Most common misconceptions about building technical insulation

Delusion: "Cellular rubber and stone wool have different thicknesses and use"

One common misconception is that elastomeric foam insulation can be thinner than stone wool insulation. "This is not true," says Rouhiainen. The thermal conductivity value of these two materials is almost the same, so elastomeric foam insulation needs to be very close to the same thickness as stone wool."

Too-thin insulation leads to heat losses and, thereby, increases energy costs. Installation mistakes can be expensive. Therefore, the installation company is responsible for the extra heating costs incurred in the building, which would have been avoided if the insulation thickness had been implemented according to the plan.

The strengths of elastomeric foam's properties come to the fore, especially in cold insulation. However, a common misconception is that stone wool cannot be used for cold insulation. "Now you can," sums up Graff. "This has not been seen before in the industry, but we have updated the products of the existing ROCKWOOL Teclit® system so that they can be used in cold water and cooling systems down to -16 degrees."

The Teclit system is used extensively, especially in Europe, and there is plenty of experience with it in different locations. The advantage of the system is a selection that includes insulation pipe sections, lamellar mats, pipe supports, and tapes so that the same product series can be used to insulate large entities. Stone wool is a moisture—and water-repellent material. In addition, the TECLIT system products have a solid fiberglass-reinforced aluminum laminate coating, which acts as an effective vapor barrier and prevents condensation.

"Teclit is also fire-safe because stone wool is a non-flammable material. In particular, the system's pipe supports increase fire safety. Often, the weak link of the insulation assembly can be precisely the pipe supports, which cannot withstand fire if implemented with some of one's self-made implementations", emphasizes Graff.

Delusion: "A fire-classification product is enough for fire insulation"

Another very dangerous misconception is related to which insulation is suitable for fire protection. "The insulation's fire class rating indicates its properties in a fire situation. Mere fire classification does not make solution suitable for fire protection; fire classification and fire protection solutions are two completely different things," Rouhiainen emphasizes.

Fire protection solutions are specifically designed to prevent and slow the spread of fire and smoke in a fire. They are a critical part of building safety, so errors in installation or selecting the wrong products can be very destructive, causing property damage and, at worst, casualties.

"Product knowledge is one essential factor for properly made insulation. For example, insulation with a good fire classification can be ruined by installing a PVC coating,” says Rouhiainen.

Technical insulation has solutions, especially for fire protection of ventilation ducts, such as ROCKWOOL's Conlit series products. Now, their features have been further improved as Graff presents:

"We are the first manufacturer to have achieved the EI 60 fire classification with 70 mm thick fire mat insulation. Normally, the insulation thickness in this fire classification area is 100 mm. We have done a lot of product development work for this Conlit product, and we can see that this will be a strong product and a real game changer in the industry."

Delusion: "There are general insulation thicknesses"

"I am often asked what the general insulation thickness is that is normally used. And the answer is that there is no such thing as a general insulation thickness", emphasizes Rouhiainen.

The planner must define the appropriate insulation thickness for each component, which is affected by the type of environment and object:

• What are the temperatures in the space where the insulated object is, and whether it is, for example, domestic water, cold water, or district heating pipes?
• What are the conditions in the space where the equipment and pipes are, and do the pipes pass through rooms at different temperatures?

The optimal insulation thickness is thick enough to minimize heat loss but not too thick to maintain the insulation's cost-effectiveness.

"The starting point of professional insulation is site-specific planning, not copies of previous work. And it is vital that the installers follow this plan," summarizes Rouhiainen.

Graff highlights the importance of co-operation: "We see that there should be more co-operation between planners, installers, and insulation manufacturers. The insulation must be calculated and installed correctly so that the building's systems work best." Nielsen states that installers often encounter a situation where there is insufficient space for insulation solutions in the design.

"If everything is done correctly from the beginning, significant savings can be made in costs because the insulation itself is not a cost issue, but the working time required for repairs or the increase in building operating costs," Graff points out.

To support planning and calculating insulation thickness, ROCKWOOL has created a calculator that makes it easy and saves the planners time. The calculator can calculate heat losses, condensation behavior, and insulation thicknesses for pipes and ventilation ducts.

The latest innovations in the field - even broader possibilities of use

The industry's product development shows, among other things, the increase in the even broader usage possibilities of the products. ROCKWOOL launched the 800 Multi pipe section in 2023, and its advantage is its flexible inner core, which enables the use of the same insulation product for pipes of different sizes. This saves time and space from purchasing and storing various products.

ROCKWOOL's new product innovation also followed the same multi-use philosophy. ROCKWOOL Prolit Lamella Mat is an entirely new type of insulation that can be used for both round and rectangular ducts—this one product is enough. ROCKWOOL has published insulation installation instructions for ducts of different shapes—they make installation easier and prevent installation errors. In addition, their tools make installation effortless.

Nielsen and Graff hope and expect that in the future, the national insulation regulations will be more harmonized, which would also be an advantage for builders:

"At the moment, there are big differences in insulation between different countries, which causes different manufacturers to be focused on the requirements of certain countries, which makes the selection more limited. Uniform regulations would reduce the number of special products delivered to a single country and enable the more general use of a more narrow product range, which would also be more cost-effective for the end users of the insulation," they state.

In Denmark, for example, the development of fire safety testing methods and high criteria has pushed forward product development, and Nielsen sees that the same phenomenon will be seen in other countries as well: "In the industry, regulations will be unified on which solutions can be used in buildings and how they should be installed."

Environmental factors have already affected insulation production, and ROCKWOOL believes that calculating and reducing the carbon footprint will play an even more significant role. Graff feels that ROCKWOOL is in a good position regarding this trend: "Here we are at the forefront – the carbon footprint of our products and production is already low."

Insulation planners and installers must constantly monitor the industry and exploit product development opportunities. At ISOPARTNER, we help with insulation selection and, if necessary, give instructions for implementing today's insulation requirements.