OUR INSULATION TECHNOLOGY
Sustainable development
Our insulation technology combines efficiency and environment. Polystyrene has a number of recyclable properties that characterize it as an eco-material. That’s why our technology respects and wins awards in the sustainable development category.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENT
How can polystyrene be considered an eco-material?
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a sustainable petrochemical product and a material with excellent thermal properties; residential insulation, coolers, coffee cups, etc. Despite this fact, recycling is costly and limited. And for good reason: this material is made up of 98% air and only 2% matter, so there’s very little plastic to recover. As a result, nearly 40,000 tonnes of polystyrene (all types) are landfilled every year in Quebec, a high percentage of which is EPS.
However, there is some good news: Inject-Styrene Technologies and its partners have succeeded in breathing new life into this material. New solutions now enable post-consumer EPS to be rapidly recycled and converted into energy-efficient blown-in thermal insulation without the use of chemicals or energy.
That’s why we consider ISOBILL MD/® and ECOBILL MD/® insulation products to be eco-materials:
- Are classified as non-hazardous under the Globally Harmonized System (GHS).
- Contains no ozone-depleting HCFCs or HFCs.
- Dust- and vapor-free. Rated A+ by Véritas International for air quality.
- Contributes to reducing GHG emissions due to the energy inefficiency of old, uninsulated buildings.
- Can be injected into walls without demolition.
- Contributes to reducing the transportation of numerous building materials and waste.
- Eliminate landfilling or processing of unusable materials.
- Does not contaminate contact materials that can be reclaimed.
- From a recovery program (sorting at source)
- Are recoverable and reusable up to 2 times within the same injection process.
- Require nearly 3 times less energy to produce than a factory-made rigid panel.
- Are mechanically packed, without chemicals.
- Contains a minimum of 25% recycled material.
Inject-Styrene Technologie strongly believes that it is advantageous and eco-responsible to use the insulating properties of post-consumer EPS to provide sustainable, environmentally-friendly solutions to the energy rehabilitation of buildings without construction waste for all owners of existing buildings.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
Environmental management for sustainable development
If the 21st century is the age of technological innovation, it is also the age of collective awareness of the limits of the world we live in. Proof that times have changed, corporate citizens are now becoming key players in continuous improvement, ethical and transparent management, in the service of a green economy and the ecological transition.
Energy efficiency
A leading figure in this movement, Transition Énergétique Québec, in collaboration with the Quebec government, published “Le plan directeur 2018-2023 en transition, innovation et efficacité énergétique” in 2017, to demonstrate the government’s exemplary approach to efficient, low-carbon energy management.In pursuit of these objectives, Québec has adopted a series of targets to be achieved by 2022-2023 and 2029-2030, including for its building stock9.
Sustainable solution
A special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identifies thermal insulation as one of the factors contributing to the development of sustainable solutions to climate change10.
REDUCE HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING
Save energy by insulating your building
A third of the world’s energy is currently used in buildings11, with the real estate, commercial and institutional sector consuming 11% of the energy produced12. In 2014, there were over 482,000 commercial and institutional buildings in Canada. Of these, around 22% were located in Quebec13. In the end, 51% of the energy produced was used for space heating, and 6% for air conditioning14.
Other studies in 2014 on Quebec residential housing presented even less glowing data. Room heating and cooling was still the biggest energy consumer, accounting for 65.2% of total household energy consumption. According to a CMHC report, 540,000 single-family homes were built before 1960. To date, the vast majority are still considered to have little, no or poor insulation.
Inject-Styrene Technology believes in the huge potential for energy savings by improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings at lower cost. It is a key lever in the fight against and adaptation to climate change.
Comfort level
Improvements made to the envelope of a building, which has a realistic useful life of 100 to 120 years16, are amortized over its entire life cycle. That’s why the cost of your renovation must not only bring you economic results, but also personal satisfaction. It’s not enough to pay your rent, you have to be comfortable without having to break the bank. What’s more, an insulated building allows the use of smaller, less energy-intensive heating and air-conditioning equipment, while maintaining your level of comfort.
Cost of work
The return on investment for such work should be within a reasonable timeframe. Fortunately, this can be achieved by reusing existing building materials before resorting systematically to demolition. Demolition and reconstruction generally account for 50-80% of the total cost of insulation work. That’s why blown-in insulation (without demolition when the situation allows) ensures a short-term return on investment for maximum efficiency. But it doesn’t stop there.
Demolition and construction costs also include
- Demobilization of occupants
- 15 to 30 days for conventional insulation work requiring demolition (versus 1-2 days for insulation work without demolition).
- Dust management (asbestos)
- Discomfort, stress and other inconveniences associated with managing demolition and reconstruction work.
- Cost of tens of cubic meters (tons) of demolition and construction waste.
- Other environmental impacts of demolition and reconstruction activities: Manufacture and transport of construction materials, waste management (recovery, processing, landfill), energy costs (electricity, gasoline).
That’s why we believe that energy revitalization of existing buildings, without demolition where possible, is a much better way to pursue responsible, sustainable urban development. (enhancement of existing building and reduction of CRD waste)