v°/EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
(OS-305)
EPA/530-SW-91-C44
June 1991
Office of Solid Waste
Environmental
Fact Sheet
EPA Guideline for Purchasing
Building Insulation Containing
Recovered Materials
A number of building
insulation materials can be
manufactured with recov-
ered materials. These in-
clude cellulose, fiberglass,
perlite, composite board,
plastic foams and boards,
and rock wool.
On February 17,1989,
EPA issued a guideline for
purchasing building insula-
tion products containing
recovered materials. It
requires all federal agencies
and all state and local gov-
ernment agencies that use
federal funds to purchase
building insulation products
to implement a preference
program favoring the pur-
chase of such products to the
maximum extent practi-
cable. The purpose of the
guideline is to use the
stimulus of government
procurement to increase the
use of these products within
both government and pri-
vate sectors.
Scope of the Guideline
The guideline applies to
building insulation prod-
ucts, whether used in resi-
dential, commercial, or
industrial applications. It
does not cover other types of
insulation, such as air han-
dling, acoustic, pipe, and
cold storage insulation.
Recommended
Minimum Content
The guideline recom-
mends that procuring agen-
cies use minimum content
standards for the amount of
recovered material that
should be in the insulation
products they purchase.
The specific EPA standards
appear in the table on the
back of this fact sheet.
The guideline further
recommends that agencies
use case-by-case procure-
ment when purchasing
insulation materials for
which minimum-content
standards have not been
established (e.g., fiberglass
and polystyrene rigid foam).
EPA recommends that
the designing architect or
engineer, whether a contrac-
tor or an employee, be re-
sponsible for choosing build-
ing insulation products
containing recovered materi-
als. The architect or engi-
neer should (1) incorporate
EPA's minimum-content
standards into the insula-
tion selection criteria, (2)
review and advise the
agency on the availability of
building insulation contain-
ing recovered materials, and
(3) where the architect
requires a building insula-
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EPA-Reoommended Minimum-Content
Standards for Recovered Materials in
Building Insulation Products
Material Type
Cellulose loose-fill
and spray-on
Fertile composite board
Plastic rigid foams:
Polyisocyanurate/polyurethane
Rigid foam
Foam-in-place
Glass fiber reinforced
Phenolic rigid foam
Rock wool" material
Percent by Weight
75 percent postconsumer
recovered paper
23 percent postconsumer
recovered paper
9 percent recovered material
5 percent recovered material
6 percent recovered material
5 percent recovered material
75 percent recovered material
*The minimum-content standards are based on the weight (not the
volume) of the material in the insulating core only.
"On September 10,1990, EPA issued Procurement Guidelines Advisory
#1, informing agencies that a 75 percent minimum-content standard is
achievable. The guideline recommended only a 50 percent standard.
tion product not containing
recovered materials or con-
taining less than the recom-
mended minimum content,
document the rationale for
the decision.
Principal Federal
Procuring Agencies
The principal federal
procuring agencies for build-
ing insulation materials are
the General Services Admin-
istration (GSA), the Depart-
ment of Defense (DOD), the
Department of Energy
(DOE), the Department of
Health and Human Services
(HHS), and the Department
of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD).
Impact on State and
Local Agencies
While federal agencies do
purchase building insula-
tion, the greatest impact of
this guideline may be cre-
ated from state and local
agencies using federal funds
to purchase insulation
under construction, rehabili-
tation, renovation, and
energy weatherization
grants. State and local
agencies receive funds from
such federal programs as
DOE's Weatherization
Program, HHS's Low-In-
come Home Energy Assis-
tance Program, and various
HUD programs. State and
local grantees and sub-
grantees who purchase more
than $10,000 worth of build-
ing insulation in a year and
who use some federal funds
for the purchases are re-
quired to establish affirma-
tive procurement programs
for building insulation con-
taining recovered materials.
Further Information
For more information
and to obtain copies of the
building insulation guide-
line, Procurement Guideline
Advisories, and lists of
building insulation manu-
facturers, please contact
EPA's procurement guide-
lines hotline at (703) 941-
4452.
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