To receive the "Outstanding Green Product of the Year" at the 2003 National Association of Home Builders Green Builders Conference and also make the GreenSpec Directory's "Top 10" list for innovative new green building products in 2003, something special has to be presented.
Unlike fiberglass and/or cellulose insulation, soy-based BB501 does not "settle" whereby loss of air-tightness can occur, thus allowing for outside air infiltration to occur the main cause of heat gain and loss in a building envelope. Spray applied as a liquid, in seconds upon contact with a clean dry surface, it expands to 100 times its volume when in liquid form. The net effect of this rapid expansion is to create a thermal envelope whereby every nook, cranny, crevice, void, cavity, etc., is filled completely. The advantages of this sealing effect are many-fold. Besides providing a thermal value of 3.7 R/in (achieves R-13 at 31⁄2 inch thick), it also creates a noise, air and moisture barrier minimizing air infiltration from the outside, thus preventing unwanted sound, pollutants, dust, allergens, etc., from entering the interior spaces thereby improving indoor air quality.