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Interview with Abby O'Hanlon BioBased

Abby O’Hanlon with BioBased Insulation was recently on site to watch the installation of the soybean foam insulation at the Garden Home Retreat.  During her visiting I had the opportunity to speak with her about this innovative, earth friendly product.

P. Allen Smith:    Abby I cannot believe what a windy day it is.  I am glad we are working inside today.

Abby O’Hanlon, BioBased Insulation:        Yes, I hope we do not blow away. 

Allen:    Well this mobile unit is amazing.  You guys can go just about anywhere with this. 

Abby:    Yes we can.  We pull it up as close as we can to the house and then these hoses go directly into the home. 

Allen:    You know, the whole process is fascinating to me, but help me understand when the chemicals come together, when the magic occurs, when it all really blows up and gets big and fills in between the studs. 

Abby:    It all comes from the head of the gun.  What it is is a two-part component. There is an A side and a B side.  It comes through the hoses and it joins together in the head of the gun as it goes into the wall and that is kind of where everything happens and the foam is created.

Allen:    Tell me about the actual soybean component of this because that is what is so exciting to me because of the obviously the green component. 

Abby:    Right and it should be.  Soy based polyol is what we use and it is agrol.  It is 96% pure soy oil inside the agrol.  We use that as our soy content of our home.

Allen:    So, not only is it green, but this stuff really works. 

Abby:    Yes it does.  Like I said Allen, the best thing about this foam insulation is that it is the best insulation out there.  Few are out there to be sustainable anymore and this is just as sustainable as you can get. 

Allen:    But, you know in terms of the R factor is it I guess right up there with other forms of insulation.

Abby:    With traditional fiberglass insulation we overachieve that, but with other spray foam insulations.  Yes, we are comparable to all of them. 

Allen:    So, what is the down side to using some sort of poly-based derived from soybeans spray insulation.

Abby:     There is really not a downside.  The performance is all the same.  We just use a soy-based polyol, which we help U.S. farmers all throughout the nation, so that is actually an upside, but really all spray foam insulation is going to be an upside to the foam industry. 

Allen:    Well, this rig very complex. 

Abby:    There is a lot to this rig.

Allen:    I am so impressed by the technology.  My heavens.

Abby:    Yes it is.  You have to have plenty to work with and you are going to do a large job like yours, so we made sure that we came well prepared.  So, we have the two-part component system and two proportioners to make sure that we get the job done.

Allen:    Going back to the green idea again.  You know, I don’t know about you, but I feel so lucky being able to talk about green ideas because, we have got to do what we can to save the planet. 

Abby:    That is right.  Today, the best thing you can do is make smart decisions today for our future.  If everybody gets on that same boat it will just be great. 

Allen:    You know if you think about insulation.  You are going to go, well insulation.  I mean come on, insulation, how is that going to save the planet, but it seems like if everybody thinks of everything that we do and use and asks the question is there is a green alternative. Then you begin to turn things around. 

Abby:    And Allen, there are green alternatives for almost everything in your home.  The house is a system and everybody recognizes that and they realize that.  So, if you have a good HVAC unit, you have good windows and you have good insulation you are going to have a quality home.