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Ontario Insulators speak to Government

In early February, Ontario the Ontario Insulators attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Convention and the FCM Sustainability Conference in Winsor Ontario. The BC Insulators spoke to those in attendance about mechanical insulation as a sound sustainable investment that makes sense. Connecting stakeholders from around the province is the first step in a multi-step process aimed at creating a unified message and lobbying goals.

Willingness to invest in sustainability has become more than a fad in the last ten years. But despite good-intentioned investments, green and ethical investors in BC and Ontario are finding that they are not receiving their expected sustainability returns. Anticipated benefits such as long term reductions in energy costs & emissions reduced premature structure loss due to unwanted condensation and increased acoustical benefits have not materialized as expected.

Few people realize that once insulation becomes wet through condensation, its R-Value is destroyed and effectively becomes useless for insulation. The highest airborne mold concentrations are found in buildings with poor mechanical insulation. Additionally, many structures within public buildings have prematurely failed or had to be replaced because unnecessary condensation has rotted structures such as drywall, cement, wood and metal.

Mr Loftus of the BC Insulators stated “As an industry we need to support the government in their commitment to reducing Green House Gas (GHG), but we need to gain their support so that they enforce existing code and best practices and stop greenwashing the oversight the of the industry. We can start by making a strong argument for good sense sustainable investments. We can look at this in the context of home-buyers. When we buy a home, we make certain assumptions. We assume there is insulation in the attic. But as an industry we have to deliver the message that the insulation is not just located in the attic — and depending on the contractor there may be no insulation at all”.

Mr Loftus whent on to say We have an industry that should be poised to reap the rewards of green building designs. We need a commitment from both provincial and municipal government on the need to implement quality, inspected mechanical insulation application in all its forms.

When mechanical insulation systems are applied and then inspected by a third party inspection process, lapses in the application system will be omitted and clients and owners will be able to concentrate on measurements that show savings on operational and maintenance costs. Our commitment to stakeholders should to be that when mechanical insulation is properly installed in their buildings by trade professionals who haven’t circumvented the building code – just work.