Basic Terms Used in the Insulation Industry

Insulation Outlook  has compiled a handy reference for industry professionals, including younger engineers who are getting up to speed on best practices for specifying projects. It lists many of the common terms and phrases related to industrial insulation grouped in categories like Insulation Types, Temperature Terms, Common Insulation Values,  Terms Related to Finishing Insulation, and Water & Moisture Terms.

Are you familiar, for example, with the concept of water permeability as it applies to insulation? If you said, it’s “the time rate of water vapor transmission through unit area of flat material of unit thickness induced by the unit vapor pressure difference between two specific surfaces under specified temperature and humidity,” you’re right. The terminology guide also says, “water vapor permeability is measured in the ingress protection (IP) system in perm inches.”