I
Insulation Standards

PROCEDURES FOR PROPER INSTALLATION OF INSULATION
The purpose of envelope insulation is to provide a continuous thermal barrier to minimize heat flow through the walls, ceiling and floor. Insulation serves to keep a home comfortable and reduce costs for heating and cooling. The home will not be as comfortable and energy costs will be increased if insufficient insulation is installed, or it is installed incorrectly, such as being compressed or installed with gaps. Furthermore, it is not difficult to install insulation correctly.

Background: Recent studies have found that over a third of new homes have lower levels of insulation installed than specified and an additional fifth have serious installation problems that will result in significantly decreased effectiveness of the insulation. In addition, virtually all of the homes studied were found to have numerous insulation installation defects that reduce the performance of the insulation well below its rated R-value. All of these can lead to defect litigation. These cost-effective procedures will improve comfort, reduce energy use, and reduce potential defect liability exposure.

Use of these Procedures: The purpose of this document is to provide the tools to ensure insulation is properly specified and installed, resulting in a comfortable, energy-efficient home.

Builder: Include these materials in your bidding and contracting documents. It is meant to form the basis of a scope of work for both bidding and contracting. Its use will help ensure consistent bids and quality installations. Attachment I-1 and I-2 are to be followed by the insulation contractors. Attachment I-2 is an installation checklist to be completed by the site superintendent.

Contractor: Follow Attachment I-1; use Attachment I-2 to check installation quality.

Field Superintendent: Complete Attachment I-2 to check installation quality and send completed copy to the project manager or general superintendent.

Criteria for a Quality Thermal Envelope

Insulation should:

  1. Provide a continuous barrier between the inside conditioned space and the outside,

  2. Be installed to the proper R-value,

  3. Be installed without gaps,

  4. Avoid excessive compression,

  5. Be properly labeled or indicate the proper depth to acieve the specified R-value.

Procedures to Install Insulation for a Quality Thermal Envelope

The following steps should be followed in the installation of insulation to ensure efficiency and comfort (for details, see Attachment I-1):

  1. Work with the architect and framer to minimize spaces that are difficult to insulate.

  2. Use materials that meet California quality standards.

  3. Install R-values that meet or exceed design specifications.

  4. Install insulation to completely fill all cavities without gaps and with minimal compression.

  5. Account for special characteristics of the materials used, such as settling, flammability, or water permeability.

  6. Inspect the final job using the accompanying checklist (Attachment I-2) to ensure a quality installation.

ATTACHMENT I-1
INSULATION INSTALLATION PROCEDURES

WALL INSULATION

Unfaced batt installation; batts shall be:

Faced batt installation, where used as a vapor barrier: additional instructions:

Narrow-framed cavities and "chinking:"

Special situations:

Installations prior to exterior sheathing or lath

Obstructions

Rim joists

Knee walls and Skylight shafts with framing that will support insulation

Knee walls and Skylight shafts without framing that will support insulation

HVAC/Plumbing closet

BATT CEILING INSULATION

Unfaced batt installation:

Faced batt installation, where used as a vapor barrier: additional instructions:

Special situations:

Insulation at bridging (cross bracing)

Rafter ceilings

HVAC platform

Attic access

BLOWN-IN CEILING INSULATION

Special situations:

HVAC platform

Attic access

RAISED FLOORS AND FLOORS OVER GARAGES

MATERIALS SHALL:

R-VALUE AND U-VALUE SPECIFICATIONS:

See CF-1R for minimum requirements; for non-standard assemblies, also see applicable form 3R.

CERTIFICATES:

An Insulation Certificate (IC-1) signed by the responsible party shall be provided that states that the installation is consistent with the plans and specifications for which the building permit was issued. The certificate shall also state the installing company name, insulation manufacturer's name and material identification, the installed R-value, and, in applications of blown-in insulation, the minimum installed weight-per-square-foot consistent with the manufacturer's labeled installed-design-density for the desired R-value.

Note: Appendix I-2 is an Insulation Check List and is available for downloading as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.