Closed cell spray foam delivers continuous insulation to meet building codes

Dec. 2, 2015

As building codes come to adopt exterior continuous insulation requirements, new options with familiar products are entering the marketplace.

Demilec, a manufacturer of spray foam products, introduced its newest Heatlok closed-cell spray foam insulation product, Heatlok XT. Heatlok XT significantly increases the sustainability of this high-performing product, which now contains more than 20 percent renewable and recycled content, according to the company.

At the 2015 Greenbuild Expo, Doug Brady, vice president of strategic marketing for Demilec, reviewed the use of spray foam for continuous insulation.

Because it incorporates recycled and renewable content, as well as contributes to the performance of a home, Heatlok XT can now earn commercial and residential construction projects up to ten LEED certification points, Brady noted.

“Since launching our recycled bottle program in 2004, Demilec has recycled more than 300 million plastic bottles into our Heatlok family of closed-cell insulation products,” Brady said.

Heatlok XT yield has increased more than 10 percent Demilec's existing closed cell offerings. Also, Heatlok XT’s winter formulation can be sprayed at temperatures as low as 10 degrees (F) - the lowest in the spray foam market, allowing contractors to work longer in colder climates, Brady noted.

In addition to boosting the product’s eco-friendly attributes and cold-climate temperature range, sprayability has been increased to save time with a 2 inch-on-2-inch application (within seconds of spraying two inches of foam, another two inches can be sprayed over the first application) and allow for a wider processing window.

The new Heatlok XT also increased its performance in fire resistance. In ASTM-E-84 testing, the standard test method for surface burning characteristics of building materials, the Heatlok XT formulation scored a zero in fire resistance and flame spread - meaning that it completely inhibited a flame’s ability to spread from one surface to another.