It’s just one of the many Northern differences you’ll discover.

GOSHEN — Blown-in cellulose, an environmentally friendly way to insulate buildings, is now being offered by Northern Windows, Siding, Roofing and Insulation of Orange County.

The new division at the showroom, located at 537 Route 17M in Goshen, expects to employ additional technicians this year.

“Blown in cellulose insulation helps save on energy costs, keep you warm in winter, cool in summer, is enviro-friendly and typically done from outside your home, without disturbing interior walls.” said Mike Furman, president of Northern Windows. “The product is literally made from newspaper, just like the one you’re reading now.”

Northern uses a premium quality cellulose product made from over-issue newsprint (daily newspapers that went unpurchased), paper drive paper, and other high-quality recycled paper, all refined to cellulose fiber. For example, if a newspaper prints a million copies but sells only 750,000, the vendor buys the remaining 250,000 in bulk and turns them into insulation.

First, the newspaper is reduced to tiny pieces in a machine called a hammermill, pieces just big enough to make out one letter from the original newspaper. In the next step, these tiny pieces are “fiberized,” another process that breaks them down to the component fibers of the original tree from which the newsprint was made. At this point, there’s no resemblance to the original newspaper.

Then borate, a naturally occurring mineral, is added for fire, mold, and pest control. Lastly, a tiny amount of mineral oil is added for dust control.

The product is packaged in 25-pound bags. The insulation is then dense-packed (blown) into new or existing walls, floors, and ceiling cavities by trained technicians from Northern.

Furman said the product has a very high insulation value, great resistance to air, fills in all gaps and voids, and protects against fire, moisture and mold.

Now in its 25th year, Northern Windows, Siding, Roofing and Insulation is an independent, locally owned service company. The showroom is open Monday through Friday.

For more information, visit http://northernwindows.com/products/insulation, or call 294-4444.

New York Times: Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Home Green Home: Insulation Materials
By TOM ZELLER JR.

Readers will remember that my wife, Kathy, and I made some efficiency improvements to our home last spring — including the addition of new insulation to the attic.

We used blown cellulose insulation manufactured by the National Fiber Company in Belchertown, Mass. (see video).

Cellulose insulation is essentially a flaky product comprised of recycled paper — including unused editions of The New York Times. (Yes, it’s all the news that fit to print — and insulate.)

But there are lots of different insulation materials out there, and with the cold weather approaching, homeowners considering an efficiency upgrade may well be confronting the same question we did: Which to choose?

As you might expect, it’s easy to find resources that pit one material against another, but the real answer is (sorry): It depends.

Whether you’re looking at batts of fiberglass or mineral wool, rigid-board or sprayed foam polystyrene, blown cellulose or even blankets of hemp or sheep’s wool, you’ll first need to consider where you live, what you’re insulating, and to some degree, your own sensibilities in terms of how various products are manufactured.

Insulation makers and dealers, of course, are quick to declare their particular material superior. But generally speaking, all materials have their strong points, and all have their drawbacks.

When I was looking into the topic last spring, I reached out to Bruce Harley, the author of the 2002 book “Insulate and Weatherize,” and technical director for the Conservation Services Group, a 25-year-old efficiency consulting firm based in Westborough, Mass.

Most of the competing claims made by insulation makers and dealers amount to little more than marketing, Mr. Harley explained in an e-mail message. “They will say anything they can get away with,” he said.

That doesn’t mean the materials don’t work, of course — though some products, like insulating paints, make what many experts consider dubious claims.

But when it comes down to choosing fiberglass over cellulose, say, or sprayed polystyrene over rigid boards, the differences might well be negligible in the long run.

“I have some personal preferences,” Mr. Harley said, “but they include all these materials depending on the situation.”

The bottom line, according to Mr. Harley:

• All insulation is good, and saves a bunch of energy, if it’s installed properly. Energy intensity of production is nearly irrelevant over the life of the product.

• All insulation products can be installed badly. If so, they create disproportionate thermal problems, and possibly other problems (moisture, fire risk, etc.).

• Some installation systems are “easier” to install correctly, and you typically pay a premium for them (the corollary: almost always, low price = lousy performance).

• Moisture performance of insulated assemblies varies considerably, and assemblies should be designed according to the risk factors for the climate and building.
One specific bit of advice: “Radiant foil” products, including foil-faced bubble wraps and similar materials, as well as reflective or radiant paints that purport to offer insulation properties, are, according to Mr. Harley, “basically scams.”

For an overview of insulation materials and some of the considerations associated with each, the United States Department of Energy offers a breakdown.

The Department of Energy’s zip-code based insulation calculator can also help narrow the type of insulation materials that are appropriate, based on your location, as well as estimate the amount of material you’ll need and what it might cost.

One Orange County family learned Thursday that their home is about to undergo a little work. Actually, as our Christian Farrell tells us, it’s more like a lot of work.

CRAWFORD, N.Y. — There are moments in one’s life that change things forever: Getting married, having a baby and in the case of the Korpai family from Crawford, the knock on your door from the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” television crew.

“Absolutely a dream come true. Never in a million years did we think that it would be” said Jimmy Korpai.

For Jimmy and Darlene Korpai, when this bus rolled up to their Town of Crawford home Thursday morning, the reality hit them. They were winners on the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The home they share with their two children is about to re-modeled to assist one of their children, five-year-old Hailey was born with a form of dwarfism.

“Our home, at this point, is not adapted for any of her needs. We’re interested in adapting it so that it’s a place for her,” Korpai said.

Those doing the “adapting” are all local volunteers donating their time, skills and equipment for a worthwhile project.

“It’s just amazing to see how the community really came together. That’s what amazes me,” said volunteer architect Jay Machado.

Officials with the television show, now entering its ninth season, say they’ve never re-built a home for a “little person.”

“The biggest thing this week is independence. There’s no point in us coming here if we don’t address the problem, which is the dwarfism that Hailey’s got. We’ve got some great things we can throw at this house,” home designer Ed Sanders said.

“I don’t know what to anticipate. We know things, we don’t know things. It’s kind of just going with the flow and really, we’re just going to enjoy it. And enjoy the people involved,” Korpai said.

Next up for the Korpai family is a weeklong vacation. When they return to their Petticoat Lane home that they’ve lived in for the last nine years, it’s guaranteed to look a whole lot different, but it’ll be specifically

Volunteers are still needed for a wide range of positions for all shifts. Construction is ongoing 24 hours a day until the project is complete.