Expanded Cork - The Greenest Insulation Material?

Author name:  Alex Wilson Blog Category:  Energy Solutions GreenSpec Insights Introducing all-natural expanded cork boardstock insulation to the North American market. Expanded cork insulation is available up to 12 inches thick and can be used much like polyiso. Click to enlarge. Photo Credit: Amorim Isolamentos I’m always on the hunt for the latest, most interesting, and most environmentally friendly building materials, and I have particular interest in insulation products—partly because many conventional insulation products have significant environmental downsides. (See “ Avoiding the Global Warming Impact of Insulation ” and “ Polystyrene: Does it Belong in a Green Building? ”) So I was thrilled to learn about expanded cork boardstock insulation made by the Portuguese company Amorim Isolamentos and just now being introduced into the North American market. Francisco Simoes, of Amorim, visited our office in Brattleboro in June and told us all about it. Familiar to wine drinkers as the traditional bottle-stopper, cork is a natural product made from the outer bark of a species of oak tree that grows in the western Mediterranean region of Europe and North Africa. The bark is harvested after trees reach an age of 18–25 years and it regenerates, allowing harvesting every nine years over the tree’s 200-year life. read more