Combining several insulation materials optimizes total building envelope performance.
Today’s homebuyers, particularly in areas such as Asheville and other locations that have experienced devastating climate impacts, want more than just a home. They want an oasis of quiet that will provide them with shelter that supports mental and physical health, is resilient, energy efficient and offers long-term value.
The VISION House Asheville, a demonstration project by Green Builder Media and Alair Asheville | Red Tree, a member of Alair Homes, North America’s largest custom home building and renovation franchise, is a custom home in the Beaverdam community designed to showcase the future of residential building.
Wellness design, building science innovations and new products will be incorporated into the home to showcase the future of homebuilding. Among those innovations will be Greenfiber’s SANCTUARY Hybrid System, an integrated insulation system that will establish a high-performance building envelope.
“We believe high-performance homes should be designed as integrated systems that balance comfort, resilience, sustainability and long-term value,” says Laura Woodford, vice president of marketing for Greenfiber. “Insulation plays a critical role in that equation. While it is largely hidden once construction is complete, the building envelope influences how comfortable and quiet a home feels, how effectively it manages heat and air movement, how much energy it requires to operate, and how it responds to changing environmental conditions.”
Multifaceted Solutions
The SANCTUARY Hybrid System is designed to help builders meet tighter code standards and their customers’ expectations.
“Different areas of the building envelope have different performance demands,” explains Aaron Davenport, technical director for Greenfiber. “Roof decks, rim joists, exterior walls and interior partitions do not necessarily need the same solution.”
Builders can think about insulation at the assembly level, Davenport says:
Use spray foam where air sealing, vapor control and high R-value performance are most critical.
Use cellulose where full-cavity thermal coverage, acoustics, fire performance and lower embodied carbon provide greater value.
Combine the two to create a coordinated envelope rather than asking one material to solve every problem.
“For homeowners, those technical decisions translate into something much simpler: a home that feels more comfortable, maintains more consistent temperatures, is quieter and is designed to perform for the long term,” Davenport says.
Homebuyers today prioritize safety, resilience and durability, according to Green Builder Media’sCOGNITION Smart Data™ surveys. Additional top concerns include energy bills and savings, as well as health and indoor air quality.
SANCTUARY® celluloseworks across the entire home, from attics and exterior walls to floors, ceilings and interior partitions to help meet homebuyer priorities.
“Its dense fiber structure fills gaps and hard-to-reach areas, helping reduce unwanted air movement while supporting thermal performance,” Woodford says. “In interior applications, SANCTUARY can also help block sound to create quieter, more comfortable spaces throughout the home.”
Values-Based Design
Among the pillars of the VISION House Asheville project is Green Builder Media’svalue per square foot™, a metric that integrates multiple elements that impact long-term affordability, including sustainability, decarbonization, water and energy conservation, wellness, comfort, resilience, equity and investment, into measuring what a home is worth. The value per square foot metric provides a long view of the true worth of a home instead of looking only at the upfront cost as is measured by price per square foot.
Greenfiber’s SANCTUARY system supports many of the value per square foot pillars, Woodford says, such as:
Healthy home: Comfort, acoustics and consistent indoor temperatures all contribute to occupant wellbeing. SANCTUARY cellulose will be installed not only in exterior walls, but also in selected interior walls—including bedrooms and the meditation room—to help block sound and create quieter, more peaceful spaces. When spray-applied or dense-packed in walls, SANCTUARY provides up to a 60% reduction in sound power, helping support privacy, rest and overall comfort within the home.
Decarbonization: SANCTUARYcelluloseis made primarily from recycled paper fiber and provides a carbon-negative insulation option. By strategically pairing it with spray foam only where the air-sealing, moisture-control and high-R-value properties of foam are most beneficial, the system can deliver high-performance envelope benefits while lowering the overall carbon footprint compared with an all-foam approach.
Resilience: The SANCTUARY Hybrid System supports greater durability by improving air sealing, thermal control and moisture management across critical areas of the home. By helping limit unwanted air movement, temperature fluctuations and moisture exposure, the system is designed to support a longer-lasting, more resilient building envelope. That long-term durability can also contribute to enhanced resistance to fire, flood and wind-related impacts when the system is used as part of a properly designed high-performance assembly.
Energy:HOMEBARRIER spray foam will be installed at strategic areas of the VISION House — including the roof deck and rim joists — to provide air sealing and high thermal resistance. SANCTUARY cellulose will fill the exterior wall cavities to provide consistent thermal coverage and resistance to unwanted air movement. Working together, the products help create a more complete and efficient building envelope.
Equity and investment: The value of insulation extends well beyond installation day. Comfort, quiet, reduced energy demand, durability and long-term building performance are benefits homeowners experience for years, making the building envelope an important contributor to the total value of the home.
Products at VISION House Asheville
Greenfiber is combining several products at VISION House Asheville, using each where its performance characteristics provide the greatest benefit, Woodford says.
“The result is a coordinated building-envelope system designed to deliver strong thermal performance, air control, sound reduction, moisture management, resilience and lower embodied carbon,” Woodford says.
The SANCTUARY Hybrid System combines two Greenfiber insulation technologies:
SANCTUARY HOMEBARRIER .5 Open Cell Spray Foam will be installed at the roof deck and rim joists. These are critical areas of the building envelope where air sealing and consistent thermal coverage are especially important. The open-cell foam expands to fill gaps, cracks and irregular spaces, helping create a continuous air barrier and reduce unwanted air movement. Used at the roofline and other difficult-to-seal areas, HOMEBARRIER .5 works with SANCTUARY cellulose in the wall system to support a more complete, comfortable and energy-efficient building envelope.
SANCTUARY Cellulose will be installed throughout the exterior wall cavities, providing full-cavity thermal coverage while contributing strong acoustic and fire performance and helping lower the overall embodied-carbon footprint of the insulation system.
“The strategy is intentionally not ‘foam everywhere’ or ‘cellulose everywhere’,” Woodford says. “Instead, each product is used where its strengths matter most. Spray foam provides air sealing, moisture control and high R-value performance in critical envelope areas, while cellulose delivers thermal coverage, acoustic performance, fire resistance and a substantially lower-carbon material solution throughout the wall system.”
Together, the products create a more balanced building envelope across comfort, air control, sound, moisture management, resilience and carbon impact.
Enduring Sustainability
SANCTUARY cellulose is made primarily from recycled paper fiber, transforming recovered material into insulation that can remain in the building envelope for decades.
“Because cellulose stores biogenic carbon, SANCTUARY provides a carbon-negative insulation option while also supporting thermal performance, comfort and energy efficiency,” Davenport says.
Greenfiber’s hybrid approach takes sustainability a step further.
“We do not believe every part of a building envelope necessarily requires the same insulation material,” Davenport says. “Instead, we can use spray foam strategically where its air-sealing, moisture-management and high-R-value properties provide the greatest value, while using lower-carbon cellulose across larger portions of the enclosure.”
Greenfiber’s sustainability commitment is about both operational performance and embodied carbon across the building envelope.
“That balance is important,” Davenport says. “It enables builders to achieve advanced envelope performance without relying exclusively on a higher-embodied-carbon material.”
Hybrid Insulation Solutions for Every Climate and Code
Combining several insulation materials optimizes total building envelope performance.
Today’s homebuyers, particularly in areas such as Asheville and other locations that have experienced devastating climate impacts, want more than just a home. They want an oasis of quiet that will provide them with shelter that supports mental and physical health, is resilient, energy efficient and offers long-term value.
The VISION House Asheville, a demonstration project by Green Builder Media and Alair Asheville | Red Tree, a member of Alair Homes, North America’s largest custom home building and renovation franchise, is a custom home in the Beaverdam community designed to showcase the future of residential building.
Wellness design, building science innovations and new products will be incorporated into the home to showcase the future of homebuilding. Among those innovations will be Greenfiber’s SANCTUARY Hybrid System, an integrated insulation system that will establish a high-performance building envelope.
“We believe high-performance homes should be designed as integrated systems that balance comfort, resilience, sustainability and long-term value,” says Laura Woodford, vice president of marketing for Greenfiber. “Insulation plays a critical role in that equation. While it is largely hidden once construction is complete, the building envelope influences how comfortable and quiet a home feels, how effectively it manages heat and air movement, how much energy it requires to operate, and how it responds to changing environmental conditions.”
Multifaceted Solutions
The SANCTUARY Hybrid System is designed to help builders meet tighter code standards and their customers’ expectations.
“Different areas of the building envelope have different performance demands,” explains Aaron Davenport, technical director for Greenfiber. “Roof decks, rim joists, exterior walls and interior partitions do not necessarily need the same solution.”
Builders can think about insulation at the assembly level, Davenport says:
“For homeowners, those technical decisions translate into something much simpler: a home that feels more comfortable, maintains more consistent temperatures, is quieter and is designed to perform for the long term,” Davenport says.
Homebuyers today prioritize safety, resilience and durability, according to Green Builder Media’s COGNITION Smart Data™ surveys. Additional top concerns include energy bills and savings, as well as health and indoor air quality.
SANCTUARY® cellulose works across the entire home, from attics and exterior walls to floors, ceilings and interior partitions to help meet homebuyer priorities.
“Its dense fiber structure fills gaps and hard-to-reach areas, helping reduce unwanted air movement while supporting thermal performance,” Woodford says. “In interior applications, SANCTUARY can also help block sound to create quieter, more comfortable spaces throughout the home.”
Values-Based Design
Among the pillars of the VISION House Asheville project is Green Builder Media’s value per square foot™, a metric that integrates multiple elements that impact long-term affordability, including sustainability, decarbonization, water and energy conservation, wellness, comfort, resilience, equity and investment, into measuring what a home is worth. The value per square foot metric provides a long view of the true worth of a home instead of looking only at the upfront cost as is measured by price per square foot.
Greenfiber’s SANCTUARY system supports many of the value per square foot pillars, Woodford says, such as:
Healthy home: Comfort, acoustics and consistent indoor temperatures all contribute to occupant wellbeing. SANCTUARY cellulose will be installed not only in exterior walls, but also in selected interior walls—including bedrooms and the meditation room—to help block sound and create quieter, more peaceful spaces. When spray-applied or dense-packed in walls, SANCTUARY provides up to a 60% reduction in sound power, helping support privacy, rest and overall comfort within the home.
Decarbonization: SANCTUARY cellulose is made primarily from recycled paper fiber and provides a carbon-negative insulation option. By strategically pairing it with spray foam only where the air-sealing, moisture-control and high-R-value properties of foam are most beneficial, the system can deliver high-performance envelope benefits while lowering the overall carbon footprint compared with an all-foam approach.
Resilience: The SANCTUARY Hybrid System supports greater durability by improving air sealing, thermal control and moisture management across critical areas of the home. By helping limit unwanted air movement, temperature fluctuations and moisture exposure, the system is designed to support a longer-lasting, more resilient building envelope. That long-term durability can also contribute to enhanced resistance to fire, flood and wind-related impacts when the system is used as part of a properly designed high-performance assembly.
Energy: HOMEBARRIER spray foam will be installed at strategic areas of the VISION House — including the roof deck and rim joists — to provide air sealing and high thermal resistance. SANCTUARY cellulose will fill the exterior wall cavities to provide consistent thermal coverage and resistance to unwanted air movement. Working together, the products help create a more complete and efficient building envelope.
Equity and investment: The value of insulation extends well beyond installation day. Comfort, quiet, reduced energy demand, durability and long-term building performance are benefits homeowners experience for years, making the building envelope an important contributor to the total value of the home.
Products at VISION House Asheville
“The result is a coordinated building-envelope system designed to deliver strong thermal performance, air control, sound reduction, moisture management, resilience and lower embodied carbon,” Woodford says.
The SANCTUARY Hybrid System combines two Greenfiber insulation technologies:
SANCTUARY HOMEBARRIER .5 Open Cell Spray Foam will be installed at the roof deck and rim joists. These are critical areas of the building envelope where air sealing and consistent thermal coverage are especially important. The open-cell foam expands to fill gaps, cracks and irregular spaces, helping create a continuous air barrier and reduce unwanted air movement. Used at the roofline and other difficult-to-seal areas, HOMEBARRIER .5 works with SANCTUARY cellulose in the wall system to support a more complete, comfortable and energy-efficient building envelope.
SANCTUARY Cellulose will be installed throughout the exterior wall cavities, providing full-cavity thermal coverage while contributing strong acoustic and fire performance and helping lower the overall embodied-carbon footprint of the insulation system.
“The strategy is intentionally not ‘foam everywhere’ or ‘cellulose everywhere’,” Woodford says. “Instead, each product is used where its strengths matter most. Spray foam provides air sealing, moisture control and high R-value performance in critical envelope areas, while cellulose delivers thermal coverage, acoustic performance, fire resistance and a substantially lower-carbon material solution throughout the wall system.”
Together, the products create a more balanced building envelope across comfort, air control, sound, moisture management, resilience and carbon impact.
Enduring Sustainability
SANCTUARY cellulose is made primarily from recycled paper fiber, transforming recovered material into insulation that can remain in the building envelope for decades.
“Because cellulose stores biogenic carbon, SANCTUARY provides a carbon-negative insulation option while also supporting thermal performance, comfort and energy efficiency,” Davenport says.
Greenfiber’s hybrid approach takes sustainability a step further.
“We do not believe every part of a building envelope necessarily requires the same insulation material,” Davenport says. “Instead, we can use spray foam strategically where its air-sealing, moisture-management and high-R-value properties provide the greatest value, while using lower-carbon cellulose across larger portions of the enclosure.”
Greenfiber’s sustainability commitment is about both operational performance and embodied carbon across the building envelope.
“That balance is important,” Davenport says. “It enables builders to achieve advanced envelope performance without relying exclusively on a higher-embodied-carbon material.”
By Michele Lerner, Associate Editor
Michele Lerner is an award-winning freelance writer, editor, and author who writes about real estate, personal finance, and business.Also Read