Term | Description

Acoustic Insulation

Insulation material designed to absorb or reflect noise or sound. An example of acoustic insulation is Noise Control Batts; they are designed to absorb sound.

Antiglare

The blue coloured facing, as distinct from reflective silver face, on Sisalation® is designed to make working with Sisalation easier and safer. The blue face should be installed facing outwards.

Batt

A slab of insulation. A term commonly used throughout the industry for home insulation. Pink Batts are generally 1160mm long and either 430 or 580mm wide.

Blanket

A long continuous roll of insulation. Insulation Solutions' blanket product is called Building Blanket. This product can be faced with foil and used under metal deck roofs and is called Permastop.

Blow in / Loose Fill

Insulation material that is pumped or blown into the roof space of homes. Cellulose, sheepswool and rockwool are products typically blown in.

Cellulose

Shredded paper insulation with added fire retardant chemicals.

Pack

Contents The actual number of batts or m2 in a pack of insulation.

Pack Coverage

Refers to the installed coverage which also takes into account joists, studs, the frame etc., the second figure (installed coverage) is always greater.

Density

How much material weight there is in a cubic metre. Example-the nominal density of Noise Control Batt is 14 kg/m3. For 1 cubic metre of Noise Control Batts will weigh approx. 14 kilograms.

Early Fire Hazard Rating

There are four scales of measurement for fire rating; each scale runs from zero to ten, or zero to twenty. Ignitability (0-20) Spread of flame (0-10) Heat evolved (0-10) Smoke developed (0-10) The lower the score the better, with the perfect rating being for zeros.

Emissivity / Reflectivity

The percentage of heat radiation that is emitted through a material. Reflectivity and emissivity are related in that if a material has a high reflectivity it also has a low emissivity. Aluminium foil has a reflectivity for radiated heat of 95%. The emissivity of aluminium is 5%. To be effective, the reflective face must face an air space of at least 20mm. Reflectivity is the percentage of radiated heat that is reflected away from the material.

Lagging

Insulation which wraps around ducts and pipes. Heatlock is pipe lagging and Flexible LEI (Lightweight Equipment Insulation) is used as lagging for air conditioning ducting.

Mass per Square Metre (weight)

Weight of a product; 1 metre x 1 metre square. Expressed as g/m2.

Maximum Service Temperature

The maximum temperature at which a product can be used. Most glasswool products have a maximum service temperature of 340 ° C. "High temp" glasswool products have a maximum service temperature of 450 C (500 C with H/T binders).

Mesh / Safety Mesh / Wire

Refers to the wire mesh used to hold blanket against metal deck roofs. It must be used as a safety device for roofs above 7 metres to protect against workers falling during construction.

Mineral Wool

Insulation made from naturally occuring minerals - such as Glasswool and Rockwool.

Permastop

Building Blanket faced with Sisalation.

Poly / Polyester

Polyester insulation, can be either batts or blanket. Insulation Solutions markets "PinkPoly".

Poly Wool

A blended insulation material consisting of sheepswool and polyester.

R Value

See Thermal resistance.

Reflectivity

See Emissivity/Reflectivity.

Resilience

The ability of a material to return to its original shape or thickness after being compressed. Glasswool has excellent resilience.

Rockwool

Insulation made from minerals and rocks (basalt).

Sarking - Foil or Paper

A water and weatherproof material used in roofing, under the outer roofing surface (tiles, metal sheets etc.) Sarking consists of layers of kraft paper and allumium foil. Currently all Insulation Solutions products are used in conjunction with flame-retardant adhesives and different types of reinforcement fibres. Sisalation 466, 433, 453 or 484 are designed for sarking applications.

Thermal Conductivity - 'K' Value

The K value is the rate of heat transfer through a square metre of material per change in degree Celsius, from one side to the other.

Thermal Insulation

Material that will retard heat flow with reasonable effectiveness. Glasswool is the most commonly used material around the world.