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Energy Efficiency

Insulation is probably the single most important product ever developed for reducing the energy needs of homes and businesses. The better a building is insulated, the less energy it takes to keep its interior at a comfortable temperature – winter, summer, spring and fall.

For example, an average (1800 sq. ft.) home in the Midwest, when insulated to the U.S. Department of Energy’s recommended levels, would save – during just one year – an average of 546 gallons of fuel oil, or 75,800 cubic feet of natural gas.

Nationally, insulating existing homes to current standards would save 800 trillion BTUs each year. That is equal to 76 supertankers of crude oil.¹

Looking at our history, Owens Corning has regularly educated consumers about the energy efficiency value of insulation. In the wake of the early 1970s world energy crisis, Owens Corning produced a television advertisement showing that “Insulation is Cheaper than Oil.” Barrels were stacked in front of a home to show how much oil could be saved by a well-insulated home.

Oil then cost about $12 a barrel – a long way from the today’s trading range of $50 to $70 per barrel.

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1. ¹ The public health benefits of Insulation retrofits in existing housing in the United States, Jonathan I. Levy, Yurika Nishioka and John D. Spengler, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass., USA, published in Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 2003, 2:4, April 11, 2003.