The purpose of envelope insulation is to provide a continuous thermal barrier to minimize heat flow through the walls, ceiling and floor.
Insulation serves to keep a home comfortable and reduce costs for heating and cooling.
The home will not be as comfortable and energy costs will be increased if insufficient insulation is installed, or it is installed incorrectly, such as being compressed or installed with gaps. Furthermore, it is not difficult to install insulation correctly. Recent studies have found that over a third of new homes have lower levels of insulation installed than specified and an additional fifth have serious installation problems that will result in significantly decreased effectiveness of the insulation. In addition, virtually all of the homes studied were found to have numerous insulation installation defects that reduce the performance of the insulation well below its rated R-value. All of these problems can lead to defect litigation.