Thermal insulation in an air-conditioned or merely heated building offers the greatest return on initial investment of any building materials. Substantial thermal insulation is indispensable for occupied buildings. And in warm climates, “cool” roofs, designed to reflect solar radiation and relieve the roof surface of tremendous cooling loads, may pay off with even greater returns than insulation.

   Besides reduction energy costs, insulation also enhanced building occupants comfort. In cold weather it raises interior surface temperatures, thus reducing radiative losses that chill the occupants. In summer it reduces interior surface temperatures that retard occupant’s heat rejection and make them feel uncomfortably warm.    

Other benefits of roof insulation:

• Can prevent condensation on interior surfaces,
• Furnishes an acceptable substrate for the membrane over steel desks,
• Stabilizes desk components by reducing their temperature variations and consequent expansion-constriction.           

The insulation used in low-slope roof systems falls into four categories:

• Rigid insulation, prefabricated into boards and applied directly to the desk surface,
• Dual-purpose structural desk and insulation planks,
• Poured-in-place insulating concrete fills or lightweight fills with embedded foam insulation,
• Sprayed-in-place plastic foam.   

R-Value and Roof insulation materials recommendation

   The R value or R-value is a measure of thermal resistance used in the building and construction industry. A material’s R-value is the measure of its resistance to heat flow. It is important to know the R-value because many states or regions require that a roof system have a minimum amount of thermal resistance on commercial, industrial, and/or institutional buildings. The way it works is simple: the higher the R-value, the more the material insulates.

   Some common roofing materials and their corresponding values for Thermal Conductance (C) and Thermal Resistance (R) are shown in the following table.

                                                                       Firestone Resista™ Polyiso Insulation Board

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