CaraGreen, a distributor of sustainable building materials, has recently added Havelock Wool Insulation to its collection of healthy building materials. Havelock is the ideal insulating material for both new construction and remodels as it allows some 10,000 years of evolution as an insulator to protect your live/work space from the elements.

Wool is a well-known insulator but is unlike any other insulation medium with regard to moisture management. The inherent characteristics of the fiber allow for moisture to be regulated against 65 percent relative humidity – actively absorbing and desorbing. It is a keratin so it does not support the growth of mold. Also unique is a wool fiber’s ability to increase air quality through passive filtration. The amino acids in wool will irreversibly bond with formaldehyde, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. Sound deadening is a further differentiator along with natural resistance to fire.

By comparison, fiberglass, while widely used, is not a sustainable material. The fibers are not as well suited to the application as wool fibers and the particulate emitted is not safe to breathe.

Rock wool insulation is not wool at all, rather it is basalt rock and slag - from steel production spun into fibers and formed into batts with a formaldehyde binder.

True wool insulation is readily available and the most sustainable option on the market. It makes homes and commercial environments cleaner and healthier, by taking cues from nature and using biomimicry to take the function of a sheep's coat and applying it to a building's envelope.

To learn more about Havelock Wool Insulation or CaraGreen, visit www.caragreen.com.