Interview: Insulation Corporation of America
InSoFast panels are made from EPS and 100% recycled polypropylene studs. What is EPS? Expanded Polystyrene. Want to know more? We thought so, which is why we’ve chosen Sandy Posocco from the Insulation Corporation of America as this months Guest Blogger.
The ICA is a leading supplier of energy efficient and environmentally friendly EPS products. They know EPS well, from every aspect and will be writing all about the manufacturing process next week on the blog. We spoke briefly with Sandy, the ICA’s Vice President of Business Development to give you a quick introduction to the company.
1. Tell us a little bit about the background of your company.
Insulation Corp of America is both family and women owned. ICA was established in 1981 by my father, Thomas Higgins. We are an environmentally friendly manufacturer of expanded polystyrene block located in Allentown, PA. We employ about 35 people.
2. Why EPS?
“Why not?” would be the simple answer. EPS is really an Extraordinary Product Solution! It can be used for insulation, packaging and as ‘GeoFoam’ a soil substitute in geotechnical applications. EPS is both a lightweight and low cost product solution.
3. InSoFast products are made of EPS and 100% recycled polypropylene studs. In your opinion what makes EPS an ideal insulation material?
EPS is not only easy to work with but it’s lightweight, maintains its R-value, and is moisture resistant. Studies have shown that EPS is superior to XPS, Polyiso, and Fiberglass in several ways. Unlike the insulation alternatives, EPS is moisture resistant and outperforms above and below grade over time and with temperature change.
4. Insulation Corp wrote a pretty eye opening article back in February comparing EPS and XPS. Can you tell us a bit about the results found from this test study?
That article was a 3rd party independent 15 year study comparing EPS and XPS. The results concluded that EPS outperforms XPS by maintaining its R-Value and decreased water absorption. You can read the complete study here.
5. We’ve seen some very creative ways of using EPS on your site and we love it when our customers find interesting ways to reuse any leftover EPS material from their insulation projects. One of our customers even built a fully buoyant regatta raft out of some extra InSoFast! What’s your favorite way to use this versatile material?
There are many! But if I had to name one, it would be our customer from Imagine Factory. He uses our products to create fun environments for pediatric dentistry and pediatric doctors’ offices. His most current project on his Facebook page is the work he did for the Mummers Parade! To see some of his work visit the Imagine Factory Facebook Page.
6. EPS is often incorrectly referred to by the trademarked name of Extruded Polystrene (XPS) ‘Styrofoam’. Therefore, many people write EPS off as an environmentally destructive material. Little do they know it is a different product than XPS and is both recyclable and produced in a very green way. Can you talk with us about the green factors of EPS?
This is a very interesting topic. We have been on a mission for years to educate our customers and the public about EPS and Styrofoam. We have a canned statement – “Styrofoam is a Dow Trademark name and is blue in color”. In all my research I have never seen anything from Dow saying anything different. That is until recently.
Now, they don’t want you to get confused because of the “bad wrap” Styrofoam is getting. The public for the most part are still very confused. They have been calling the white stuff Styrofoam for years. Most people have not even heard of EPS. Unlike Styrofoam, EPS is an environmentally friendly product. In manufacturing, the gas that is release in production is captured and rerouted into our boiler. The excess trim and scrap is put through our grinder and manufactured back into product. We recycle clean and dry scrap from our customers and the public. The product that is difficult to recycle is sometimes white in color but it is an extruded molded product and not expanded polystyrene. To my knowledge, Dow Styrofoam is not recyclable.
Next week Sandy Posocco will give us an insiders look into the ICA’s EPS manufacturing facility. Stay tuned! You can also keep up to date with the Insulation Corporation of America’s unique variety of EPS projects on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
