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Nansulate : New type of insulation you can paint on walls

This is the emerging science that captured the media's imagination about a decade ago, with visions of supercomputers mounted in wristwatches and X-ray machines that hang from your doctor's neck like a stethoscope ... and then scuttled back into the laboratory for a prolonged reality check.

Well, there's finally something that nanotechnology can do for you - or, better, help you do for yourself, at your own home, with your own hands, at a price you can afford. While many of nanotech's flashy gadgets and futuristic technologies remain in the research-and-development phase, a more mundane, but - in this era of global climate change and energy shortages - perhaps more important product has emerged from the labs.

That product is called Nansulate, a paint-on insulation with extremely low thermal conductivity. Patented and manufactured by Industrial Nanotech, Inc. ( www.industrial-nanotech.com), Nansulate suspends specially engineered microscopic particles with nano-scale internal architecture in an acrylic resin, which is in turn suspended in water, making a product that appears similar to thick, acrylic-based paint.

Nansulate is designed to be nontoxic and environmentally friendly, and because the microparticles are water repellent, it is also an effective mold and rust inhibitor.

Developed initially for industrial applications such as insulating steam pipes and boilers, Nansulate found its way into the residential market by popular demand. According to Francesca Crolley, Industrial Nanotech's vice president of operations and marketing, many people who learned about Nansulate through their jobs at industrial facilities inquired about the possibility of using it at home.

In response, the company developed a residential version of Nansulate that can be applied with a brush, paint roller or sprayer and cleans up with water. Available in clear and white, the product is designed for use on walls (usually interior), hot water pipes, water heaters and even skylights and glass blocks. (The clear product leaves a slightly cloudy film on windows.) Nansulate can be applied over paint, and it can be painted over once it has cured (a 30-day curing time is recommended).

Paint-on insulation can address the pervasive problem of uninsulated walls in older homes. While it is easy, in most cases, to put conventional insulation above ceilings and under floors, sealed walls must be opened and resealed or have insulation pumped through holes, which must then be patched. The cost/benefit ratio of insulating existing walls therefore can be marginal, and homeowners often skip doing it.

At $66 per gallon (covering about 150 square feet), Nansulate offers a highly economical solution to insulating walls. But while you're at it, why not paint your ceiling, too, and conserve more energy - even if your attic is insulated?

How much energy can you save with Nansulate?

Unfortunately, there are no data that directly compare the performance of Nansulate with that of conventional insulations. That's because conventional insulations inhibit heat conduction as a function of their thickness (R-value per inch), whereas Nansulate is a nonconductor (insulator) that blocks both conductive and radiant heat flow.

There is, however, a great deal of information about Nansulate's performance based on real-life tests in industrial and residential settings. Factory owners have reported savings of 20 percent or more on their energy costs. Home energy savings of 20 to 40 percent are reported in testimonials on the Industrial Nanotech Web site. Although the foil-and-bubble-wrap insulation conserves some heat, it typically allows too much heat transfer to explain so large of a differential. My educated guess is that the Nansulate is responsible for 60 to 80 percent of the differential.

Testing Nansulate in one or two rooms could show you if it is the appropriate nanotechnology for your ecological house.

Philip S. Wenz is the founder and former director of the Ecological Design Program at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture and teaches at the Building Education Center in Berkeley. The author of "Adding to a House" (Taunton), he lives in Corvallis, Ore. For information, go to www.your-ecological-house.com or e-mail him at home@sfchronicle.com.