Introduction

Insulation is ubiquitous, always around in the background at work, at home, everywhere, and yet for most of the time is hardly noticed. Insulation is a passive product, once installed it works efficiently, quietly, continually and discreetly.

Insulation comes to the fore when the new design of buildings, plant, equipment or production processes is being considered. It is at this stage that the right specification must be made, any shortfall in the thickness, or error in the type and application details will prove costly to rectify at a later date.

There are many reasons why professional engineers, architects and indeed laymen use insulation:

• to comply with mandatory legislation;
• to reduce heat loss / heat gain;
• to reduce running costs;
• to control temperatures;
• to provide condensation control;
• to reduce heating plant capacity;
• to reduce carbon dioxide emissions; or
• to increase energy efficiency.