Fiberglass is made from silica (sand) and recycled glass, which is melted down and pulled through a die. These fine glass fibers form a sort of glass wool. Resins are also added, making the fiberglass heat resistant and a good choice around electrical wiring.
There are standards in place in the U.S. requiring that fiberglass manufactured there contain a minimum of twenty percent of the materials come from recycled sources, be they old windows, glassware, or any other post-consumer or post-industrial product.
However, while the use of recycled material does make fiberglass environmentally friendly to some extent, the process of melting down the glass and sand in a fossil fuel burning furnace mitigates those efforts to some extent. These furnaces consume a significant amount of energy, and generate much more air pollution than the production of other types of insulation do.
And what about breathing in those glass fibers? The American Lung Association reassures that this isn’t linked to an increased cancer risk, even though the American Occupational Health & Safety Administration still demands all insulation products containing fiberglass come with cancer warning label.
Planning on using fibergalss and wondering if it’s toxic? Maybe. Do you research, because it’s only a few major manufactures that have dealt with the issue. Knauf, Owens Coming, CertainTeed and Guardian are now Greengaurd certified products. Greengaurd is a third party organization that tests products for their performance on how they impact indoor air quality (IAQ) and what levels of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) they emit. Johns Manville is also safe as it has removed formaldehyde from its manufacturing process and is now using an acrylic resin as a binder.
Any one who has worked with fiberglass in the past knows that it can be a skin irritant, so wearing long sleeves, pants, gloves, eye protection and a mask is a sensible thing to do.
Is fiberglass insulation better than the other types? All types of insulation have their pros and cons. Some settle and lose R-Value (dry cellulose) and don’t (fiberglass). Some are more environmentally friendly (cellulose) than others (fiberglass). What you really need to do is research which type is best for your specific project. There is no question that there is a better choice depending on where and what you need to insulate.
