If you are of a certain age you might remember castor oil as a cure-all that your grandmother prescribed for good health. Now Icynene has come out with LD-R-50, a water based insulating spray foam formula that uses castor oil to reduce the need for petroleum based polyol and which has a mean biobased content of 8% (+/- 3%) according to the International Code Council (ICC).
According to Icynene the castor bean has several advantages. It is grown on non-irrigated, marginal land which generally would not support food crops. The company says that production of castor oil has "low energy dependence". It can be harvested manually and does not require treatment with pesticides or fungicides. The castor bean itself has an oil yield of 40%.
Icynene LD-R-50 has been added to the USDA's Biopreferred catalog and can contribute to achievement of LEED and NAHB NGBS designations. It is also the first product for which a product report is available online from the ICC's Sustainable Attributes Verification and Evaluation program.
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