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Icynene Has a New Foam With a Higher R-Value

The company says its Classic Plus open-cell spray foam will help builders meet requirements of the 2012 building code

Open-cell spray foam with a higher R-value per inch. Icynene says its new two-part polyurethane foam insulation has an R-value of 4 per inch, a 12% improvement over its other low-density products.
Image Credit: Icynene

Icynene is now offering a low-density polyurethane foam insulation with a slightly higher R-value, which the company says will help builders meet stricter energy code requirements.

The product is called Icynene Classic Plus. The manufacturer says that the two-part spray foam insulation has an R-value of 4 per inch, compared to R-3.7 per inch for its Classic and Classic Max open-cell foam products.

Sprayed into a 2×6 wall, the foam would provide a total of R-22 in stud cavities. (Whole-wall R-values would be lower because of thermal bridging at wall studs, headers, and other framing members.) The company’s other low-density polyurethane foams have R-values of 3.7 per inch, meaning that 2×6 wall cavities with these older formulations would have a total R-value of 20.35.

The new product that attains R-22 has a high enough R-value to meet the International Code Council’s 2012 energy requirements (explained in a blog by GBA senior editor Martin Holladay). But Icynene said that most states are using the 2009 energy code, which requires R-21 in Climate Zones 7 and 8, and some jurisdictions that have adopted the 2012 requirements have modified it so that it, too, calls for R-21 in wall cavities.

“We initially developed the Classic Plus to meet the 2009 code, but have seen other climate zones adopt the R-21 value as well, so we can satisfy all areas in the country that require R-21 (even R-22) in 2×6 wood stud walls,” a company spokesman said by e-mail.

Like other open-cell polyurethane foams, Classic Plus is vapor-permeable. But it has slightly higher density than other Icynene open-cell products, 0.7 lb. per cubic foot (pcf) vs. 0.5 pcf. It’s also water-blown, so it has minimal global warming potential, Icynene says.

2 Comments

  1. Expert Member
    Dana Dorsett | | #1

    They are finally competing head to head...
    ...with Demilec's 0.7lb "Agribalance" open cell product it would seem!

    It would be nice if other vendors stepped up with products similar to Icycene's ~2-2.2lb density semi-open water blown foam though, which have favorable properties over other 2lb foams beyond the high global warming potential aspects of the blowing agents.

  2. Ben1097 | | #2

    Great post. Some really useful information here for sure. I think when looking at insulation options, especially products such as spray foam, factors like these are easily looked over. When it comes to Icynene, Mass Foam Systems provide a great guide on what Icynene is and the applications of Icynene. If anyone is interested it can be found here: https://www.massfoamsystems.co.uk/what-is-icynene-spray-foam/

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