KVCAP tries insulation experiment
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Morning Sentenial - MaineToday.com
Written by: DOUG HARLOW - Staff Writer
CLINTON -- Charles and Shirley Inman spent a cold, rainy day in a warm apartment Tuesday while their new home was undergoing an experimental makeover of sorts.
And the experiment is not going to cost them a cent.
The Inmans, in their 80s, are having a home built on a low interest loan through Kennebec Valley Community Action Program. It was the insulation for the new home Tuesday that was being put to the test.
New age foam insulation, which is sprayed into open wall cavities before the wallboard goes up, is taking the place of traditional rolled, fiberglass insulation, courtesy of local contractor Todd Genest who is donating the time and material.
Test results could change the way community action homes are built and insulated in the future.
"I don't mind doing things for the community," said Genest, co-owner of Raynor Garage Doors of Clinton, which now specializes in foam insulation. "In my travels I saw a Habitat For Humanity house down toward Augusta and I thought I might donate some down there. Then I saw this house going up so I thought I might as well do something right here in my own community."
Steve Aucoin, a Waterville city councilor and contractor who is building the house on Hinckley Road, said the spray foam could be used in other community action homes if it proves to be efficient and cost effective to install.
The material is sprayed and swells to meet the framing. Any dry, excess foam is then shaved off and recycled into a new batch, Aucoin said.
"This is a replacement home that is built through a contract with KVCAP; I have the contract to build the house for an elderly couple who had a house here, but it couldn't be repaired -- it was well beyond repair," he said Tuesday.
Aucoin said people involved in the project introduced him to Genest and asked if he wanted to try out the foam insulation. With Genest close by, Aucoin said it was a "no brainer" to try it out.
"This is going to be a big thing for them; this is going to be really nice," Aucoin said. "It will heat for a tank of oil a year, or less."
The 22-by-30-foot home was insulated in just about four or five hours Tuesday, Genest said.
"What is does best is stop the air infiltration into your house," he said of the product. "It's been used throughout the south for a long period of time and I go down sometimes in the winter months and spray down there.
"We started almost two years ago now and just started by word of mouth and we've got so much work we're working night and day."
Genest said he planned using two types of foam on the Inman home so community action planners can see the difference and decide which one best fits local needs and if they like what it does and how it works.
Aucoin said Dale McCormick, the new director of the Maine State Housing Authority, wants to look at such materials in her bid to put up so-called "green" buildings.
"That's become her priority, so if we're looking at new technologies in the way to do this thing well, then this is an example for them to look at first hand," he said.
Other community action officials from elsewhere in the state also were invited this week to inspect the work and the product.
The cost of the home -- minus the donated insulation -- is to be paid off by the Inmans at low interest or no interest over 15 or 20 years, Aucoin said.
"This is really an old couple," he said with affection. "It's
so funny -- Charlie Inman is 85 and he swears he going to live long enough
to pay off the loan. He is a great guy, a funny guy."