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Insulation glossary
| Amount | Total amount of either square footage (SF) or lineal footage (LF) required to complete the project |
| ASJ+ - all service jacket | Aluminum foil, reinforced with a glass scrim bonded to a kraft paper interleaving with an outer film layer leaving no paper exposed. |
| BTU (British Thermal Unit) | Heat required to raise temperature of one pound of water by one degree; around the same amount of energy released by one wooden match. |
| Cavity depth | Depth of either wood or metal framing components used to determine the amount of insulation that can be installed within a given cavity. |
| Class I vapor retarder | 0.1 perm or less |
| Class II vapor retarder | 1.0 perm or less |
| Class III vapor retarder | 10 perm or less |
| Closed blow | A netted application of loosefill insulation where the net holds the insulation in place during installation and remains in place for the life of the system |
| C-value | Heat flow property, conductance, of a product at a given thickness. The lower the C, the better the insulator. |
| Density | Amount of solid material, expressed in pounds per cubic foot (PCF). |
| Emittance | Used for measuring the resistance of a material to radiative heat transfer. Typical values are 0.02 - 1, with the lower values being better radiant barriers. |
| Facer | Covering adhered to base glass mineral wool material. Used primarily as a vapor retarder, and secondarily for cleanability, color, or integral structural components. |
| FSK- foil scrim kraft | Laminate composed of thin layer of aluminum foil, glass fiber reinforcing scrim, and kraft paper. |
| Installed R-value (Duct wrap) | Laminate composed of thin layer of aluminum foil, glass fiber reinforcing scrim, and kraft paper. |
| K-value | Heat flow thickness of a homogeneous material. The lower the k, the better the insulator. |
| Open blow | Loosefill insulation with integral adhesive, directly applied to the wall cavity without need for additional netting |
| Perm | Unit of permeance of water vapor transmission where a difference in pressure exists on either side of a material or membrane (US perm = 1 grain of water vapor per hour, per square foot, per inch of mercury). |
| Pipe size | Pipe sizes are expressed in imperial units for either iron pipe (Iron Pipe Size - IPS) or copper tube size (CTS) |
| PSK- poly scrim kraft | String reinforced polyethylene kraft facing. |
| R-value | Ability of material, or building section to retard heat flow. The higher the R, the better the insulator. |
| U-value | Heat flow property of an entire building section. The lower the U, the better the insulating value. |
| Vapor retarder | Thin layer of material varying in permeance, included in building construction to slow moisture migration. Vapor retarders are split into three classes. |