The Energy Barrier A product for our time.
In today’s energy starved world, so much is being made of the 3 R’s reduce, reuse, and recycle that it’s hard to look anywhere without seeing it. We don’t throw things in the garbage that can be put out for recycle pickup. We don’t buy a new item when something we have around the house will do, and we look for items that are environmentally friendly much more than we used to do.
However, for all the things we are doing there still seems to be much in the news about global warming and environmental change. The polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate. Species of wildlife and fish are losing habitat and dieing off. And probably the worst nightmare of all the environmental changes, have huge segments of the worlds human population dealing with extreme drought, extreme rainfall, extreme temperature swings, and the list goes on.
There are many contributors to the global warming scenario. The cars we drive emit gases. Many places still have coal and gas fired power plants to feed their needs and in the colder climates fossil fuels are still needed to heat with. Heavy industry is another contributor and list goes on.
With so many different things contributing to our carbon footprint, one has to wonder if there is any way we can possibly make a difference. After all one person cannot change the mindset of an entire planet. Or can they?
Margaret Mead once wrote.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
So we have at least some hope that one or two can start a movement that can someday change the world. I believe that movement can be started right in your own home by expanding on the energy conservation strategies we use already.
Lets examine how heating and cooling our homes effect the environment. Obviously, there isn’t much we who live in harsher climates can do about heating in the winter months. Lets face it Canada is a cold place to live. And we do not have the luxury of not using home heating. So, every year we crank the thermostat and watch our hard earned money slip through our fingers. The same can be said about summer. The air conditioner goes on and away goes our hard earned money again. It’s a vicious cycle that keeps going around with the change in the seasons.
Some of our governments have introduced programs to get people to tighten up their homes. The Canadian version calls for full energy audits of homes and recommendation of retrofits the government will help pay for as long as you have done what the auditors tell you have to be done and you have a second audit done to prove the work was done. In all the program sounds like a make work project for energy auditors and contractors and at the end of the day they are still using the same methods and materials as the builders did and it would seem your house should be more efficient than it was but its really not. Its tighter yes and it takes longer for radiant heat to escape but it will escape and you will still be allowing your heat to come and go through your biggest enemy in this fight your attic.
The attic is an extremely complex Eco system of air circulation versus heating and cooling. We can only put so much insulation up there before it starts to become ineffectual. And to some degree damaging to the environment it protects. There has to be a balance of vapor protection insulation and air flow. This combination makes the attic a volatile and unpredictable environment that because of its delicate balance, cannot endure more of the elements that make it work. The only option left is to install something different that will do a different job.
Enter the energy blanket or barrier. The space age material the energy blanket is made out of is the same material NASA developed for the space program in the early years of manned space exploration. They needed a lightweight material that could reflect enough radiant heat away from the astronauts to stop them from boiling in their suits in the 235 degree centigrade temperature on the sun side of the space suit, while at the same time reflect the body heat they were generating back in to keep them warm against the -235 degree centigrade temperature on the dark side. The material they developed was so strong that they are still using it and to date there has never been a torn space suit. The material is just that good. It is resistant to wear and cannot be easily torn and does not break down over time. It can resist extreme temperatures, UV rays, and is also wear resistant. Rodents cannot even chew through it.
NASA developed the material for its own use and when it was developed the world wasn’t looking for ways to save energy. Back in the 1960’s it was cheap and plentiful so the idea of investing in something to reflect heat wasn’t needed in everyday homes like it is now. When most of the older homes we live in today were being built, air tightness and energy efficiency were not even buzz words. People wanted houses built cheaply and quickly so those kinds of corners were cut in favor of quick and cheap. What we were left with was a world full of houses that leaked energy and most notably through the attic. The energy blanket provides a way to cheaply and quickly reverse the problem and it is so efficient that it guarantees to reduce the amount of energy required to heat and cool your home by 25%
What would a 25% reduction in this one energy conservation program do for our world? If every building in Canada was equipped with the energy barrier just in the attic we could meet Kyoto targets by reducing our need for oil and electricity. NO more new energy producing facilities would need to be built and even further our children might still have oil to heat with when they grow up. It would stretch our home heating oil supply by at least 25% and that’s just the beginning. Homes built from inception to final nail with the barrier installed in the walls floors ceilings and attic would become even more efficient to heat and cool. The final product could be a home that required even less energy to heat and cool.
Some might surmise that the barrier is too simple an idea to be effective however studies conducted at Universities in Phoenix and California have proven the barrier works and it does so efficiently. According to their findings the barrier reflected 97% of the radiant heat that contacted it. That means 2 things first it is reflecting most of the heat that comes its way back and it is not absorbing much of it so it can still warm as it reenters the environment it came from. If it only absorbed the heat no return radiation would occur and it wouldn’t be any better than insulation which does absorb heat and cold.
Published by Eugene Hicks
Sales manager for Enersave Barriers inc
