Letter from Winter Panel:

Hello Bruce,

Thank you for speaking with me this morning in regards to some of the information you distributed in the seminar on exterior wall systems at the NESEA conference.
In your handout it is stated that Winter Panel uses (or used in 2004-05) Freon as a foam blowing agent in its Structural Insulated Panel manufacturing process. This fact is absolutely false. Winter Panel strives to be as environmentally responsible as possible given the options available to us from our suppliers. Freon ( CFC 11 with an Ozone Depletion Potential of 1.0 ) has not been used as a blowing agent for the past fifteen years. In 1992, when an alternative was made available, Winter Panel started using HCFC 141b (ODP of 0.1 ) as a blowing agent, at the time it was the best option available to us. In 2003 Winter Panel switched from using HCFC-141b to the use of Cyclopentane as a blowing agent. We did so because Cyclopentane was the most environmentally friendly option available to us ( ODP of 0 ). In the years 2004 and 2005 Winter Panel was using Cyclopentane in its production process, not Freon. Unfortunately, we have chosen to no longer use Cyclopentane in our process as we were not satisfied with the quality of the foam produced. In September of 2006 we made the decision to use HFC 245fa ( ODP of 0) which we continue to use to this day because we are very pleased with the quality of the foam made with this formulation. We will continue to explore foam alternatives as they become available to us and will always choose the material that provides the highest quality end product with the lowest environmental impact.
I am pleased by your willingness to retract the information distributed in your seminar and look forward to meeting with you in the near future to discuss the use of SIPs as a viable building material.

Sincerely,
Dave Gauthier
President
Winter Panel