Blog

A Declaration of Independence from Foam Plastic Insulation When in the course of constructing and renovating buildings, it becomes necessary for architects, consultants and builders to stop using materials and methods which have defined high-performance building in our time, and determine to set a new course separate and free from foam … read more

Asbestos: A Living Lesson In Our Fight With Toxic Spray Foam In our quest to make a less toxic world, 475 often focuses on how, today, too often professionals are insisting on filling buildings with toxic, bioaccumulative, plastic spray foam insulations. It seems obvious enough, that as we seek to limit plastic bag use a … read more

What’s 475 About Reflections for a New Year (2018) This article was first posted January 1, 2017.  With each New Year we'll revisit and update/edit as we see appropriate - keeping our sense of mission and values front and center. When people ask what do we do, one abbreviated response is: “We sell tape.” Though “we sell tape” describes a sim … read more

Reason Foam Fails #8 Hypersensitive On-Site Manufacturing The construction industry has been making more and more building parts in the factory - through panelization, modular construction, and complex component fabrication. Factories are great at providing predictable environments that optimize construction quality while protecting wo … read more

Smart Wall Primer Introduction to the Smart Wall The Smart Wall is an essential part of the Smart Enclosure and represents a return to fundamental principles of building science. We leverage the basics of natural principles with highly selective technological innovation and manufacturing – working in harmony with nature, not in opposition. … read more

Reason Foam Fails #6: Inflexible and Prone to Cracking Poor installation quality control results in cracked, crumbling foam that has little insulation value. This foam was estimated to be less than 10 years-old at the time of retrofit. It’s important that a building's air barrier and insulation be dimensionally stable - or resil … read more