So pioneering wood-fiber insulation here is exciting environmentalists and investors, with the majority of the $100 million project financed by municipally backed “green” bonds.
And this is the problem: We’re trading one environmental disaster, which is operational energy for buildings, for another, which is the materials we’re using to build them, to try solve the first problem.
According to the company’s estimates, they can produce nontoxic, wood-fiber batting, blown-in fill and boards at R ratings and prices competitive with all the traditional insulation products.
We’re really fortunate to have an innovative company like this coming online,” said Amanda Beal, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and co-chair of Gov.
They added, though, that third-party, real-world validation of any carbon savings will be required.
“We’re talking about introducing this I think important tool for climate mitigation into the North American market and then it’s about scaling that in an appropriate way.
Cianbro, a construction company, is retrofitting the plant now, installing infrastructure shipped in from Europe.