All insulation materials take energy to manufacture and transport. According to the US Department of Energy, embodied carbon is “the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials and products over the entire life cycle of a building, not including the operations or use phase” (Embodied Carbon Reduction in New Construction).
To begin with, the amount of embodied carbon depends to a great extent on the blowing agent in an insulation material. Designers, architects and builders aiming to minimize the global warming impacts of their buildings should choose non-HFC/HFO blended (hydrofluorocarbon) foam insulation. Neopor® Plus GPS is a non-HFC foam insulation and complies with the latest requirements published as part of the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP, 2015) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Neopor Residential Brochure).
Additionally, both standard Neopor® and Neopor® BMB GPS display lower embodied carbon than any other rigid insulation, using 30% less raw material than XPS for the same R-value. This lowers costs, saves resources (building materials and installation labor) and reduces the environmental effects of construction.
Source: Neopor Residential Brochure