The companies of Universal Forest Products comprise the nation's leading manufacturers and distributors of wood and wood-alternative products to retail/dealer, site-built construction, manufactured housing and industrial markets. Our product lines include pressure-treated lumber, composite decking and railing, fencing, dimensional lumber, trusses, wall panels, engineered wood products, industrial packaging and concrete forming products.
Started in 1955 and headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with facilities throughout North America, Universal is a multi-billion dollar company serving the retail/do-it-yourself, manufactured housing, site-built construction and industrial markets.
Radiant barrier insulation is becoming increasingly popular as people learn how it will block the sun’s heat and create a more comfortable home. And as radiant barriers become more popular for environmentally friendly construction, more varieties become available. Although many radiant barrier products are nominally sound, they don’t come close to matching the installation ease of Enerflex Radiant Barrier. Unlike most radiant barrier foil, Enerflex doesn’t require prep work at all. Simply flex the metallic film panel into place between your roof joists and release it—and it’s ready to start saving you on energy cost and outrageous utility bills.
Want to see how easy it is to lower your attic temperatures and your cooling costs? Watch the Enerflex Radiant Barrier installation video.
Installing radiant barrier foil in your attic reduces energy use. Traditional insulation doesn’t prevent radiant heat transfer. After traditional insulation absorbs as much heat as able, excess heat fills the space around it and makes its way down into the living areas. This increases energy use—and utility bills. Enerflex Radiant Barrier foil (metallic film) is easy to install. And it’s able to block as much as 96 percent of the sun’s radiant heat that your roof surface absorbs, for cool results including ample energy savings and a 30-degree drop in attic temperature. This brief video clip shows how installing Enerflex Radiant Barrier foil in your attic will reduce your utility bills.
But Enerflex doesn’t only keep things cool. Heat rises … and when it’s cold outside, the radiant barrier foil installed in your attic prevents heat from escaping and helps lower your heating costs. You’ll also find the indoor temperature consistently more comfortable. Find out how Enerflex works.
Another good reason to install a radiant barrier in your home? Reduced wear and tear on your air conditioner and furnace.
Give your air conditioning unit and furnace a break: Install radiant barrier foil in your attic. Enerflex Radiant Barrier attic foil will help you reduce repair expenses, lower replacement costs and even give your heating and cooling units a longer service life.
As more attention is paid to reducing home energy and increasing green building, radiant barrier insulation is spending time in the limelight, especially in hot climates throughout the U.S. like Texas, California, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona. But what in the heck is a radiant barrier — and why should radiant barrier installation be at the top of your home improvement project list?
Enerflex radiant barrier and other radiant barrier insulation are made from metalized film or foil materials that reflect the sun’s radiant heat when installed in an attic space. Do radiant barriers conserve energy? Sure — that’s their job! Just be sure you understand what your radiant barrier’s savings claims mean. For example, if a product claims to reflect 90 percent of your structure’s radiant heat, that doesn't mean your utility bills will be reduced by 90 percent.
How do radiant barriers work? Here’s some background. Heat transfer is by conduction, by convection or radiant. Conduction transfers heat from one molecule to the next. (Think about how quickly that cold pop can warmed up as you held it. Insulation might’ve kept things cooler.) Convection involves air that moving—heat that could be reduced by a fan, perhaps. Radiant heat is harder to explain, so we’ll simplify it: You feel radiant heat in the air around you, on a toasty car seat, or beating down through the roof of your house. When roofing materials absorb the sun’s heat, that heat transfers to your attics—and that’s why your attic air gets so hot. Because that heat has no way out, it’s absorbed by insulation and ceiling drywall before making its way into the living spaces below. And now those rooms below are warmer, too. Watch a video to see how Enerflex Radiant Barrier works.
To reflect that heat and prevent it from heating up your home in warm weather, use a reflective radiant barrier. More than 90 percent of the radiant heat striking a shiny aluminum foil surface is reflected away. Your climate, your attic insulation, any shade trees and your attics ventilation (to an extent) all have an effect on your cooling costs. Some studies show that homes with duct work or HVAC equipment in the attic will realize the greatest energy saving benefits from radiant barrier insulation: If leaky ducts are drawing in steamy attic air, your HVAC system is working harder to cool that air—and it’s not working hard enough to cool your warmer living spaces.
Enerflex Radiant Barrier could lower your attic’s temperature by up to 35 degrees. A cooler attic means lower cooling costs (and heating costs). It also means that the rooms below will be consistently more comfortable...
Watch this video to find out how easy Enerflex Radiant Barrier is installed.
The University of Florida recently entered their Project RE:FOCUS home in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 competition in Madrid Spain. The Project RE:Focus home blended innovative architecture with sustainable materials to create a zero-energy home.
With a nod to Cracker House design prevalent in the late 19th century Florida, the Project RE:Focus home used innovative Accoya® wood solar screens to control solar gain in the home. The Accoya wood screens were supplied and machined to spec by Universal Forest Products. A unique feature of the Accoya solar screens is its ability to appear as a façade when closed, while becoming a cover for the porch when raised.
Accoya wood is made from sustainably-grown sources and undergoes a benign, patented acetylation process that permanently modifies the wood to the core. This increases its dimensional stability and durability to beyond that of even the best tropical hardwoods—which is why Accoya wood was chosen for the Project RE:Focus house.
Universal Forest Products carries Accoya wood for demanding exterior applications including decking, siding, windows and doors and outdoor furniture. The shrink and swell cycle of Accoya wood is reduced by 75% or more, as compared to other types of wood, resulting in coatings lasting three to five times longer under normal circumstances. Accoya machines beautifully and, since it is modified to the core, there are no untreated portions of the wood that get exposed to the elements.
The Accoya solar screens were one of the more striking features of the house, making quite an impact with both judges and the general public. The Project RE:FOCUS home won the prestigious Public Choice award, while placing second overall in the Energy Balance category and first place in the Communications category.
Wood fuel pellets are an eco-friendly product, providing a reliable and efficient option for home heating. With lower temperatures and thinning wallets, Universal Forest Products has the solution for your pellet stove fuel needs: Super-premium wood fuel pellets by Rocky Mountain Pellet Company.
Wood fuel heating pellets are a great alternative fuel source for homes and businesses. Heat from wood stove pellets is a carbon neutral, environmentally-friendly heat source that reduces greenhouse emissions, while at the same time providing exceptional comfort.
Use of wood pellet heat is on the rise and consumers should be sure they have a reliable supplier of wood pellet fuel—that's where Universal Forest Products and Rocky Mountain Pellet Company come in.
Super-premium wood fuel pellets produced by Rocky Mountain Pellet Company are made from 100% natural pine wood fiber with no additives, and produce less than one percent ash. With a moisture rating of less than six percent, our super-premium wood fuel pellets burn hotter, longer and provide better overall pellet stove performance.
These super-premium wood heating pellets provide an added environmental benefit. They are produced using dead lodgepole pine trees which were killed by an infestation of mountain pine beetles. The dead trees—over 1.5 million acres—create a fire hazard and impede the regrowth of new forests. Rocky Mountain Pellet Company is able to help solve both environmental issues by using the trees for producing wood fuel pellets.
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Wood fuel pellets are an eco-friendly product, providing a reliable and efficient option for home heating. With lower temperatures and thinning wallets, Universal Forest Products has the solution for your pellet stove fuel needs: 
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