HD continuous insulation are high quality products, very easy to work with, and cost less than the alternatives.”