We recently wrote a piece about the importance of an airtight home. The core premise is that a structure that allows for air transport –…
Building Science – A Simplified and Useful View
A guest post from our friend Lucas Johnson of Vali Homes How I Met the Havelock Flock In the before times, when we met in…
What is a takeoff and why is it important?
What is a takeoff exactly? It is a measurement of material requirements often based on plans or architectural drawings. It applies to all materials that…
Wool insulation installation…. what’s the real deal?
Insulation installation is a crowded and underappreciated space. It is also one that detests change. It is hugely competitive – ie single-digit margins, which is…
A Noteworthy View of the US Insulation Market
The insulation industry is bigger than most people think. When we started Havelock Wool estimates were that the US market would grow to some $16bn…
Human-made mass now exceeds all living biomass
As we have written about before, the impact of the built environment on global carbon emissions is massive. Building materials, construction, and operations are responsible…
What’s going on with Havelock’s backlog?
The building industry is oft subject to increases throughout the calendar year but product availability is rarely an issue. These times are clearly unprecedented, at…
Quick Update from Havelock Wool
We turned 7 this year and finally had our break out party. Last year was great, a double on the one before, but it’s 2020,…
The Wall System Evolution
Walls used to be walls. A simple protector from the outside – wind, rain, cold, heat… you know the elements. Primitively, they were porous and…
Wool Insulation Going Mainstream
There is an interesting development in the UK which could bode well for the use of wool in home and commercial insulation, not just there…
Home Improvement
Home improvement might be marginally better than sitting in traffic. It is also how we run into operational problems at home. I’ll get to it…
Energy Transfer 101
We have an online forum for our vanlife community to share ideas and experiences around using Havelock Wool. Every so often there is a post…
Does your insulation store carbon?
As we have written about, the carbon emissions of Havelock Wool stack up extremely favorably compared to any other insulation material. It’s easy to understand…
We’ve learned quite a bit in 7 years….time to share.
We’ve been at this for 7 years. We began surrounded by building industry vets and were happy to keep our ears open and our mouths…
The Havelock Wool LCA / EPD
After a bit of hard work and investment, we have published the Havelock Wool EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) and LCA (Life Cycle Assessment). We began…
Havelock Wool is Mold Resistant
In this post we won’t get into why mold is a bad thing for your living space. This topic is widely covered and frankly there…
Talking Van Insulation with Wayfarer Vans
We recently sat down with our good friend and partner Ian Horgan from Wayfarer Vans. Ian’s company is one of the preeminent van upfitters as…
Havelock Wool is Fire Resistant
One of the most common questions we get about wool insulation is what about fire resistance? It’s a crucial factor when considering any building material,…
Behind the Studs with Havelock Wool
We were lucky to be invited onto the Behind the Studs podcast, hosted by Colin Shaw and Jimmy Driscoll, two great homebuilders and remodelers from…
Indoor Air Quality : Wool and Formaldehyde
Let’s start with understanding formaldehyde. What is it? Formaldehyde is a colorless, strong-smelling gas used in making building materials and many household products. It is…
The Havelock Wool Story – in a 3 minute video!
We started Havelock Wool because we saw an opportunity to effect positive change by re-introducing an incredibly dynamic fiber into the built environment. It has…
Hey Havelock…how is your LCA / EPD going?
We have enjoyed learning more about the LCA/EPD process and how our endeavors fit in the equation. We can skip over the process and let…
The Definitive Havelock Wool Insulation Installation Videos
We are excited to share our new Havelock Wool installation videos with you. We get many questions about the specifics of installing Havelock Wool and…
Havelock Wool Forging Ahead
Our process is uniquely simple. We procure raw material (wool) in New Zealand, send it to ourselves in Nevada where we run a lite-touch manufacturing…
The Better Building Club
The Better Building Club We attempt to write this week with no tone. This is simply an effort to raise awareness around a recurring theme…
The Importance of Indoor Air Quality
Indoor Air Quality is Important The air we breathe in our homes, schools, and buildings is often 2-5 times more polluted than outside air. While…
Implementing Biophilic Design in Your Living Space
As we’ve written about before, we believe strongly in connecting our built environment with the natural world. Biophilic design does just that by establishing direct…
How to Choose an Insulation Installer
For too long the consensus view has been that insulation doesn’t matter. ‘Just go the cheapest route, get it in the walls and cover it…
Insulation Terms….Make Informed Decisions
As our business grows we meet more people everyday interested in healthy building. Some are building experts but often people are just beginning to learn…
What’s so cool about wool?
Someone recently highlighted an interesting fact to us. If (insert big company name here e.g. 3M or Dupont) made a fiber that was renewable, managed…
Havelock 2020 Vision
We celebrated 6 years in October and just closed our best year ever – by a wide margin. At 6 we are more than halfway…
Construction Emissions Must be Addressed
We understand that more efficient structures can lead to reduced energy consumption. However, we also increasingly understand there is much more to the equation than…
What are others saying about Havelock Wool?
We are happy to share testimonials and quite proud of the feedback we are able to earn from our products. Wool and its high-integrity characteristics…
The Insulation Decision
Kristof Irwin of Positive Energy recently hosted our friend Lucas Johnson of 475 Building Supply on his podcast for a fascinating discussion around sustainable building….
What is Batt Insulation?
Figuring out your home insulation options can be confusing. There are a lot of variables to consider. In this post, we’ll explain the basics of…
Restoration and Insulation
There is an argument that the ultimate in sustainability is to ‘use what you have’. This certainly applies to the homes we live in. Home…
Why Wool Works
There are many unique qualities of the wool fiber that make it a high-performing insulation – moisture management, air filtration, sound absorption, fire resistance. One…
Sound Absorption
A Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) is a rating for how much sound a material absorbs. The higher the rating, the better the sound absorption. So…
Stop Using Foam Insulation
As we’ve written before, we think foam insulation has NO place in a home. It is a toxic, high embodied carbon shortcut to insulating properly….
Vapor and Condensation – The nitty gritty
At the avant-garde of building science there is an increasingly lively debate around the correct wall assembly to manage vapor diffusion. The conversation, though dense…
Aligned Interests
In this week’s podcast, we check in with Christine, a homeowner, mother of two and a repeat purchaser of Havelock Wool. Her compelling perspective reinforces…
A Quick Video : Installing Batt Insulation
You’ve probably never installed home batt insulation and frankly probably hope life will stay that way. To make matters worse, just google “installing batt insulation”…
Insulation Cost in Context (Updated October 2020)
Do the slightest amount of research and you will quickly find the cost of insulation varies greatly. Purchasing power and materials both play a role….
Borderline fun to install insulation
This week we sat down with our friend Cameron Reith, founder of Greenhome Solutions, a green building product supplier in Seattle. We had a great…
Misaligned Interests : Today’s Insulation Installation Industry
Misaligned Interests This week we’d like to give our perspective on the insulation installation industry. After six years of working closely with these companies, we’ve…
40% of Carbon Emissions Originate in the Built Environment
Despite compelling evidence, science and everyday events there are some folks that remain unconvinced concerning climate change. We are not here to try and change…
Why Wool in 100 Seconds
We’ve spent a long time trying to boil the why wool topic down to something easy and even a bit fun to view. Ideally, you…
A Quick Look at Havelock Wool Operations
Our friend Jarrod Tocci recently dropped by our facility to take a tour and catch up with our sales guru Josh Schohn. Jarrod by way…
The Simple Path to Sustainable Building
Are sustainable building practices becoming more common? This week’s podcast is an in-depth conversation with our friend Mike Horgan of Horgan Design Build. Mike is…
Does R-value even matter?
What is R-value? Updated March 4, 2021 Put simply, R-value is a metric used to judge thermal insulation performance. It’s expressed as a number and…
Checking in on some residential insulation projects
We recently concluded a road trip to check in on some Havelock customers to hear how their residential insulation projects are going. It’s always good…
Embodied Carbon Network – Renewable Materials Discussion
We are proud members of the Embodied Carbon Network (ECN) and try to be as active as possible on the renewable materials task force. The…
Insulation Measurement Doesn’t Need to be Complicated. The Easy Step-by-Step Process.
A common question we get from folks installing wool insulation (or at least thinking about it) is “How much wool will I need?” Insulation measurement…
A Few Proud Moments at Havelock Wool
On the back of a few recent events, we wanted to share two proud moments here at Havelock Wool. Both involve families with young kids…
More Nature: It’s good for you, really good!
Biophilic design means more nature in our daily lives. More and more folks yearn to get reconnected with their natural surroundings. Wool insulation is one…
If your house can’t breathe, what are you breathing? Rethinking moisture management
Moisture has always posed a challenge in the built environment, whether in your house, your kid’s school or even your van. It creates real problems…
What better high-quality building material is there than two age-old renewable resources: wood and wool
Globally, there are 2.4 trillion square feet of structures in the built environment, a number slated to double in the next 40 years. Instead of…
The simple reasons for using Havelock Wool (and how to convince your spouse, builder, architect)
Healthy building materials are entering the realm of organic, healthy foods. If you are exercising and eating right why go home to a house full…
A great how-to video: #FindingFreshAir installs Havelock Wool
We’re psyched to share this awesome video from our friends @FindingFreshAir. We partnered with them on their van insulation install and they CRUSHED it with…
Havelock Wool Podcast
Demand for sustainable and healthy building materials is experiencing explosive growth…. and not just in traditional residential construction. In this month’s podcast we sit down…
Fiberglass may be an industry staple but there are more risks than you realize
Fiberglass insulation is the industry standard. It is highly unlikely this will change any time soon, if ever. We are here to disrupt your thinking…
Awfully proud to be the wool provider for this special building
From Washingtonian Magazine: Awfully proud to be the wool provider for this special building. Read the full article: https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/12/28/this-eco-friendly-anacostia-house-is-built-almost-entirely-out-of-bamboo/ Connect With The Havelock Herd …
We need action, not more science and data!
Greta Thunberg’s Ted Talk simply says it all: We have the data and the science! Every so often someone finds a way to cut through…
Anyone Contemplating Foam Insulation Needs To Read This Post
The passage below is an excerpt from testimony given to the General Law Committee in the state of CT addressing the problems with spray foam…
Havelock Wool Podcast
We’re kicking off a podcast series. Conversations will focus on interesting and satiable topics around the built environment, the building envelope and insulation. We’ll do…
Hug an Architect
Memo to Architects: we need you to save our world, AND YOU CAN DO IT! If you’re an architect, you should know all about Ed…
Common Misconceptions About Insulation
Insulation is a topic in building that most folks don’t care to think about much less discuss. Most products are low-grade fibers and/or some weak…
Do vapor barriers belong in your home? (Updated Oct. 2020)
Vapor barriers are a common theme in our daily communique with the ever-increasing number of consumers who care and/or want to learn about the building…
7 Green Insulation Types for New and Existing Buildings
From Buildings Magazine: There are plenty of alternatives out there, from natural materials to recycled ones. Companies like @ecovative, Havelock Wool and Knauf Insulation are…
The Baaahs and The Bees
The cheeky title notwithstanding we are honored to participate in a new endeavor with the folks at Backyardhive.com. We suggest clicking the link to their…
A Palette for Architecture 2030
Over the next twenty years, an area equal to a 3.5x the built environment of the U.S. will be redesigned, reshaped, and rebuilt. How do we do it properly?
Smart Wall Enclosure Selected By Green Builder’s Editors as ‘Hot 50 Product’
From Green Builder Staff: As efficiency becomes more of a focal point in the building equation, greater emphasis is being placed on airtight structures. But…
Havelock Wool Featured: How to Build an Eco-Friendly Campervan
From sustainablevanlife.com: Insulation This is something that we spent a lot of time researching on our first build. After a lot of reading, question asking…
Garbage In, Garbage In – Our Own Thoughts On Velux’s “The Indoor Generation”
We were recently heavily affected by a video produced by the Velux Group. Talk about leading from way ahead of the pack! From a personal…
A Happy Customer’s Review
We often get happy customers more than excited to tell us how much they love our wool insulation. What follows is a letter written by…
Wool Insulation vs. Ecobatt
Want to know why we are still such a small business? Disinformation. See below and PLEASE use your brain when making decisions. Intuitively there…
Is Common Sense Becoming More Common?
Michael Lewis has made a career out of learning, first hand, the inadequacies of the finance trade and subsequently spent decades narrating, exquisitely, on the…
A Mother’s Journey
A Mother’s Quest for Healthy Living When Havelock Wool was just a concept we spent countless hours in due diligence. Aside from modeling throughput and…
What is a Building Envelope?
This topic delves straight into the science of a building envelope. Not only does it divide the educated from the less so, but it truly…
Is Wool For Insulation a New Thing?
“Is using wool for insulation really a new thing?” Seems intuitive to us that the answer would be a resounding NO. However, we get the…
A Smart, Natural Wool Insulation for Healthy Buildings
Havelock Wool was recently featured in The Construction Specifier. Check out the article below: Building energy codes continue to shift in the direction of increased…
Havelock Wool Featured in Builder
Havelock Wool was recently featured in a post from Builder: 2018 PRODUCT GUIDE: EXTERIOR -Stylish and resilient options for roofing, siding, insulation, adhesives and outdoor…
Is Competition Always a Good Thing?
As a proud alum of University of Chicago Booth School of Business where the book on efficient markets was literally written one could safely assume…
Wool Insulation Product Creates a ‘Smart Wall’
Havelock Wool, a provider of wool insulation solutions, in partnership with 475 High Performance Building Supply, has introduced the ‘Smart Wall’, a smart enclosure system…
The ‘Smart Wall’ Offers Sustainable, Healthy Building Envelope
HAVELOCK WOOL AND 475 HIGH PERFORMANCE BUILDING SUPPLY HAVE PARTNERED TO CREATE THE PRODUCT. Havelock Wool garnered attention in the building industry last year…
Thinking Beyond The Building
We want to say thank you to Michael Strong from Pankow Blue for this video where he talks about some of the many benefits of…
Global Logistics Planning Guide: SUPPLY CHAIN AND DEMAND
Andrew Legge has found a unique niche as founder and managing partner of Havelock Wool, a three-year-old, seven-employee business that processes its insulation…
Sheep’s Wool Insulation: A Natural, Non-Toxic, High-Performance Building Material
Insulation in the built environment has been undervalued for too long. Fortunately, that’s changing. Indoor air quality is becoming a priority for a vastly…
Wool Insulation Creates Smarter Spaces
Innovative Insulation Ahead-of-the-trend green builders, architects, and homeowners are excited about using healthy, sustainable sheep’s wool insulation for new construction, and retrofitting existing homes and…
Protect Yourself From Indoor Air Pollution Using Wool Insulation
How Can You Protect From Indoor Air Pollution? We’re delighted to report that we have a guest blogger. After reading our commentary Jackie contacted us…
Prefab Home Expands Like Children’s Blocks
Proud to be apart of this type of forward thinking…. Wish you could expand the size of your home without breaking the bank? A…
7 Steps for a Healthier Home
As homeowners become increasingly aware of the impact their homes can have on the environment – and on their health – making eco-conscious choices such…
This “Smart Wall” Can Create Healthier Spaces
The Smart Wall Havelock Wool, a provider of wool insulation solutions, in partnership with 475 High Performance Building Supply, has introduced the “Smart Wall,” a smart…
Southeast Green Podcast
Our founder, Andrew Legge, spoke about the many benefits of Wool Insulation on Southeast Green’s Blog Talk Radio.
IDEAL Window Installation
You bought high-performance windows, but is the install going to complement their performance or detract from it? The enclosure insulation, airtightness and moisture control should…
Wool Insulation is Kid Friendly
Havelock Wool is changing the green building environment with their wool insulation that toddlers can snuggle. Havelock Wool is environmentally friendly and made completely out…
Sheep’s Wool Insulation is Sustainable
Wool insulation, made from the remnants of sheering sheep, is increasingly finding its way into commercial and residential buildings across the world, in…
How-To: Insulating Your Van
Van Insulation Connect With The Havelock Flock Insulation in a van is a bit more complicated than insulation in a house. For one, a van moves,…
CNBC – We Are In A Small Business Hot Spot
Andrew Legge, founder and managing partner of Havelock Wool, which makes home insulation out of sheep’s wool, produces it in a 50,000-square-foot factory in Sparks,…
Sheep’s Wool Insulation in Uber-Eco Camper
from Modern Camper It wasn’t long ago when nomads were roaming North America with nothing but the skin they could catch on their back. Same with…
A dumb home needs a Smart Wall
A But designing the walls for a dumb home is not as simple as simply adding insulation; you have to be smart about managing…
Sheep’s Wool: RV Insulation Of The Future?
When Kirkland, Wash.-based teardrop trailer manufacturer Homegrown Trailers wanted to boost the sustainability of its building materials, the RV maker did something innovative –…
Smart Walls start with a Smart Insulation System
Archigram’s A Walking City, 1964: boundless energy & engineering anyone? For thousands of years buildings were made with a keen regard for nature and…
Sheep’s wool insulation provides pollutant remediation
Translated from airwool.com Increasing requirements for “low – emission buildings” (various building certificates with defined room air quality, especially with regard to VOCs and formaldehyde )…
Building Technology Uses Wool for Better Health
FORGET WALLS THAT TALK; BRING ON WALLS THAT BREATHE SAN FRANCISCO (April 11, 2017) — People are smart, and people breathe, but most of us…
Kirkland Camper Finds Eco-Friendly Solution
A Kirkland camper manufacturer has signed an agreement with Havelock Wool to insulate all of its eco-friendly trailers with sheep’s wool instead of foam board….
Smart Wall Manifesto
The problem in today’s building materials market is not only large manufacturers, but consumer’s continually shocking inability to ask basic questions. By making low integrity products…
New Wall System Developed Using Organic Wool Insulation
Originally published by the following source: Balcony Media Group(link is external) — February 28, 2017Unless otherwise noted, the content below has not been altered by SBC…
Nature’s Choice For Home Insulation
NEVADA COMPANY OFFERS ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL HOUSING INSULATION—NEW ZEALAND SHEEP WOOL Kaleb M. Roedel is a Reno-based writer At first glance, the photo is unsettling:…
Insulating Homes With Sheep Wool
By Lauren Shanesy HAVELOCK WOOL IS PIONEERING THE USE OF UNALTERED SHEEP’S WOOL AS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY AND RENEWABLE INSULATION MATERIAL FOR U.S. HOMES AND…
Anyone interested in a solution to a huge problem?
We’ve spent enough time out of character – whinging and moaning about other forms of insulation. Admittedly, there was somewhat of a method to the madness…
Healthier and Smarter Decisions in Homebuilding
What inspired Havelock Wool? I started Havelock Wool with another American who has a similar love for all things New Zealand. The farmers there…
Indoor Air Pollution…This is Amazing
….if you know anything about formaldehyde, which apparently is not the case for most. Let’s solve that now: The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is formed from parts of…
What Is The Story With Wool And Its Ability To Sequester CO2?
The following facts pertain to the textile industry. Frankly, most studies on the subject relate to either carpets or fashion. We’ll add to the mix…
Cognitive Behavior And Green Building
The following is a summary from a recent meeting of the building health initiative group, sponsored by USGBC Norcal in San Francisco. Thanks to Brenden…
What Do Gymnasts And The Problems With Insulation Have In Common?
Below is an excerpt from a recent piece from our friends @greensciencepolicyinstitute. They are on a mission to rid the world of halogenated bromide chemicals…
Efficient Wall Systems Are Getting Cooler
High performance building is making more and more sense. Our positions are clear concerning the span from disingenuous marketing dollars supporting garbage products to a…
Who’s Up For A Few Facts On Insulation?
Ever had anyone invite you to check out his or her new fiberglass long underwear? We haven’t either! The following is an effort to share…
We’re Not A Company With A Mission; We Are A Mission With A Company
Admittedly, our recent foray into the world of social self-promotion has been much more rewarding than expected. No one likes a pitch anymore than someone…
Weak Laws And Weaker Governance Keep Toxic Chemicals
We recently wrote about the broad public support for a petition to ban a class of toxic organohalogen flame retardants from consumer products. “Wait a minute,” you…
Waste, According To Yale Or The EPA?
A Yale-led study reveals waste disposal rates are more than double EPA estimates. Waste creation and disposal figures have historically been based on information provided…
Farm to Walls
Join us on a quest to introduce the concept of Farm to Walls. We are clearly believers that #naturedoesitbetter, thus we are entirely dedicated to…
Wool Insulation… Let Nature And Longevity Prevail!
We’ve acquiesced and are putting our big toe into the social fray. Who knew insulation could be such an interesting concept. On its own it…
How Synthetic Materials Fuel A Home Fire Faster
Tina Ware woke up early that morning to the sound of her smoke alarm. She had no idea how fast the fire would grow. Sparked…
Havelock Wool On Twitter
Please follow us on @HavelockWool for news and updates on our efforts.
Havelock On the Passive House California Panel
Who knew insulation might attract an audience? Perhaps the location and its aptitude to serve alcohol has something (read everything) to do with it!! Nevertheless,…
Spray Foam vs Wool Insulation
We’d like to share just a few photos how nice it can be to work with wool insulation verses spray foam. Which one would you…
Havelock Wool Enters the Realm of Tiny Homes
We are proud to have our product in the maiden project of Chris Pearson, who is constructing his first ‘Tiny Home,’ “as green as possible…
Wool goes back to the Middle Ages
As we ring in Lunar New Year and the Year of the Sheep it is appropriately coincidental to have recently visited Chipping Campden where in…
Havelock Wool featured on Capital Public Radio
Capital Public Radio stops by the Havelock Wool warehouse in Sparks, NV to chat with Co-Founder Andrew Legge about the growth and potential of New…
SHAMELESS PLUG!!
Shameless plugs are not our thing, though we did want to note a potential first. The arrival of a highly coveted piece of art or…
Havelock Wool On KTVN’s Channel 2 News
Additional coverage of Havelock Wool on KTVN’s channel 2 News in Nevada. KTVN’s channel 2 News stopped by Havelock Wool’s warehouse in Nevada to find…
Why Wool Is Always Better Than Synthetics
In the early 1980s there were around 70 million sheep in New Zealand and 3.1 million people Read More
New Avenue loves Wool more than the Rest…
“We Love Wool Insulation more than the rest…Spray Foam, Fiberglass, Cotton.” Read More
How Nature does it Better with Wool
SPARKS, NV – Wool is considered a high-integrity fiber. It is widely used for insulation in countries like Australia and Britain, but here in the…
Our Hard Work Leads To Quality Products
We’d like to thank NNBW for recognizing our efforts to bring quality products for home building. “Havelock not wooly on target markets” Read More
Big Thanks To The Green Remodel Forum
“New Eco Friendly Products for Green Homes” Read More
British Wool Firm Outfits Astronauts
SPACE CRAFT: Armadillo Merino, a British firm that specializes in performance merino wool clothing, has become an official outfitter to NASA astronauts Read more
Sheep rescue on the ski slopes!
A snowballing sheep will become the stuff of legend for semi-professional skier Pete Oswald. Read more
Prince Charles sets Synthetic Fabrics on Fire to Prove a Point
Prince Charles — connoisseur of textiles, sheep enthusiast, and casual scientist — has planned an exciting experiment in his garden in London. Read more
Allergic to Wool
Perhaps this is the second most common question I hear, right behind, “Do they spit?” Typically, alpaca owners will rave about how much softer alpaca…
Sustainability and performance in textiles: can you have it all?
Materials like wool have surprising resilience and utility and don’t endanger health or the environment like newer compounds Read more
Edinburgh Castle Cuts Heating Bill By Using Wool
This amazing tourist attraction has been insulated using wool and bosses say the scheme has been so successful that fuel bills have plummeted from £400,000…
MPs Plan to Stuff Parliament With Wool
For years voters have thought the Commons is stuffed with sheep who blindly follow everyone else. Now MPs have decided to stuff the roof space…
Wool Beats Fire
Wool has a much higher resistance to fire than most synthetic fabrics common to many modern home decoration features (curtains, carpets, blankets, etc). See what…