Mary had a little lamb…that grew up to be a sustainable source of wool for insulating homes. Who knew?
Inside Havelock’s 67,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Reno, Nevada, a large machine was moving a fluffy, off-white material through a series of drum rollers. The substance was being layered into thick panels of insulation made from a material not often found inside walls in homes: wool.
The company makes insulation products entirely out of sheep wool. Andrew Legge started the company in response to the lack of healthy and sustainable choices in the insulation industry.
“As an insulator, we’d like to say that evolution has occurred in nature’s R&D department – not in some lab creating a synthetic fiber that is from the onset just not going to perform as well,” said Legge.
According to the Environmental Working Group, an environmental health advocacy nonprofit, commonly used materials like fiberglass and spray foam may contain toxic chemicals that can pose health risks to installers. Legge said that’s pushing more homeowners to say, “Wait, I don’t want that.”
“And if we’re doing our job,” he continued, “then when they go searching for an alternative, they find us.”
Gary Fleisher, the Modcoach
