Sustainable Living at Home - Insulation

The Sustainable Living at Home - Insulation activity was designed as part of Designing Green with Olin College Engineering Discovery! It is targeted at elementary school children.

Goal

Students will be able to identify the best methods and materials for insulating a home.

Materials

The following materials are necessary:

Preparation for Activity

1. Cut foam board into 10x10cm squares (will need 5 per student)
   1. Construct boxes with duct tape for each student
2. Cut insulation options to fit inside walls of home (10x10)
3. Lay out materials so all are visible for students to choose

Discussion

This discussion is based off of this excellent site.

1. How do you heat your homes?
   1. Natural gas, coal, wood stove, electric heater
2. Do you know how much it costs to heat your homes?
   1. Space heating and cooling consumes 44% of all energy use in a home
   2. Average US house spends $650 annually on cooling and heating
3. How do you keep the heat in your home during the winter?
   1. Insulation
4. Do you know how much money you can save by putting in good insulation?
   1. Adding good insulation can decrease your annual bill 10-30%
      • This makes $650 as low as $450 per year
5. What locations in a home are especially important to insulate?
   1. Attic, exterior walls, foundation (can account for 20% of heat loss)
6. What are some common types of insulation?
   1. Cellulose - recycled paper - waste - why is this good?
      1. Involves a fraction of the energy use and pollution required to make mineral wool and fiberglass insulation
      2. No impact on indoor air quality
   2. Cotton - natural, renewable resource
      1. Use boron as a flame retardant
      2. Generated from scrap of denim manufacturing
   3. Fiberglass - made of silica and recycled glass - abundant
      1. 20% of resources come from recycled sources
      2. Little danger if installed properly (inhaling fibers)
   4. Foam - greater environmental impact
      1. Extraction, refining, and transport of natural resources
   5. Mineral wool - strands of minerals - rock
      1. 70% recycled content - second only to cellulose
      2. More expensive, but durable and moisture-resistant
7. We are going to put some materials to the test!
   1. We want you to experiment both with different types of materials, and different ways of lining the walls, ceiling, and corners of a "home"

Protocol

1. Give each student a pre-made box ("house")
2. Allow students to apply each type of insulation individually to see how much heat escapes
   1. Have them apply it to the one wall opposite the heat lamp at first to see how well that insulation does on its own
   2. Let them discover what the best insulation options are
3. Challenge students to use any materials they desire to insulate their home enough that no heat escapes
   1. Be sure they recognize lining all walls and corners
   2. Where are some types of insulation better than others?
      • Ex: cotton in corners, etc
4. Allow students to draw doors and/or windows on the walls of their homes
   1. Assist them in cutting these out with an exacto knife
5. Allow students to explore insulating windows and doors
   1. Have them apply it to the one wall opposite the heat lamp at first to see how well that insulation does on its own
   2. Be sure they considering lining them with some sort of material (ex. Cotton)

Conclusions

1. What worked?
2. What didn't work?
3. What happened when you added windows?
4. What types of insulation are more environmentally friendly?
5. Challenge students to go home and talk to their parents about the insulation in their homes
   1. Could it be improved?
   2. How environmentally friendly is it?