SPFA News & Announcements

SPFA Quarterly D.I.C.E. Webinar Series Hosts Claudette Reichel of LSU: Basic Building Science Insights for Sprayfoam, HVAC and Moisture

July 12, SPFA hosted a live airing of Claudette Reichel’s presentation focusing upon sprayfoam, HVAC and moisture management. Being based in Baton Rouge. La., Claudette and the sprayfoam companies, along with their customers, have a constant battle with moisture in the jungle-like climate. Sprayfoam performs very well in places like Louisiana. Claudette’s presentation to the SPFA members provided great guidance on battling moisture issues with sprayfoam, and follows almost a week spent in the state by SPFA staff meeting with the LA State Code Council and the LA Home Builders Association to discuss areas of mutual interest around SPF. The webinar was great, because while Claudette’s information was generally directed to more humid and wet environments, she added information relevant to the rest of the country.

This webinar was part of SPFA’s D.I.C.E (Delivering Information for Contractor Excellence) quarterly webinar series and video replay is available to members. Notably, the session was sponsored by BPI in conjunction with the roll out of its new Building Science Certificate of Knowledge program. Attendees were provided with a discount code applicable to the BPI test and reference guide. BPI, along with RCI, the Roof Consultants Institute, qualified the webinar for one hour continuing education units recognized by both groups for their members seeking to maintain their educational requirements. Keep an eye out for the promo of the next SPFA DICE webinar sometime in the fall.

Start Planning for SprayFoam Convention & Expo, Jan. 26-29, 2014

Join your industry for the SPF event of the year! Imagine the possibilities:

-Network and develop valuable connections.
-Find solutions to your pressing business needs.
-Learn about advances in the SPF industry.
-Get the training you need to be the best.

Watch for updates on the 2014 SprayFoam Convention & Expo at the SPFA website: www.sprayfoam.org.

SPFA Joins New Coalition Examining Fire Retardants

SPFA is an active member of this new coalition examining the responsible and proper treatment of products containing fire retardants. Click here for more details.

A group of SPFA stakeholder members in California have been very active in opposing a new proposal in the California Assembly to reduce or eliminate flame retardants in foam plastic insulation. This proposal, AB127, can have a significant impact on the use of foam plastic insulation across the State, and is being promoted nationally by a group called Safer Insulation Solution. Working with Tim Shestek of the American Chemistry Council, more than a dozen SPFA contractor members co-signed a letter to the proponent, Assemblywoman Skinner of the California Legislature's Natural Resources Committee (NRC). Many of our SPFA members also contacted the members of the NRC within their respective legislative districts. Although AB127 did pass through the NRC on April 29, it now moves to the Appropriations Committee, where the financial implications of the bill will be reviewed. SPFA will continue supporting the ACC and the Energy Efficient Foam Coalition's grass-roots efforts in California, read here. Interested SPFA members should contact Rick Duncan for more information rickduncan@sprayfoam.org.

In November 2012, SPFA released final reports that documented the SPF industry's Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study. This announcement and detailed report can be found by clicking here. This study documents the detailed results of the overwhelmingly net-positive environmental impacts of generic LD, MD and roofing SPF products from cradle to end-of-life. The six impacts studied include primary energy demand, global warming (carbon footprint), ozone depletion, eutrophication (nitrogen release), smog and acidification (acid rain). While the study met all requirements of ISO-14040 and 14044, the results need to be summarized in a third-party environmental product declaration (EPD). EPD's, following the Product Category Rules (PRC) for insulation, provide an important verification of the results that assist in product selection under sustainable building programs such as USGBC's LEED, IgCC, GreenGlobes and other similar programs. UL Environments will be the most likely developer of the SFPA's industry-level EPD. For more information on the EPD development, please contact Rick Duncan, Technical Director of SPFA at rickduncan@sprayfoam.org.