{"id":29431,"date":"2017-11-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/wool-insulation-is-sustainable\/"},"modified":"2017-11-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T11:00:00","slug":"wool-insulation-is-sustainable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/wool-insulation-is-sustainable\/","title":{"rendered":"Wool insulation is sustainable"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Terra Lana applied New Zealand research to promote the healthiness and cost-effectiveness of the natural fibre.<\/p>\n

It was a kind of commercial proxy for work the Wool Board used to do.<\/p>\n

The business would drain its supplier\u2019s stocks if just 5% of all NZ homes had wool insulation, general manager James Gallagher said.<\/p>\n

Terra Lana originated from commercialised Wool Research Organisation (Wronz) research in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Nearly 20 years ago Andrew Everist and other partners took it over from the now-defunct Kaiapoi Woollen Mills in North Canterbury.<\/p>\n

Terra Lana had a tough few years after the global financial crisis then rallied when the previous government subsidised retrofit insulation for a large number of older, generally cheaper homes.<\/p>\n

The programme petered out once the most accessible were insulated and Terra Lana\u2019s order book had about half of the subsidy-driven peak volume.<\/p>\n

Gallagher said the company now targeted a smaller number of higher-value homes, like modern family homesteads or retirement pads.<\/p>\n

The business had a comfortable at 1-2% of the new home market but the aim was for more premium properties, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we could just get 3-4% in new builds people would start saying \u2018just use Terra Lana\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallagher, a physics graduate, said builders and architects calling the shots on materials had to be convinced a woollen blend could do the job well enough and for a long time at the right price.<\/p>\n

Modern NZ homes were well sealed but in a temperate climate they were vulnerable to condensation as warm indoor air moved outward to the cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWool is hydroscopic so it will absorb that moisture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly for Terra Lana and farmers, builders and home designers would try to save about $6000 by opting for synthetics.<\/p>\n

Terra Lana\u2019s insulation had a 50-year warranty and was backed it up with commissioned reports from building industry assessors like Branz and work by AgResearch.<\/p>\n

But complex tests could cost tens of thousands of dollars so the company had to be sure the scientific inquiry was worth it.<\/p>\n

Gallagher said it was pointless trying to knock synthetics off its perch \u2013 the competition\u2019s marketing and research budgets were too big.<\/p>\n

Besides, Terra Lana blended polyester into its woollen fibre for shape and support.<\/p>\n

Financially, the Bromley-based manufacturing and retail business couldn\u2019t survive on wool demand alone, which was why it had a sister operation, EnergySmart, offering synthetic insulation products.<\/p>\n

To put the relative sales in perspective, Terra Lana had 20 staff and EnergySmart had 40 to 55.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pragmatic, not purists,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting good traction (in wool) but we\u2019ve got a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallagher said unfortunately demand for wool insulation wouldn\u2019t make farmers rich because Terra Lana bought it fairly cheaply as carpet by-product.<\/p>\n

Still, the wool had numerous uses like mulch mats and pipe lagging.<\/p>\n

The only part of a fleece Terra Lana didn\u2019t use was dags, which were too smelly.<\/p>\n

Gallagher said it remained to be seen whether the Labour-NZ First Government would try to stimulate household and commercial insulation but he wouldn\u2019t bank on it.<\/p>\n

Meantime, the Building Code wasn\u2019t particularly friendly to woollen wraps or to addressing the problem of trapped water vapour in wall linings creating ideal conditions for mould.<\/p>\n

The code simply required windows that could be opened, Gallagher said.<\/p>\n

A more complete answer \u2013 apart from wool insulation alone \u2013 was double-glazing, better joinery and ventilation cavities.<\/p>\n

Rather than looking at one product or another as the panacea for moist homes, Gallagher preferred a building systems approach combining compatible products.<\/p>\n

As an example, because wool was a sustainable fibre, Terra Lana never recommended it be put against cement board. The right partner for wool was wood, Gallagher said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A wool recycling business insulating some of the country\u2019s priciest homes with surplus carpet yarn is taking wool\u2019s story to architects and builders.\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":29432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t