Barry MacLean, owner of Energy Reduction Technologies Ltd., shows a sampling of the P2000 insulation system, which consists of expanded polystyrene (EPS) core with reflective or durable plastic white facers. The system is designed to combat all three types of heat transfer – thermal (conductive), convective and radiant – and act as a thermal, air and moisture barrier. Guardian photo by Mary Mackay

From the outside, Rodney’s Oyster Depot in Nine Mile Creek is an attractive structure scenically located at the wharf in Nine Mile Creek.
But inside, it looks a whole lot different than most buildings, residential or business-wise.
If one peels back the drywall or peers beneath the floor or beyond the ceiling façade, there’s a slim, shiny, futuristic insulation system that is changing the way some people protect their homes and businesses from the elements.
The P2000 insulation system of expanded polystyrene (EPS) core with reflective or durable plastic white facers is designed to combat all three types of heat transfer, thermal (conductive), convective and radiant.
“It is an insulation system, not an insulation product, it’s a system designed to stop heat, cold, wind (and) water,” says Barry MacLean, owner of Energy Reduction Technologies Ltd., which assists residential, commercial, institutional and agricultural customers in reducing their heating and cooling costs.
In the case of Rodney’s Oyster Depot, the costs for this two-storey, 6,000- square-foot building if built in a typical way would have been daunting.
But it was designed from the get-go to be as green as possible.
“The whole concept behind this facility is to be environmentally responsible,” says Dale Small, general manager of the depot, which is owned by former Islander Rodney Clark of the well-known Rodney’s Oyster House in Toronto and Vancouver.
The business includes an oyster processing plant and eventually an oyster-tasting bar with upstairs guest accommodations.
“Rodney, who is from Summerside, is very plugged into environmental issues . . . so the whole concept here is to be environmentally friendly,” Small adds.
This eco-friendly package included a geo-thermal heating system for the entire facility and solar panels for domestic hot water and a proposed wind turbine for electricity in the near future.
“The insulation was a big part of that (overall plan),” Small says.
The whole building envelope, floors and ceilings included, was encased in P2000 ranging from 3/8-inch to one-inch thicknesses.
“And there’s no fiber in these walls or the ceilings — no cellulose, no fiberglass, nothing,” MacLean says.
Small says one of one of the biggest tests of the insulation was in the refrigerated chill room where the oysters must be kept at a constant temperature just a few degrees above freezing.
Instead of the traditional thick insulated panels used for chill rooms, one layer of one-inch P2000 was used.
With the cooling system turned on, the room drops from 20 C to its optimal 3 C temperature in less than 20 minutes.
“And from then on the compressor rarely kicks in. To me that’s amazing to have insulation that is that effective — to take it from room temperature to 3 C and maintain it,” Small says.
“(With regard) to energy use in the chill room, when you have any enclosure that’s consuming energy, if there’s little to no fluctuation to the temperature range in that area, then you’re using the least amount of energy possible ... because there is virtually no heat transference taking place,” MacLean adds.
The system can be used an additional insulation to an existing building or used by itself during new construction.
The R-value of P2000 ranges from 1 for ¼-inch to 12.3 for three-inch but MacLean says the installed performance of the system may be better than the R-value system measures.
This, he says, is because the R-value system measures a material’s resistance to thermal or conduction heat transference only.
“I view (the R-value system) as an incomplete performance-measuring system because it doesn’t measure everything. It does not measure resistance to (convective and radiant) types of transfers which we deal with every day in our buildings,” he says.
The processing side of Rodney’s Oyster Depot has been in operation for a year now, giving Small plenty of time to assess the effectiveness of P2000.
“Our electricity bill runs around $400 (which also powers the geothermal heating and cooling system). And no oil,” he says.
“You can see with the construction of this building we took the environmental responsibility seriously, otherwise we wouldn’t have put in a geothermal heating system because it’s more expensive than conventional oil. We wouldn’t have put in solar panels because we could heat it with oil. So there was a certain leap of faith there that this is a green technology that is going to save us money. So there was a leap of faith and I’m glad we did it.”