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Community and Q&A

New cork spray, same old hokum?

nick_vk | Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on

I am a member of a soon-to-be built condominium project in Zone 4B where, because the builder is not comfortable putting a layer of EPS over plywood/under stucco,  some members have gotten interested in using spray cork.  I know this has been discussed here in 2023 (https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/cork-insulation) and in 2019 (https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/cork-spray-with-specific-wall-assembly) and the consensus was that the claims for cork spray were “pure hogwash”).  Now there’s a new company out of Arizona making rather vague claims about cork’s physical qualities without actually saying how it will improve building performance: https://greencorkproducts.com/

To me, the song remains the same.  As far as reducing heat transfer:

convection: 1/8 of an inch is too thin to add more than  0.5 of R value.
conduction: it only applies to the wall assembly, which will already have two coats of stucco over housewrap.
radiation: even if it were somehow a radiant barrier,  it’s not going to reduce emissivity from summer heat if it’s applied directly over stucco.

I don’t know if the compressibility of cork could provide some resistance to cracking over and above some other elastomeric coating, but the company doesn’t go quite that far, saying only this: “Excellent Elasticity and Compressibility: It is the only solid which, when compressed on one side, does not increase in volume on another; and as a result of its elasticity, it is able to adapt, for example, to variations in temperature and pressure without suffering alterations.”

From what I have heard, the informal marketing pitch (not anything written down) is that is reduces heat gain in the Arizona desert.  A 1/8 inch layer that reduces heat gain without talking about emissivity or reflectivity seems highly doubtful to me.

I would appreciate any objective evaluations of this product I can pass on to my fellow members.

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Replies

  1. Expert Member
    DCcontrarian | | #1

    I looked through the website, didn't see anything about R-value. The advertising of insulation is regulated by Federal Trade Commission regulations, if they're not willing to put it on their website you should be skeptical.

    It seems like the real purpose of this produce is as a finish exterior to replace stucco. It may or may not be good at that, the 10-year warranty seems a little short to me. If you need exterior insulation to comply with energy code this isn't the produce.

    Stucco has a lot of problems in insulated buildings. Joe Lstiburek has written extensively about it, you should check out his website at buildingscience.com.

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