Years ago, insulating the basement was considered an upgrade, but now building codes insist that a basement be insulated down to at least the frost line. What that means is that basement insulation starts beneath the main floor and extends down four to five feet below ground level. This is the minimum standard of insulation but usually in new home construction there are several packages available to choose from. You can choose the minimum and develop your basement later, in which case you might choose to use a basement blanket wrap. This product includes the vapour-barrier and is rolled out in one continuous piece. The handy thing about this option is that the basement doesn’t need to be framed for it to be installed. This is definitely the less expensive option and is usually chosen by those who only wish to develop their basement later on.

If you intend to develop your basement sooner than later, or are more concerned about conserving energy, then the basement would be framed and usually a fibreglass batt insulation would be inserted within the framing. If the basement were to be developed along with the rest of the house then the insulation would extend all the way down to the concrete floor. The minimum code for basements is an R-12 rating and a 6 ml vapour barrier. For main floors, building codes require an R-20 rating. If an exterior wrap is going to be used (this is a reflective bubble-wrap type of insulation that is installed under the siding) then the R-value is increased. The R-value is the overall rating of the thermal resistance of a material, wall, window or roof, etcetera.

Keeping all that in mind however, one of the most important places to consider good insulation in a house is in the attic. Heat loss through the attic can represent a large portion of the entire heat loss through a home. The main reason being that heat rises. New home construction predominantly utilizes blown-in insulation for attics, whether it’s loose-fill cellulose or a fibreglass product. This is largely due to the fact that it’s better able to seal small nooks and crannies and is also more cost effective. Cellulose insulation is a shredded paper product that has been chemically treated to resist fire and fungal growth. The fibreglass blown-in product is the same material as the batting but is in loose-form. A representative from Affordable Home Insulators says that about 95 - 99 per cent their jobs use the fibreglass option because of Calgary’s weather fluctuations. Because our city’s weather can quickly change from warm summer-type weather to extremely frigid conditions and back again in only a matter of days, the resulting moisture can sometimes cause cellulose to deteriorate over time. This expert does add, however, that moisture can cause problems in many attics and the best prevention is to make sure that there is proper ventilation. Bad ventilation can create mold or even frost build-up and either one can spell bad news for your home.

The way that ventilation is delivered is with the installation of what is referred to as intake venting, which includes roof vents, air chutes and soffit vents. Soffit vents have been built under the roof overhangs for years. However older homes often have only several small vents to service the entire attic. Nowadays, most new homes employ continuous soffit venting, which allows better intake of fresh air. Of course if good air convection is not being achieved, then a whirly-bird or turbine on the roof is used to remove the excess air and moisture from the attic. Canadian General Standards recommends that one square foot of venting should be installed for every 300 square feet of attic and a turbine can be considered one square foot of this venting.

Of course there are various companies that provide different versions of all these types of insulation, and there are even more varieties on the market when it comes to retrofitting an older home. Blow-ins or foam insulations are often used in very old homes or places where there is no existing insulation. There are even rigid or board insulations available for different types of insulating jobs, but whatever is offered when you build your next home, it’s probably a good idea to sit down and decide what level of insulation will serve you best in the future. After all, insulation doesn’t just keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer, it saves you money.