GETTING BY WITHOUT CFA's

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Unfortunately, there are currently no commercially available replacements for the CFC-11 used in urethane-, polyisocyanurate-, and phenolic-foam insulation. CFC manufacturers are investigating several promising alternatives, including HCFC123 and HCFC-141b, but they won't complete toxicity and durability testing for these chemicals for another three to five years. Also, even when available, these newer HCFCs are expected to be considerably more expensive than the CFCs they'll replace. Higher production costs will make HCFCproduced insulation even less competitive with fiberglass and cellulose on a cost-per-R-value basis.

Foam Sealants

Spray-foam sealants are among the most exciting products to come along in the construction industry in the past decade. These aerosol sprays are used to set window and door frames tightly into place and to seal electrical penetrations and other cracks and gaps around the house. The urethane insulation bonds extremely well with most surfaces and has played an important role in helping builders to produce very tight, energy-efficient homes.

Until recently, all foam sealants relied on CFCs as the foaming agent. Within the past year, however, two manufacturers have come out with non-CFC foam sealants. Convenience Products, Inc. (4205 Forest Park Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108; 314/349-5333) recently introduced a sealant, Touch 'n Foam Ozone Safe, that uses a hydrocarbon foaming agent. While flammable during foaming and for several hours after, the hydrocarbon evaporates, and the cured foam is comparable in fire safety to CFC-foamed urethanes. The cured foam will not have as high an R-value, but that shouldn't make much difference in a sealant application.

Todol Products, Inc. (P.O. Box 398, Natick, MA O 1760; 508/879-7741) last year introduced a European product, Pur-Fil, which uses an HCFC foaming agent that's considerably less harmful to the ozone. Like their older CFC-foamed product, this one contains no hydrocarbons and so doesn't pose any fire concern.

If you have an application for spray-foam sealant, look carefully through the products at your building supply center. The foaming agent may not be clearly listed. If you don't see specific mention on the can that the product is ozone-safe, however, assume it contains CFCs.

Refrigerators

Refrigerators pose a unique problem in efforts to reduce the use of CFCs. They rely upon CFCs in two very important ways: first, as the circulating refrigerant used in the compressor cycle to cool the refrigerator; and second, in the urethane foam used to insulate it. CFC-12 has been the refrigerant of choice for decades. It has an excellent record of performance and can provide the necessary cooling for both the refrigerator and freezer compartments.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print