Building envelope insulation is the primary defense against energy waste in both residential and nonresidential buildings. Enhanced energy efficiency performance through a well-constructed and insulated envelope delivers a range of benefits associated with reducing energy waste. These benefits include lower operating costs (or lower energy bills from a consumer perspective), reduced environmental impacts associated with the generation of energy from fossil fuels, and the optimization of building systems such as HVAC equipment that in turn require less energy to operate. These benefits are not exclusive to new buildings. Building envelope retrofit projects like roof replacements present the opportunity to make significant progress in improving the energy efficiency performance of the existing building stock.

But how much energy and carbon emissions can we save with the proper design and installation of building envelope insulation? While the answer will always depend on the specific building and location, PIMA has worked with the global consulting firm ICF International to undertake multiple third-party research and building modeling analysis to provide the industry with guidance on these potential savings. The reports listed below tackle different questions and scopes related to the benefits of building envelope insulation in new and existing buildings. These reports and the supporting fact sheets can bring perspective to design teams, building owners, and contractors when making decisions related to the construction of envelope assemblies.  

Energy and Carbon Emissions Savings Benefits of Roof Replacement in the United States

This ICF International research report quantifies the benefits of energy code-compliant roof replacements in terms of energy and carbon emissions savings for the following common building types: primary school, retail store, strip mall and small office. The report explains the assumptions and methodologies used to generate the energy and carbon emissions savings estimates for the modeled climate zones and buildings. The accompanying fact sheets, organized by ASHRAE Climate Zone, provide additional details and data that highlight the cost-effective opportunity presented by energy-code-compliant roof replacements to reduce whole building energy use and associated costs and carbon emissions.

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Energy and Carbon Emissions Savings Benefits of Roof Replacements in Canada

This ICF International research report quantifies the benefits of energy code-congruent roof replacements in terms of energy and carbon emissions savings for the following common building types: primary school, retail store, strip mall and small office. The report details the methodologies used to generate the energy and carbon emissions savings estimates for the modeled climate zones and buildings. The studied buildings were located in reference cities representing Climate Zones 4 through 7A as described in the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2020. The climate zone-specific fact sheets explain the calculated benefits presented by adding roof insulation during full roof replacement projects to reduce whole building energy use and associated operational costs and carbon emissions.

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Insulation Retrofit Savings for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Buildings

This ICF International research report aims to answer the question, how much can we reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by investing in cost-effective, easily achievable insulation improvements to existing single-family homes and commercial and industrial buildings? The answer is that insulation upgrades in existing buildings can make a huge impact on reducing emissions equivalent to 40 percent of total natural gas-fired generation in the United States. The report contains the full results from the insulation savings opportunity study and provides detailed metrics for the various insulation upgrade projects that were analyzed for each building sector and type. View electricity, energy and carbon emissions savings data for each building type and insulation upgrade as well as state-by-state savings estimates.

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Impact of Building Envelope Thermal Insulation on Use-Phase Emissions

This ICF International research report measures the potential use-phase emission reductions realized through the installation of building envelope insulation for residential and commercial new construction. As attention grows on the embodied carbon impacts of various construction materials, it is critical that designers and building owners understand the unique value of building envelope thermal insulation. Like other building products, the manufacture of insulation materials generates environmental impacts associated with the manufacture, distribution, installation and end-of-life of products. However, unlike other materials, building envelope thermal insulation reduces the environmental impacts of building operations (heating and cooling), which presents the opportunity to “payback” the impacts associated with other life cycle stages of an insulation material. Understand the potential payback scenarios for building envelope thermal insulation in both residential and commercial buildings across the sixteen (16) ASHRAE Climates Zones. 

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