Foam in 5 years | Ask Mason Knowles - SPF Consultant | Spray Foam Technical Questions and Answers | SprayFoam Magazine Q&A Forums

Q&A Forums

Author	Comments
Posted: Sep 24, 2007 10:34 AM	Foam in 5 years Mason, I asked a question similar to this in the new guy section and got very little response. I'm wondering what your crystal ball tells you about the foam insulation business over the next 1-5 years? Is this realestate subprime thing going to effect the market? Does the foam buisness slow down significantly during recession? Is foam insulation here to stay, yet? A very experienced foam insulation owner told me last year that he needed two more years before he would be convinced that foam as an insulation was here to stay. In anyone has the pulse of the business I'm guessing it's you. Thank-you, LeonB.
mason Posted: Sep 24, 2007 11:51 AM	I believe that the sprayfoam market for residential insulation is here to stay, and at least for now, the subprime mortgage problems are not affecting the short term growth of the market. The main reason is that sprayfoam is still seen as an upgrade and not a standard insulation used by the tract home builders. While typical new home sales are down, remodeling and high end new home sales are actually up from the previous year and this is the current market that sprayfoam contractors are selling to. The residential market for sprayfoam has been growing at 30 to 40% rate. This will probably continue for a few years and then other factors will come into play that will either continue the expansion or like the sprayfoam roofing market stabilize at a certain percentage of the insulation market. More and more traditional insulation contractors and suppliers are beginning to recognize that the proper use of sprayfoam can make fiberglass and cellulose perform better as well. Building code and regulatory issues are driving the construction industry to find better solutions for energy savings, moisture control, durability and safety and health issues. In this environment, the use of sprayfoam should increase. But, with rapid growth also comes the potential for poorly trained contractors and new products not quite ready for market. If a lot of poor quality jobs are unleashed in the building community, it could affect the rate of expansion. But, there are so many factors working to expand our industry, such as research that demonstrates the great energy performance of sprayfoam, its ability to help control moisture, green building concerns, etc. that I do not believe the sprayfoam industry will wither. It may however require much better contractor training and certification and supplier quality assurance programs.
Posted: Sep 24, 2007 07:32 PM	Mason, Thank-you, I appreciate you breaking out your crystal ball. LeonB

Author

Comments

Posted: Sep 24, 2007 10:34 AM

Foam in 5 years

Mason,

I asked a question similar to this in the new guy section and got very little response.

I'm wondering what your crystal ball tells you about the foam insulation business over the next 1-5 years?

Is this realestate subprime thing going to effect the market? Does the foam buisness slow down significantly during recession?

Is foam insulation here to stay, yet? A very experienced foam insulation owner told me last year that he needed two more years before he would be convinced that foam as an insulation was here to stay.

In anyone has the pulse of the business I'm guessing it's you.

Thank-you,

LeonB.

mason

Posted: Sep 24, 2007 11:51 AM

I believe that the sprayfoam market for residential insulation is here to stay, and at least for now, the subprime mortgage problems are not affecting the short term growth of the market. The main reason is that sprayfoam is still seen as an upgrade and not a standard insulation used by the tract home builders. While typical new home sales are down, remodeling and high end new home sales are actually up from the previous year and this is the current market that sprayfoam contractors are selling to. The residential market for sprayfoam has been growing at 30 to 40% rate. This will probably continue for a few years and then other factors will come into play that will either continue the expansion or like the sprayfoam roofing market stabilize at a certain percentage of the insulation market.

More and more traditional insulation contractors and suppliers are beginning to recognize that the proper use of sprayfoam can make fiberglass and cellulose perform better as well.

Building code and regulatory issues are driving the construction industry to find better solutions for energy savings, moisture control, durability and safety and health issues. In this environment, the use of sprayfoam should increase.

But, with rapid growth also comes the potential for poorly trained contractors and new products not quite ready for market. If a lot of poor quality jobs are unleashed in the building community, it could affect the rate of expansion.

But, there are so many factors working to expand our industry, such as research that demonstrates the great energy performance of sprayfoam, its ability to help control moisture, green building concerns, etc. that I do not believe the sprayfoam industry will wither. It may however require much better contractor training and certification and supplier quality assurance programs.

Posted: Sep 24, 2007 07:32 PM

Mason,

Thank-you, I appreciate you breaking out your crystal ball.

LeonB

You need to login to reply to this topic. Please click here to login.