catalog of material thermal property data - rp905

7/27/2019 Catalog of Material Thermal Property Data - Rp905

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FINAL REPORT

ASHRAERESEARCH PROJECT

CATALOG OF MATERIAL THERMAL PROPERTY DATA(905-RP)

Prepared for:

American Society for Heating, Refrigeratingand Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE)

1791 Tullie Circle NEAltanta, GA

USA 30329-2305

Attention: Mr. Michael VaughnDirector of Research

Project sponsored byASHRAE Technical Committee 04.04

Building Materials and Building Envelope Performance

Report Prepared by:

Alex McGowanLevelton Consultants Ltd.760 Enterprise Crescent

Victoria, BCV8Z 6R4

with information from

Dr. William P. GossProfessor EmeritusMechanical and Industrial Engineering Department

University of Massachusetts at Amherstc/o 50 Coe Road (314)

Belleair, FL 33756

June 1, 2007 File: 505-0085


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File: 505-0085ASHRAERESEARCH PROJECT 905-RP

CATALOG OF MATERIAL THERMAL PROPERTIES i

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ASHRAE provides design values for thermal properties of typical building materials in Chapter25 of the Handbook of Fundamentals (HOF; ASHRAE, 2005). These tables include density,thermal conductivity or conductance (and thermal resistivity or resistance) and specific heat for awide range of materials commonly used in building construction. The information is used in a

wide range of applications, from hygrothermal computer models to codes and standards, so it isincumbent upon ASHRAE to keep the data accurate, relevant and reasonably current.

With this in mind, the ASHRAE Technical Committee responsible for Chapter 25 (TechnicalCommittee 4.4, Building Materials and Building Envelope Performance), commissioned aresearch project to review the data in the Chapter and recommend new values (or develop aplan for determining new values), if necessary, to be included in subsequent editions of the HOF.The project would also review data from as wide a variety of sources as possible, to recommendadditional materials to be included in the Handbook.

The original objective of this project was to develop a catalog of material property data (thermalconductivity, density, specific heat and, if appropriate, thermal resistance and/or conductance)for insulation systems found in buildings, low-temperature pipe insulation, cryogenic and high-

temperature industrial applications. The objective was later revised to focus on buildingmaterials only.

The data in this study were obtained from ASTM material specifications standards, ASHRAEarchives on thermal insulation material data given in Chapter 25 and 39 of the 2001 ASHRAEHandbook of Fundamentals, ISO material specification standards, NIST property datapublications and other available open literature sources.

Credible thermal property data for additional materials not currently covered and current data notwell documented in the ASHRAE archives were identified and cataloged over a range ofappropriate temperatures. The data in this report are from results at a mean temperature ofapproximately 75F 10F (24C 5C). The thermal property data are provided in a user-friendly format that can be integrated into the new Chapter 25 Thermal and Water VaporTransmission Data of the 2009 Handbook of Fundamentals, over a range of available andappropriate temperatures and the estimated data uncertainty. Finally, recommendations aremade on thermal property data for materials of importance to ASHRAE that should be measuredin a subsequent ASHRAE research project.

The recommended values are compiled in a table, comparable to the existing Table 4 in thecurrent (2005) ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals. The report also includes some materialsthat are not represented in the current Handbook, but inclusion of these materials is notrecommended until the topic is deliberated by ASHRAE Technical Committee 4.4, the committeethat sponsored this project.


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CATALOG OF MATERIAL THERMAL PROPERTIES ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 REPORT ORGANIZATION ............................................................................................................................................ 1

2. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................................... 2

2.1 IMPORTANCE OFACCURATE THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTY DATA ................................................................................. 2

2.2 BASIC PHYSICS ......................................................................................................................................................... 22.2.1 Solids ............................................................................................................................................................. 22.2.2 Fluids ............................................................................................................................................................. 2

2.3 OBJECTIVES OFASHRAERESEARCH PROJECT 905 ................................................................................................... 32.4 DATA RESOURCES .................................................................................................................................................... 3

2.4.1 Acceptance Criteria ........................................................................................................................................ 42.5 PASTASHRAETHERMAL PROPERTY TABLES............................................................................................................. 4

2.5.1 Discussion of Historical Tables ....................................................................................................................... 4

3. THERMOPHYSICAL DATA TABLES -BUILDING MATERIALS (I-PUNITS) ..................................................................................... 6

3.1 BUILDINGBOARD .................................................................................................................................................. 63.1.1 Asbestos-cement and gypsum panels ............................................................................................................ 63.1.2 Wood-based Building Board ........................................................................................................................... 9

3.2 BUILDINGMEMBRANE ........................................................................................................................................ 123.3 FINISHFLOORINGMATERIALS .......................................................................................................................... 133.4 INSULATINGMATERIALS .................................................................................................................................... 14

3.4.1 Blanket and Batt ........................................................................................................................................... 143.4.2 Board and Slabs .......................................................................................................................................... 163.4.3 Loose Fill ..................................................................................................................................................... 213.4.4 Spray Applied ............................................................................................................................................... 23

3.5 ROOFING ............................................................................................................................................................. 253.6 PLASTERINGMATERIALS ................................................................................................................................... 273.7 MASONRYMATERIALS ....................................................................................................................................... 29

3.7.1 Masonry Units .............................................................................................................................................. 293.7.2 Concretes .................................................................................................................................................... 32

3.8 SIDINGMATERIALS ............................................................................................................................................. 343.9 WOODS(12% MOISTURE CONTENT) ....................................................................................................................... 353.10 DATANOTINTABLE4 ......................................................................................................................................... 36

4. THERMOPHYSICAL DATA TABLES -BUILDING MATERIALS (SIUNITS) ..................................................................................... 37

4.1 BUILDINGBOARD ................................................................................................................................................ 374.1.1 Asbestos-cement and gypsum panels .......................................................................................................... 374.1.2 Wood-based Building Board ......................................................................................................................... 40

4.2 BUILDINGMEMBRANE ........................................................................................................................................ 434.3 FINISHFLOORINGMATERIALS .......................................................................................................................... 444.4 INSULATINGMATERIALS .................................................................................................................................... 45

4.4.1 Blanket and Batt ........................................................................................................................................... 454.4.2 Board and Slabs .......................................................................................................................................... 474.4.3 Loose Fill ..................................................................................................................................................... 514.4.4 Spray Applied ............................................................................................................................................... 53

4.5 ROOFING ............................................................................................................................................................. 544.6 PLASTERINGMATERIALS ................................................................................................................................... 564.7 MASONRYMATERIALS ....................................................................................................................................... 58

4.7.1 Masonry Units .............................................................................................................................................. 584.7.2 Concretes .................................................................................................................................................... 61

4.8 SIDINGMATERIALS ............................................................................................................................................. 634.9 WOODS(12% MOISTURE CONTENT) ....................................................................................................................... 644.10 DATANOTINTABLE4 ......................................................................................................................................... 65

5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................................................ 66

5.1 RECOMMENDEDDATATABLE(I-P) .................................................................................................................... 675.2 RECOMMENDEDDATATABLE(SI) ..................................................................................................................... 72

6. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................................... 77

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A 1997 Criteria for Acceptance of Thermal Property ValuesAPPENDIX B Revised Criteria for Acceptance of Thermal Property Values


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CATALOG OF MATERIAL THERMAL PROPERTIES1

1. BACKGROUND

ASHRAE provides design values for thermal properties of typical building materials in Chapter25 of the Handbook of Fundamentals (HOF; ASHRAE, 2005). These tables include density,thermal conductivity or conductance (and thermal resistivity or resistance) and specific heat for awide range of materials commonly used in building construction. The information is used in a

wide range of applications, from hygrothermal computer models to codes and standards, so it isincumbent upon ASHRAE to keep the data accurate, relevant and reasonably current.

With this in mind, the ASHRAE Technical Committee responsible for Chapter 25 (TechnicalCommittee 4.4, Building Materials and Building Envelope Performance), commissioned aresearch project to review the data in the Chapter and recommend new values (or develop aplan for determining new values), if necessary, to be included in subsequent editions of the HOF.The project would also review data from as wide a variety of sources as possible, to recommendadditional materials to be included in the Handbook.

The project was initiated in August of 1999. For a variety of reasons, the project team wasunable to complete the project, and it was abandoned in January of 2002. Due to theimportance of the underlying research, Technical Committee 4.4 undertook the completion of the

project. As this was done on a volunteer basis, it took longer than normal for an ASHRAEproject of this size, but the Committee felt that the project should nevertheless be completed,and better late than never. This report incorporates the remarkable amount of work that wascompleted by the original project team, together with subsequent research conducted forTechnical Committee 4.4, especially the research project 1018-RP (ASHRAE, 2002).

1.1 REPORT ORGANIZATION

Section 2 of this report contains information from the original project team report, includingbackground on the project objectives, a brief discussion of the physics of thermal properties, andsome of the historical development of the current information in the HOF.

Sections 3 and 4 have the current tables, with a discussion of new material data, in inch-poundand SI units, respectively. Some recommendations for new products or revisions to existing dataare also included.

Section 5 includes a summary of recommendations for new testing and data required forproducts not currently covered in the HOF.

Appendices A and B contain existing and new criteria, respectively, for inclusion of data in theHandbook of Fundamentals.


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2. INTRODUCTION

2.1 IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTY DATA

The thermophysical properties of a system are defined by Klein (1980) as those properties,which measure the response of the system to thermal and mechanical stimuli. These include

both the thermodynamic properties (which describe the change of the system between initial andfinal equilibrium states) and the transport properties (which describe the flow of heat or materialresulting from a steady departure from equilibrium). For building heat-transfer processes, theimportant thermophysical properties are thermal conductivity, specific heat and density. Thermalconductivity is used in steady-state and transient heat-transfer analysis of building envelopeassemblies (walls, windows, doors, roofs, ceilings floors, slabs, etc.) and industrial insulationsystems (piping, heat exchangers, furnaces, refrigeration equipment, etc.). Specific heat anddensity are important in the transient heat-transfer analysis of the above systems. ASHRAETechnical Committee 4.4 recognized the need for reliable, documented thermophysical propertydata for current building envelope steady-state and transient heat-transfer and industrialinsulation system heat-transfer computer programs. Without accurate thermophysical data, theoutput from these programs would be less useful in the design process.

2.2 BASIC PHYSICS

2.2.1 Solids

Heat transfer through solids can be described by several mechanisms (Berman, 1976). Inmetals, most of the heat transfer is due to the flow of electrons with a smaller amount due tothermal vibrations of the atoms, which make up the solid. In non-metals, most of the heattransfer is due to thermal vibrations (sometimes called lattice vibrations, lattice waves orphonons: see Parrott and Stuckes, 1975; Ho, et al, 1974; Grimvall, 1986) of the atoms that makeup the solid. In some solids like alloys and semiconductors, both mechanisms can be important.The combination of the two heat-transfer mechanisms is called conduction heat transfer.Fouriers Law for heat conduction due to a temperature gradient defines the thermophysicalproperty thermal conductivity. In addition, for some insulation products which are not truly solids

(e.g., fiberglass and rock-wool insulation, foam board insulation, hollow concrete block, reflectivepipe and wall insulation), conduction heat transfer can be augmented by convection and/orradiation heat transfer. For these non-homogeneous products, an apparent thermal conductivitycan often be defined.

2.2.2 Fluids

Heat transfer through fluids is usually a combination of conduction and mass motion. The latteris called convection heat transfer. Newtons Law of Cooling for convection heat transfer due to acharacteristic temperature difference defines the convection heat transfer coefficient, which isnot a thermophysical property like thermal conductivity. The motion in fluids can be either forcedor free (sometimes called natural) convection. In the limit of no mass motion, heat transferthrough fluids is by conduction only. The conduction occurs by molecular collisions where the

molecular internal energy stored in molecular kinetic (both linear and rotational) energy andmolecular bond vibrations is exchanged between molecules that can move about in the fluid.Liquids generally have higher thermal conductivities than gases because of the more frequentnumber of collisions due to a higher molecular density. For building envelope materials andassemblies and industrial insulation systems, the primary convection heat transfer is due tonatural convection in enclosed gas or air spaces. An equivalent thermal conductivity based onthe gas or air space natural convection and dimensions is sometimes defined.


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2.3 OBJECTIVES OF ASHRAERESEARCH PROJECT 905

The original objective of this project was to develop a catalog of material property data (thermalconductivity, density, specific heat and if appropriate, thermal resistance and/or conductance) forinsulation systems found in buildings, low-temperature pipe insulation, cryogenic, and high-temperature industrial applications. The objective was later revised to focus on building

materials only subsequent research may include other materials and systems at a later date.The data in this study were obtained from ASTM material specifications standards, ASHRAEarchives on thermal insulation material data given in Chapter 25 and 39 of the 2001 ASHRAEHandbook of Fundamentals, ISO material specification standards, NIST property datapublications and all other available open literature sources.

Credible thermal property data for additional materials not currently covered and current data notwell documented in the ASHRAE archives were identified and cataloged over a range ofappropriate temperatures. The specific data recommended for inclusion in the HOF are fromresults at a mean temperature of approximately 75F 10F (24C 5C). The thermal propertydata are provided in a user-friendly format that can be integrated into the new Chapter 25Thermal and Water Vapor Transmission Data of the 2009 Handbook of Fundamentals , over a

range of available and appropriate temperatures and the estimated data uncertainty. Finally,recommendations are made on thermal property data for materials of importance to ASHRAEthat should be measured in a subsequent ASHRAE research project.

2.4 DATA RESOURCES

The data resources for this research project were books, monographs, proceedings and reportsin the University of Massachusetts Physical Library, the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyBarker Engineering and Science Libraries, the New York and Boston Public libraries and theCelotex Technical Center Library. In addition, material property specifications given in ASTMand ISO standards were also used as sources of thermophysical property data. Data sourceslisted in Manufacturers Industrial Data Sheets/Files and from the Internet were also considered.

Since the quality (or reliability) of different data resources can vary quite significantly, ASHRAE

TC 4.4 has developed acceptance criteria for thermal property data for inclusion in the InsulatingMaterial Design Values and the Industrial Insulation Design Values Tables that are in theChapter on Thermal and Water Vapor Transmission Data. Appendix A lists the current (1997)criteria for acceptance of thermal property values. The current acceptance criteria would notallow many of the previously mentioned thermophysical property data resources. It does allowproperty data to be provided from ASTM or ISO Hot Plate and Heat Flow Meter Test Methods forhomogeneous materials and ASTM or ISO Hot Box Test Methods. In the past, unpublished andpublished experimental thermal data were submitted to ASHRAE TC 4.4, and if it met theacceptance criteria at that time, it was included in the aforementioned two tables in the Chapteron Thermal and Water Vapor Transmission Data. As a result, much of the property data in thesetwo tables has no known reference.

In August, 1990, William Strzepek, the then-Editor of the Chapter on Thermal and Water VaporTransmission Data, sent out a request to fill in a survey on the references for the planned 1993

ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook thermal property data in Tables 4 and Table 8. Only threeresponses were received by the requested October 1990 time frame.

In June and July 1991, in response to Mr. Strzepeks letter, Dr. Robert Zarr of NIST provided twoextensive letter reports that contained reference sources and in some cases, copies of thereferences, to some of the thermal property data in the proposed 1993 ASHRAE FundamentalsHandbook. Subsequently, Dr. Zarr initiated an excellent web site (srdata.nist.gov/insulation/)


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that contains the results of the two letter reports and a number of updates. The reference sourceprovided to Mr. Strzepek by TC4.4 members has been included in revised tables for much of thedata in the current ASHRAE Fundaments Handbook Chapter 25, Thermal and Water VaporTransmission Data, two thermal property data tables on Insulating Material Design Values andthe Industrial Insulation Design Values.

In addition, Harold Trethowen from BRANZ provided a letter report on the Thickness Effect ofThermal Insulants in May 1987 and Adrian Tuluca provided a letter report on Concreted, Mortarsand Fired Clays in June 1989 prior to the publication of the 1989 ASHRAE FundamentalsHandbook. The reference material included in the two earlier reports is also included in therevised current thermal property tables presented in the next chapter of this report.

2.4.1 Acceptance Criteria

Since many of the references for the new thermal property data tables presented in the nextChapter do not meet the current acceptance criteria, a revised acceptance criteria is proposed in

Appendix B to allow the thermal property data resource to be quality rated (i.e., the estimatedreliability of the data)

The data given in the Thermal Property Data Tables in the next Chapter are categorized as

follows:

Data Type 1: Data that meets the Proposed Revisions to the Current ASHRAE Policy on theacceptance of Thermal Property Values for publication in Chapter 25 of the ASHRAE Handbookof Fundamentals (see Appendix B). The primary revision is to allow the inclusion of data fromrecognized sources of Thermophysical Property Data.

Data Type 2: Data that meets most of the ASHRAE Policy, with some indication of what criteriaare not met. Data from ASTM and ISO consensus standards would fit into this category.

Data Type 3: Data from a manufacturer, with some indication of an independent source for thedata.

Data Type 4: Data from manufacturers literature with no supporting data of any kind.

Data Type 0: Data that cannot be assigned a specific category.

2.5 PAST ASHRAETHERMAL PROPERTY TABLES

2.5.1 Discussion of Historical Tables

Thermal property data tables in a number of ASHRAE Handbooks from the 1952 ASHVE(American Society Heating and Ventilating Engineers) Heating Ventilating Air Conditioning Guideto the 2001 ASHRAE Handbook-Fundamentals were reviewed for this project. The tables arethe Building and Insulating Material Design Values (usually for a mean temperature of 75F or

24C), the Industrial Insulation Design Values (over a range of temperatures) in the Chapter onThermal and Water Vapor Transmission Data (originally Design Heat Transmission Coefficients)that is prepared by ASHRAE TC 4.4, Building Materials and Building Envelope Performance(originally TC 2.4 Insulation and Moisture Barriers). In addition, the thermophysical propertytables from the Chapter on the Physical Properties of Materials are also given. This chapter isassigned to ASHRAE TC 1.3, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow.


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The 1952 ASHVE (one of ASHRAEs previous names) Heating, Ventilating and Air ConditioningGuide was the 30th Edition of this Guide. The thermal property data was given in two Chaptersentitled Heat Transmission of Building Materials and Pipe Insulation. The Chapter on HeatTransmission of Building Materials used the listed Building and Insulating Material thermalproperty data to develop heat transmission coefficients (U-factors) for a variety of typicalbuilding-envelope assemblies. The Chapter on Pipe Insulation listed just a few pipe insulations

for medium- and high-temperature applications. There was no information for low-temperature(e.g., refrigeration) insulation, and no Chapter on the Physical Properties of Materials. By 1963,the ASHRAE Guide and Data Book Fundamentals and Equipment, which was the first revisionto the Fundamentals and Equipment Volume that was originally published in 1961, hadcombined the building, insulating and pipe thermal property data into a single Chapter entitledDesign Heat Transmission Coefficients, where again the main emphasis was on thedevelopment of heat transmission coefficients (U-factors) for typical building-envelopeassemblies. The 1963 ASHRAE Guide and Data Book Fundamentals and Equipment also hada separate Chapter entitled Physical Properties of Materials which listed thermophysicalproperty data for gases and vapors, liquids, solids and food products.

Both the 1963 and prior 1961 ASHRAE Guide and Data Book Fundamentals and Equipmentvolumes had a companion volume, the ASHRAE Guide and Data Book-Applications. In 1967,

ASHRAE published a separate Handbook of Fundamentals and divided the remaining portionsof the Guide and Data Book Series into the Equipment, Systems and Applications Guide andData Book Volumes. The 1972 Handbook of Fundamentals was the first revision to the 1967Handbook. Starting in 1974, the ASHRAE Handbook series (Applications, Equipment, Systemsand Fundamentals) was re-published every four years, with the Fundamentals Volume beingpublished in 1977, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2005. In 1977 and 1981, theBuilding and Insulating Material Design Values Table also listed the thermal resistance in SIunits. Starting in 1985, The ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook was published in both I-P (inch-pound) and SI unit editions.

The Insulating Material Design Values, and the Industrial Insulation Design Values Tables in theChapter on Thermal and Water Vapor Transmission Data, do not give any reference to thesource of the thermal property data, other than what is given in the table footnotes. On the other

hand, the thermophysical property tables from the Chapter on the Physical Properties ofMaterials evolved from (in 1963) having no reference to the source of the property data to (in1997) a complete reference for each source of property data. This should be the ultimate goal ofthe of thermophysical property data listed in future versions of the Insulating Material DesignValues and the Industrial Insulation Design Values Tables that are in the Chapter on Thermaland Water Vapor Transmission Data.

Many values in the current Handbook come from the 1940s and 1950s. This makes it difficult todetermine the original source of this information, as a decision was made in the early 1950s todiscontinue quoting sources for reference data. A footnote in the table of thermal resistancesfrom the 1955 ASHVE Guide reports that the data are Representative values for dry materials at75F mean temperature, selected by the ASHAE Technical Advisory Committee on Insulation.They are intended as design (not specification) values for materials of building construction in

normal use. For conductivity of a particular product the user may obtain the value supplied bythe manufacturer or secure the results of an unbiased test. This policy continued until the 1989Handbook, with the 1993 version being the first to quote the list of references with which we arenow familiar.


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3. THERMOPHYSICAL DATA TABLES -BUILDING MATERIALS (I-PUNITS)

This section of the report replicates the format of the existing data table on thermophysicalproperties in Chapter 25 of the Handbook of Fundamentals. For each material category, theexisting data are presented, followed by new data (if available).

3.1 BUILDINGBOARD

3.1.1 Asbestos-cement and gypsum panels

Existing Values

Density Conductivity, k Conductance (C) Specific Heat Reference DataDescription lb/ft

3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Asbestos-cement board.......................... 120 4.0 0.24 ASHVE/NBS 0Asbestos-cement board................... in. 120 33.00 ASHVE/NBS 0Asbestos-cement board................... in. 120 16.50 ASHVE/NBS 0Gypsum or plaster board.................. in. 50 3.10 Nottage 0Gypsum or plaster board.................. in. 50 2.22 0.26 Nottage 0Gypsum or plaster board.................. in. 50 1.78 Nottage 0

The 1947 ASHVE Guide (ASHVE, 1947) lists a thermal conductivity of 2.7 BTU-in/(hr-ft2-F) for

Compressed cement and asbestos sheets at a density of 123 lb/ft3

. The source of these valuesis listed as National Bureau of Standards, tests based on samples submitted by manufacturers,indicating that the testing was done by the precursor to NIST. The same material is listed in the1954 Guide (ASHVE, 1954), but the density is given as 118 lb/ft

3, and the conductivity is 4.1 BTU-

in/(hr-ft2-F). The reference given is the same as for the 1947 Guide; one can only assume that

new samples were tested, or the original samples were re-tested, some time between 1947 and1954. The values listed in the current (2005) HOF, as shown in the table above, first appear intheir present form in the 1955 Guide (ASHVE, 1955). They appear to be rounded-off values of thedata given in the 1954 Guide. The value for1/4 asbestos-cement board, first introduced in the1963 HOF, appears to have been calculated from the value for 1/8 board (or perhaps bothconductance values were calculated from the conductivity measurement).

The 1947 Guide lists a thermal conductivity of 1.41 BTU-in/(hr-ft2-F) for gypsum board at a

density of 62.8 lb/ft3

, based on tests at the Armour Institute of Technology (a precursor to theIllinois Institute of Technology). Conductance values for 3/8 and 1/2" board are given, based onthis conductivity, but another conductivity of 1/2" board is also given, for a density of 53.5 lb/ft

3,

based on testing at the U.S. Bureau of Standards. These results appear again in the 1952 and1954 editions of the ASHVE Guide, but in 1955 the values change to 3.10 BTU-in/(hr-ft

2-F) for

3/8 board and 2.25 BTU-in/(hr-ft2-F) for 1/2" board (both for a density of 50 lb/ft3), and no sourceis available. Thus, values similar to those in the current (2005) HOF appear to have beenintroduced in 1955. The value for5/8 gypsum or plaster board is not directly related to that ofthe other gypsum values, and is presumed to be a test result, although no reference is provided.The best reference for these values is Nottage, 1947.

New Values

Valore (Valore, 1988) provides a correlation for the conductivity of gypsum as a function of density,where k = 0.172 exp (0.318 1/2) for in lb/ft3 and k in BTU-in/(hr-ft2-F), or = 0.025 exp (0.081/2) for in kg/m3and in W/(m-K). Given the above density of 50 lb/ft3, this correlation wouldproduce an effective conductance of 4.35 BTU/(hr-ft2-F) for 3/8 gypsum board, or 2.61 BTU/(hr-ft

2-F) for 5/8 gypsum board. These values are 40 - 45% higher than the values listed in the 2005

HOF.

An ASHRAE research project to study thermal bridging in steel-stud walls required thermal testingof (among other materials) interior gypsum board. Thermal resistance tests were conducted atOak Ridge National Laboratories, and the results were converted into an effective conductivity for


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use in a computer model. Those values can be found in the final report for that ASHRAE researchproject, 785-RP (ASHRAE, 1996).

A more recent ASHRAE research project, 1018-RP (ASHRAE, 2002) included measurements ofthermal conductivity and specific heat for several building materials, including gypsum sheathing.We note that the 1018-RP values are for interior gypsum board, which raises the question aboutwhether the treated core of a gypsum sheathing product intended for use as exterior sheathingmight have a different thermal conductance. Also, none of the products reviewed included valuesfor gypsum sheathing with a glass-fiber facer, which is becoming quite popular in some regions.

The 1018-RP project included two types of cementitious boards, reinforced with glass-fiber meshand with wood fibers. These are becoming quite popular cladding options, and should be includedin the HOF. The wood-fiber product is available as a panel, and as lapped siding and trim boards,and the glass-fiber product is available in flat or corrugated panels.

The International Energy Agency invited member countries to submit test data for thermalproperties of building materials for inclusion in a compilation of data. That report (IEA, 1996)includes test results for three samples of gypsum board. The testing was done at a range oftemperatures representing typical climatic variation; the thermal conductivity values measuredappear to be constant. However, the IEA report quotes two different values for gypsum with thesame density and thickness; no reason is given for the variation in results, and they vary by morethan a reasonable tolerance that would allow for experimental error.

The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers, based in the United Kingdom, hasproduced a compendium of thermal properties for various building materials (CIBSE, 1985). Thedata in that report appear to be taken from test results, from several references.

The values from these sources are:


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Gypsum board... in. 47 1.52 0.21 IEA24 2Gypsum board... in. 47 1.34 0.21 IEA24 2Gypsum board... in. 45 1.05 2.70 785RP 2

.... in. 45 1.07 2.17 785RP 2. in. 46 1.32 2.08 785RP 2

Interior gypsum board... in. 40 1.11 0.21* 1018RP 1Gypsum board.................... ......... in. 42 1.13 0.21 IEA24 2Fiber-cement board..................... 5/16 in. 86 1.73 0.20* 1018RP 1Cement board.................................. in. 70 1.73 0.20* 1018RP 1

Asbestos cement sheet . 85 1.73 CIBSE 1.. 95 2.57 CIBSE 1.. 100 2.77 CIBSE 1.. 125 3.85 CIBSE 1

Asbestos wallboard................................. 16 0.55 CIBSE 1.. 20 0.66 CIBSE 1.. 25 0.80 CIBSE 1

Gypsum plasterboard.............................. 60 1.11 CIBSE 1Perlite plasterboard................................. 50 1.25 CIBSE 1Diatomaceous board .............................. 52 0.97 CIBSE 1

*The 1018RP report references the IEA24 report for this value. Specific heat was not measured independently in the 1018RP project.

Recommended Values

Although asbestos-cement board is no longer manufactured, the preference is to leave the entriesin the table for historical reasons (and because some heritage buildings may still contain asbestos-cement board). It may be misleading, however, to keep the conductance values for specificthicknesses, as these appear to have been generated from a single conductivity measurement.

Measurements from the newer sources give property values for gypsum board that are in line withthe 2005 HOF, and fill out the thickness matrix reasonably well (although thinner products are


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available). The newer values are preferred simply because the source reference is known. Thevalues from the 785RP project for nominal 3/8 gypsum board represent results for a singlespecimen, and are not as statistically valid as the IEA values for that size. Therefore, a meanvalue of the IEA results for nominal 3/8 gypsum board is recommended. The results from the1018RP project are more thoroughly documented than results from the other sources, so thevalues for 1/2" gypsum board from 1018RP are recommended. All sources present conductivityresults; although this property should be presented as a conductance for a given thickness ofboard, computer programs will require the effective conductivity value, and this should bepresented in the table. Therefore, the recommended values are:


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Asbestos-cement board........................ 120 4.0 0.24 Nottage 1Cement board..... ................ ............... ... 71 1.73 0.20* 1018RP 1Fiber-cement board.............................. 86 1.73 0.20* 1018RP 1Fiber-cement board.............................. 61 1.30 0.20 IEA24 2

.. 26 0.49 0.45 IEA24 2............. 20 0.41 0.45 IEA24 2

Gypsum or plaster board...................... 40 1.11 0.21 1018RP 1

The IEA report quotes values for wood wool cement board, which is a cement board reinforcedwith wood wool (i.e., sawdust), which would be similar to wood fiber-cement board. The IEAreport also includes values for fibre cement, and although the type of product is not described, it

is likely that this refers to cementitious board reinforced with glass fiber. The material can be usedas a building board, but is more commonly a choice for water-resistant cladding, and is available inpanel form, or as horizontal siding.

Future Work

The values listed appear to provide reasonably accurate results for interior gypsum wallboard, butnot for exterior gypsum sheathing. According to one gypsum manufacturer (fromhttp://www.gp.com), the thermal properties of various types of gypsum sheathing are not the same.The thermal resistance of 5/8 glass-fiber-faced gypsum sheathing is reported to be 0.67 hr-ft

2F/BTU; 5/8 fire-rated exterior sheathing (paper-faced) is R 0.56. In 1/2" thickness, the glass-fiber-faced product is R 0.56; regular gypsum sheathing is R 0.45; gypsum fiberboard is R 0.50;and cement board is R 0.26. This is Type 4 data, and not enough information is provided to verify

the results for use in the HOF table, but some variability is apparent. It is possible that the glass-fiber facers, which are thicker than paper facers, may encapsulate a thin layer of air, which wouldexplain the slightly higher thermal resistance. For a similar reason, one would also expect somevariation in density and specific heat.

Some testing could be done to investigate the variation on thermal properties for these products,as well as moisture-resistant tile backer-board. In particular, glass-fiber-faced gypsum sheathingis becoming popular in wet climates, and values for this product should be included in futureversions of the HOF.
http://www.gp.com/http://www.gp.com/


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3.1.2 Wood-based Building Board

Existing Values

Values in the current (2005) HOF are:


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Plywood (Douglas fir) ............................. 34 0.80 0.29 Lewis 0Plywood (Douglas fir)...................... in. 34 3.20 Lewis 0Plywood (Douglas fir)....................... in. 34 2.13 Lewis 0Plywood (Douglas fir)....................... in. 34 1.60 Lewis 0Plywood (Douglas fir)....................... in. 34 1.29 Lewis 0Plywood or wood panels.................. in. 34 1.07 0.29 Lewis 0Vegetable fiber board

Sheathing, regular density .......... in. 18 0.76 0.31 USDA 1... 25/32 in. 18 0.49 USDA 2

Sheathing intermediate density in. 22 0.92 0.31 Lewis 2Nail-base sheathing ................... in. 25 0.94 0.31 Lewis 2Shingle backer............................. in. 18 1.06 0.31 1972 HOF 0Shingle backer......................... 5/16 in. 18 1.28 1972 HOF 0Sound deadening board.............. in. 15 0.74 0.30 1972 HOF 0Tile and lay-in panels, plain or acoustic 18 0.40 0.14 1972 HOF 0

............ ................. . in. 18 0.80 1972 HOF 0..... in. 18 0.53 1972 HOF 0

Laminated paperboard ........................ 30 0.50 0.33 Lewis 2

Homogeneous board from repulped paper 30 0.50 0.28 1972 HOF 0HardboardMedium density ............... ............... ..... 50 0.73 0.31 Lewis 1High density, service-tempered grade 55 0.82 0.32 Lewis 2High density, standard-tempered grade 63 1.00 0.32 Lewis 2

ParticleboardLow density................ ............... ........... 37 0.71 0.31 Lewis 2Medium density ............... ................ .... 50 0.94 0.31 Lewis 2High density... ............... ............... ........ 62 1.18 Lewis 2Underlayment.............................. in. 40 1.22 0.29 Lewis 2

Waferboard............. .............. ............... .... 37 0.63 Jessome 2Wood subfloor............................. in. 1.06 0.33 1977 HOF 0

Values for plywood are quoted in HOF as being from a single source (Lewis, 1967), but thatreference deals with fiberboard and particleboard and not plywood, so the reference is incorrect.

Another source (Teesdale, 1958) quotes values for plywood and plywood or wood panels thatare the same as (or very similar to) those in the current HOF, but references the 1957 ASHVEGuide. Thus, the values listed in the current HOF appear to be from an unknown source at least10 years older than the HOF reference. The conductance for all plywood thicknesses in the tableappear to be calculated from a single measured conductivity. As plywood is not homogeneous,this approach is incorrect. The original measurements appear to have been made on 3/4" thickplywood, so the conductance value listed for that thickness is appropriate.

A review of the Lewis reference confirms that it is the source of the HOF values for regular- andintermediate-density sheathing and nail-base sheathing, and for the hardboard and most of theparticleboard values. The sources of the values for shingle backer, acoustic tile and board,laminated paperboard and board from repulped paper are not known. These values first appearedin the 1972 HOF. Lewis (1967) reports a tested conductivity of 0.46 BTU-in/(hr-ft

2-F) for

laminated paperboard at 75F, and it is possible that this value was rounded to 0.50, but this

cannot be confirmed. The value for particleboard used as a wood subfloor first appeared in the1977 HOF, and is also from an unknown source. Goss and Miller (1989) note that the valuereported by Jessome (1979) for waferboard was measured at the National Research CouncilCanada in 1976, and is for a specimen with 1.5% moisture content. This may be too dry to berepresentative of typical materials in use. The term vegetable fiber board originated in 1975, andfirst appeared in the 1979 HOF; before that, the material was called insulating board.


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The Wood Handbook (USDA, 1974) is also a source of values for the HOF, but this appears to bean indirect source at best, as the values in the current HOF are not found in the Wood Handbook.Specific values listed in the Wood Handbook are:


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Medium-density hardboard...................... 33-50 0.54-0.75 USDA 1High-density hardboard............................ 50-60 0.75-1.4 USDA 1Tempered hardboard............................... 60-80 0.75-1.5 USDA 1Special densified hardboard.................... 85-90 1.85 USDA 1Low-density particleboard........................ 25-37 0.55-0.75 USDA 1Medium-density particleboard.................. 37-50 0.75-1.0 USDA 1High-density particleboard........................ 50-70 1.0-1.25 USDA 1

Specific references for these values are not given: rather the Wood Handbook refers to these asgeneral round-figure values accumulated from numerous sources. For more exact figures on aspecific product, individual manufacturers should be consulted or actual tests made. Values arefor general laboratory conditions for temperature and relative humidity. Moreover, there is noexplanation as to how the range of values given above might have been translated into the specificvalues given in the HOF. A table of specific values is given in an Appendix of the WoodHandbook, but these values are taken from the HOF, which would be a circular reference.

The conductance values for acoustic tile appear to be calculated from a single conductivity

measurement; we do not support this approach. Similarly, the value for nominal 25/32 regular-density sheathing appears to be calculated from the value for 1/2" sheathing, and the value for5/16 shingle backer appears to be calculated from the 3/8 product.

New Values

ASHRAE 1018-RP project (ASHRAE. 2002) included testing of plywood, OSB and fiberboard.These values were reported as conductivity, which is misleading and may not be correct forplywood as it is not homogeneous (the values are converted to conductances for this report). TheInternational Energy Agency (IEA, 1996) reports tested values for plywood, particleboard, andwafer board or wood-chip board. The IEA report also lists wood fiberboard with a conductivity of0.34 to 0.41 BTU-in/(hr-ft

2-F) for a density range of 15 to 23.7 lb/ft

3, but it is not clear whether the

conductivity varies with the density, or with some other variable. Touloukian et al. (1970) providesdata for fir plywood, but the value appears to be much lower than that of the 1018 -RP results.


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Plywood (Douglas fir)...................... in. 29 3.38 0.45* 1018RP 2Plywood (Douglas fir)...................... in. 34 5.14 0.45* 1018RP 2Plywood (softwood)............... .. in. 28 5.33 0.45* 1018RP 2Plywood (oven-dried).. 0.69 0.45 IEA24 2Plywood (fir).... in. 33 0.79 1.05 0.45 Touloukian 1Hardboard

Medium density ................. .............. .... 38 0.55 CIBSE 1Standard density ................................. 47 0.65 CIBSE 1

................ ................ ... 56 1.0 CIBSE 1Composite wood siding .......... 7/16 in. 46 0.66 0.45* 1018RP 2Oriented Strand Board (OSB) ........ in. 41 2.62 0.45* 1018RP 2Oriented Strand Board (OSB) .....7/16 in. 41 3.30 0.45* 1018RP 2

Oriented Strand Board (OSB) ........ in. 41 4.24 0.45* 1018RP 2Particleboard ........................................... 36-50 0.68 0.45 IEA24 2Waferboard or Wood-chip board ............ 44 0.73 0.45 IEA24 2Wood fiberboard . 15-24 0.34 - 0.41 IEA24 2Wood fiberboard in. 20 0.37 0.45* 1018RP 1Cellulosic fiber insulating fiberboard 70 1.39 CIBSE 1

* The 1018RP report references the IEA24 report for this value. Specific heat was not measured independently in the 1018RP project.


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Recommended Values

Conductance values in the current HOF for 1/4", 3/8, 1/2", 5/8 and 3/4" plywood were calculatedfrom a single heat-transfer measurement. As plywood is not homogeneous, this can be amisleading approach. Conductance measurements made during the 1018-RP project yieldedmuch higher values. The 1018-RP reference is known and the data are readily accessible, so werecommend the new values in the revised table. The values for OSB that were measured in the1018-RP project should also be included in the revised table, as OSB is a common buildingmaterial.

Data for fiberboard and waferboard from 1018-RP (and waferboard data from the IEA report)should also be used in place of the older values, again because the data are more readilyavailable. Until better values are developed for vegetable fiberboard, however, the existing valuesshould be listed instead of the IEA data for wood fiberboard, as the latter are non-specific andprovide too great a range of values to be of practical use.

The results for particleboard used as a wood sub-floor are from an unknown source, and are notconsistent with Lewis, so we do not recommend their continued inclusion in the HOF. The valuesrecommended for the revised table are:


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Plywood (Douglas fir)...................... in. 29 3.38 0.45 1018RP 2Plywood (Douglas fir)...................... in. 34 5.14 0.45 1018RP 2Plywood (softwood).................. in. 28 5.33 0.45 1018RP 2Oriented Strand Board (OSB) ........ in. 41 2.62 0.45 1018RP 2Oriented Strand Board (OSB) .... 7/16 in. 41 3.30 0.45 1018RP 2Oriented Strand Board (OSB) ........ in. 41 4.24 0.45 1018RP 2Waferboard or Wood-chip board ............ 44 0.73 0.45 IEA24 2Vegetable fiber board

Sheathing, regular density ......... in. 18 0.76 0.31 Lewis 1Sheathing intermediate density .. in. 22 0.92 0.31 Lewis 2Nail-base sheathing ................... in. 25 0.94 0.31 Lewis 2Shingle backer............................. in. 18 1.06 0.31 1972 HOF 0Sound deadening board.............. in. 15 0.74 0.30 1972 HOF 0Tile and lay-in panels, plain or acoustic 18 0.40 0.14 1972 HOF 0Laminated paperboard ........................ 30 0.50 0.33 Lewis 0Homogeneous board from repulped paper 30 0.50 0.28 1972 HOF 0

Hardboard

Medium density ................. .............. .... 50 0.73 0.31 Lewis 1High density, service-tempered grade 55 0.82 0.32 Lewis 2High density, standard-tempered grade 63 1.00 0.32 Lewis 2

ParticleboardLow density................ ................. ......... 37 0.71 0.31 Lewis 2Medium density .................................. 50 0.94 0.31 Lewis 2High density... ............... .................. .... 62 1.18 Lewis 2Underlayment.............................. in. 40 1.22 0.29 Lewis 2

Future Work

Values for other types of fiberboard, and for hardboard and particleboard, are either from a single1967 source, or from unknown sources. It is quite likely that product formulations have changedsince 1967, and we recommend that current materials should be tested for comparison with theexisting values from Lewis (1967). Also, these materials should be reviewed for their applicability,

as most current uses of hardboard and particleboard are restricted to interior cabinetry andfurniture, and may not be commonly used in wall assemblies.

Other new products that are not represented in the 2005 HOF include straw-composite panels andstructural insulated panels (SIPs). It may be a simple matter of developing an effectiveconductivity for SIP products using their constituent components (typically OSB facers on eitherside of a core of expanded or extruded polystyrene), but measured values would be useful.


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3.2 BUILDINGMEMBRANE

Existing Values



3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Vapor-permeable felt.............................. 16.70 1958 Guide 0Vapor-seal, 2 layers of mopped 15 lb felt 8.35 1958 Guide 0Vapor-seal, plastic film............................ high 1958 Guide 0

The source for these values is not known, but they first appeared in the 1958 ASHVE Guide, inalmost exactly their current format. The only changes in the presentation of this information overthe last 47 years are that the heading of this section in the ASHVE Guide was Building Paper,and that the conductance of plastic film was not given (although the thermal resistance was givenas negl., which is saying the same thing).

The entry for two layers of mopped 15-lb. felt has exactly half the conductance as vapor-permeable felt, and one suspects that one of these values is derived from the other. Therefore,only one of the entries should be listed (the other is superfluous). This is generally a roofingapplication, however, and therefore should be included in the roofing section of the table.

Thermal properties of membranes are typically not important in assessing the performance of thebuilding envelope, as these components are so thin that they contribute very little to the overallthermal resistance or capacitance of the assembly. This is why there are very few entries in thispart of the table. There has historically been little interest in including thermal properties for thesecomponents (although their water-vapor transmission characteristics are extremely important).Still, for a consistent approach, it should be considered that the thermal properties of thesematerials either deserve to be in the HOF, or else they should be removed entirely from this table.

New Values

The data collected for this project provided very little useful information on the thermal propertiesof building membranes. Several types of membranes were tested in the 1018-RP project, but theresults reported there and in other citations are only for hygric properties.

Recommended Values

ASHRAE Technical Committee 4.4 (Building Materials and Building Envelope Performance)should develop a consistent policy on these data types. The existing values for felt and plastic filmare of little value. Either all three items should be removed from the table, or a complete list ofbuilding membranes should be tested and reported for thermal conductivity and heat capacity.Some materials of interest could include (for example) air-barrier membranes, various types ofsheet-type vapor retarders, and self-adhered waterproofing membranes.


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3.3 FINISHFLOORINGMATERIALS

Existing Values



3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Carpet and fibrous pad............................ 0.48 0.34 1963 0Carpet and rubber pad............................ 0.81 0.33 1963 0Cork tile .......................................... in. 3.60 0.48 1963 4Terrazzo........................................... 1 in. 12.50 0.19 1963 0Tileasphalt, linoleum, vinyl, rubber....... 20.00 0.30 1963 0

vinyl asbestos...................................... 0.24 1958 0ceramic.... ............... ............... .............. 0.19 1958 0

Wood, hardwood finish.................... in. 1.47 0.68 1963 0

The source for these values is not known, but they first appeared in the 1958 ASHVE Guide, inalmost exactly their current format. The only changes in the presentation of this information overthe last 47 years are that values for linoleum and flooring felt were deleted in 1958, and theconductance of various types of flooring tile have been collapsed into a single value (in the 1958Guide, separate values are provided for flooring tiles made of asphalt, ceramic, cork, and rubber orplastic). The 1958 Guide also lists a value for Floor tile or linoleum, av. Value, and the thermal

conductance listed is indeed the arithmetic mean of the conductances of all the other materials.

Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to flooring finishes, as these components contributelittle to the thermal resistance or capacitance of the overall assembly. There has historically beenlittle interest in including thermal properties for these components (although their water-vaportransmission characteristics can be important). Thermal properties are important, however, inconsidering occupant thermal comfort for example, to assess the surface temperature of floorsover crawl spaces. The data collected for this project suggests that some measurements weremade in 1975 of the thermal properties of carpet with various types of underlayment, but thesource is not known, and the nature of the measurements is not defined.

New Values

Some carpet values are reported in the IEA reference, but only hygric properties. Test data fromthe NIST database (http://srdata.nist.gov/insulation) , and from the CIBSE compendium (CIBSE,1985), provides the following (listed values are generally mean results from several tests):


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Carpet and rebonded urethane pad.. in. 7 0.42 NIST 1Acrylic/nylon pile, fibrous/rubber pad. - in. 18 0.62 NIST 1Carpet and rubber pad (one-piece)... in. 20 1.47 NIST 1Linoleum Cork ................. ............... .. in. 29 1.89 NIST 2Rubber tile...... 1 in. 117 2.94 NIST 2PVC floor covering, dry.............................. 2.77 CIBSE 1Rubber floor covering ... 2.77 CIBSE 1

Recommended Values

ASHRAE Technical Committee 4.4 (Building Materials and Building Envelope Performance)should develop a consistent policy on these data types. The source of the existing values in theHOF is not known, and densities are not listed. Either all items should be removed from the table,or a complete roster of flooring membranes should be tested and reported for density, thermalconductivity and heat capacity. Meanwhile, the NIST and CIBSE values can be used instead ofthe existing values, as the sources of the existing data are easily referenced.
http://srdata.nist.gov/insulationhttp://srdata.nist.gov/insulation


17/85



3.4 INSULATINGMATERIALS

3.4.1 Blanket and Batt

Existing Values



3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Mineral fiber, fibrous form processed from rock, slag, or glassapprox. 3-4 in........... ............... ............. 0.4-2.0 0.091 NAIMA 1approx. 3.5 in. .................. .............. ..... 0.4-2.0 0.077 NAIMA 1approx. 3.5 in. .................. ............... .... 1.2-1.6 0.067 NAIMA 1approx. 5.5-6.5 in............ ................ ..... 0.4-2.0 0.053 NAIMA 1approx. 5.5 in. .................. .............. ..... 0.6-1.0 0.048 NAIMA 1approx. 6-7.5 in.................................... 0.4-2.0 0.045 NAIMA 1approx. 8.25-10 in................................ 0.4-2.0 0.033 NAIMA 1approx. 10-13 in................................... 0.4-2.0 0.026 NAIMA 1

These values are from several manufacturers of construction materials, reported in a letter dated13 March, 1992 from the insulation manufacturers association (NAIMA) to Technical Committee4.4. Manufacturers generally conduct random quality-control testing of their glass-fiber battinsulation. A correlation has been proven between density and thermal resistance, for a fixedthickness of glass-fiber batt. In the manufacturing process, the density of the product is controlledto ensure that the thermal resistance is maintained. This is perhaps the only way to ensure astated thermal resistance for a given thickness (where the thickness is defined by the stud-cavitydimension). Most manufacturers produce batt insulation in this manner, and it can be assumedthat they monitor their competitors products from time to time, or that an independent agencycould easily monitor this parameter. Therefore, the existing values appear to be reliable.

New Values

Newer values are listed in the 1018-RP and 785-RP ASHRAE research projects, and from theInternational Energy Agency (IEA) report. This study also uncovered data from the UK (CIBSE,1985), and from a handbook that listed the sources of the data (Raznjevic, 1976). The values forbatt insulation from these sources are:


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Cellulose batt insulation............. 3 in. 1.9 0.24 0.45 1018RP 1Glass-fiber batt insulation.............. 3 in. 0.7 0.30 0.20 1018RP 1

3 in. 0.8-0.9 0.29 0.20 IEA24 2 3 in. 0.6 0.085 785RP 2... 4 in. 1 0.24 0.20 IEA24 2 6 in. 0.6 0.055 785RP 2 6 in. 0.5-0.6 0.33 0.20 IEA24 2 6 in. 0.7-0.8 0.31 0.20 IEA24 2

Mineral fiber..................... 5 in. 2 0.25 0.20 IEA24 2Mineral wool, felted............... ..... 1 0.28 CIBSE 1

3 0.27 CIBSE 1 5 0.26 CIBSE 1

4-8 0.24 Manufacturer 1Mineral wool . 1 in. 3 0.23 NIST 2 1 in. 3 0.26 NIST 2 1 in. 3 0.27 NIST 2 1 in. 5 0.23 NIST 2 1 in. 6 0.24 NIST 2

Slag wool .......................... ............. 3-12 0.26 Raznjevic 1 16 0.28 Raznjevic 1 19 0.30 Raznjevic 1 22 0.33 Raznjevic 1 25 0.35 Raznjevic 1


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The IEA report includes a correlation between density and thermal conductivity for glass-fiberinsulation: = 0.1855 + 5.39x10-3 + 0.077/, where density is given in lb/ft3and thermalconductivity is in BTU-in/(hr-ft

2-F). This agrees with the above data from 1018-RP and 785-RP.

The IEA reports a tested value of 0.25 BTU-in/(hr-ft2-F) for mineral fibre insulation at a dry

density of 2.2 lb/ft3, and 0.21 BTU-in/(hr-ft2-F) for a density of 9.7 lb/ft3. The report also includes acorrelation for thermal conductivity of mineral-fiber insulation as a function of density: = 0.22 +2.93x10

-3 + 0.089/, where density is in lb/ft3 and thermal conductivity is in BTU-in/(hr-ft2-F).

This correlation produces results that are approximately 10% higher than the listed values for

thicknesses less than 2, and results that are 3-4% lower for thicker products.

The new values were converted to conductances to allow direct comparison with the NAIMAvalues, as shown below:


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Mineral fiber, fibrous form processed from rock, slag, or glassapprox. 3-4 in....................................... 0.4-2.0 0.32 0.091 NAIMA 1approx. 3.5 in. .................. ............... .... 0.4-2.0 0.27 0.077 NAIMA 1approx. 3.5 in. .................. ............... .... 1.2-1.6 0.23 0.067 NAIMA 1approx. 5.5-6.5 in................................. 0.4-2.0 0.32 0.053 NAIMA 1approx. 5.5 in. .................. ............... .... 0.6-1.0 0.26 0.048 NAIMA 1approx. 6-7.5 in.................................... 0.4-2.0 0.30 0.045 NAIMA 1approx. 8.25-10 in................................ 0.4-2.0 0.30 0.033 NAIMA 1approx. 10-13 in................................... 0.4-2.0 0.30 0.026 NAIMA 1

Cellulose batt insulation............. 3 in. 1.9 0.24 0.45 1018RP 1Glass-fiber batt insulation....... 3-3 in. 0.6-0.9 0.29-0.30 0.083 - 0.086 0.20 IEA,785RP,1018RP 1

... 4 in. 1 0.24 0.06 0.20 IEA24 2 6 in. 0.5-0.8 0.31-0.33 0.052 - 0.055 0.20 IEA24, 785RP 1

Mineral fiber..................... 5 in. 2 0.25 0.045 0.20 IEA24 2Mineral wool, felted.................... 1 0.28 CIBSE 1

3 0.27 CIBSE 1 5 0.26 CIBSE 1 4-8 0.24 Manufacturer 1

Mineral wool . 1 in. 3 0.23 NIST 2 1 in. 3 0.26 NIST 2 1 in. 3 0.27 NIST 2 1 in. 5 0.23 NIST 2 1 in. 6 0.24 NIST 2

Slag wool ....................................... 3-12 0.26 Raznjevic 1

16 0.28 Raznjevic 1 19 0.30 Raznjevic 1 22 0.33 Raznjevic 1 25 0.35 Raznjevic 1

The NAIMA results show production tolerances allowed by manufacturers of glass-fiber insulation, and thdescribe the limits of typical values. The more recent values are actual test results, and provide a mnarrower range of variation in thermal properties, although they are still within the ranges describedNAIMA. Therefore, the newer values for glass-fiber insulation are recommended. The glass-fiber produshow a very consistent result for conductivity for a wide range of thickness. Except for a single value frthe IEA report, the thermal conductivity of glass-fiber batt products is within the range of 0.29 0.33 fothicknesses. Separating the values into two common thicknesses (for nominal 2x4 and 2x6 framing), results are even more consistent: k = 0.30 3% BTU-in/(hr-ft

2-F) for 3 batts, and k = 0.32 3% BT

in/(hr-ft2-F) for 6 batts. The single IEA result for a four-inch glass-fiber batt appears to be an anom

relative to the other results, so we do not recommend its inclusion in the final table.

The NAIMA values are also intended to represent mineral wool and slag wool, but the values from NI(NIST, 2000) and CIBSE (CIBSE, 1985) are quite different from those described by NAIMA. Again, latter values are actual test result, not nominal manufacturing tolerances, and are recommended to replathe existing values in the HOF table.


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Recommended Values


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Cellulose batt insulation............. 3 in. 1.9 0.24 0.45 1018RP 1Glass-fiber batt insulation....... 3-3 in. 0.6-0.9 0.30 0.086 0.20 IEA,785RP,1018RP 1

6 in. 0.5-0.8 0.31-0.33 0.052 - 0.055 0.20 IEA24, 785RP 1Mineral fiber..................... 5 in. 2 0.25 0.045 0.20 IEA24 2Mineral wool, felted.................... 1-3 0.28 CIBSE/NIST 1

4-8 0.24 NIST 1

Slag wool ....................................... 3-12 0.26 Raznjevic 1 16 0.28 Raznjevic 1 19 0.30 Raznjevic 1 22 0.33 Raznjevic 1 25 0.35 Raznjevic 1

3.4.2 Board and Slabs

Existing Values


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Cellular glass.... ............... .................. ...... 8 0.33 0.18 Manufacturer 3Glass fiber, organic bonded.................... 4 -9 0.25 0.23 Nottage 2Expanded perlite, organic bonded.......... 1 0.36 0.30 BDC 4

Expanded rubber (rigid).......................... 4.5 0.22 0.40 Nottage 2Expanded polystyrene, extruded (smooth skin surface)(CFC-12 exp.) ................ ................ ........ 1.8-3.5 0.20 0.29 Manufacturer 3Expanded polystyrene, extruded (smooth skin surface)(HCFC-142b exp.)h ............................... 1.8-3.5 0.20 0.29 Booth 2Expanded polystyrene, molded beads... 1 0.26 SPI 4

1.25 0.25 SPI 41.5 0.24 SPI 41.75 0.24 SPI 42 0.23 SPI 4

Cellular polyurethane/polyisocyanurate(CFC-11 exp.) (unfaced).................... 1.5 0.16-0.18 0.38 SPI 3

Cellular polyisocyanurate (CFC-11 exp.)(gas-permeable facers)...................... 1.5-2.5 0.16-0.18 0.22 SPI 3

Cellular polyisocyanurate (CFC-11 exp.)(gas-impermeable facers).................. 2 0.14 0.22 Sherman 1

Cellular phenolic (open cell)................... 1.8-2.2 0.23 Manufacturer(closed cell, CFC11/113 exp.) .. 3 0.12 Manufacturer

Mineral fiber with resin binder ............... 15 0.29 0.17 Nottage 2Mineral fiberboard, wet felted

Core or roof insulation....................... 16-17 0.34 1967 HOFAcoustical tile ................................... 18 0.35 0.19 1967 HOFAcoustical tile ................................... 21 0.37 1967 HOF

Mineral fiberboard, wet moldedAcoustical tile l ................................. 23 0.42 0.14 1963 HOF

Wood or cane fiberboardAcoustical tile ............................ in. 0.80 0.31 1958 GuideAcoustical tile ............................. in. 0.53 1958 Guide

Interior finish (plank, tile).......................... 15 0.35 0.32 1958 GuideCement fiber slabs (shredded wood with Portland

cement binder) .................................... 25-27 0.50-0.53 1985 HOFCement fiber slabs (shredded wood with magnesia

oxysulfide binder)................................. 22 0.57 0.31 1965 HOF

Data for cellular glass were provided by the manufacturer in support of the development of the1993 HOF. That documentation notes two types of cellular glass, one with a mean density of 7.94lb/ft

3and a mean thermal conductivity of 0.33 Btu-in/(hft

2F), and the other with a mean density of

8.1 lb/ft3

and a mean thermal conductivity of 0.31 Btu-in/(hft2F). The latter is apparently more

common in Europe, but the properties of these products are similar enough that the mean valuesare presented in the HOF. Unfortunately, the specific test results are marked with an indicator thatthe information is part of the ASHRAE Handbook process and is for ASHRAE committee use only.It shall not be reproduced or circulated or quoted, in part or whole outside of ASHRAE activities.

Although the document is from 1990, and proprietary considerations are likely no longer a concern,


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it would still not be appropriate to cite it as a reference in the HOF, as the values were provided ona conditional basis. We can only make a generic reference refer to manufacturers data.

Data for glass-fiber board is listed in Nottage, 1947. The conductivity value is quoted in the 1958ASHVE Guide, although the density was listed as 9.5 lb/ft

3. Values for expanded rubber and

mineral fiber with resin binder are also listed in this source. Manufacturers data for expandedperlite board lists the thermal conductivity as 0.34 Btu-in/(hft

2F) at a mean temperature of 100

F, which is similar to the existing HOF value. The density from the manufacturer (Certain-TeedCorp.) is given as 9.5 - 11 lb/ft

3, which is an order of magnitude greater than the HOF value. Data

from another manufacturer (Calsilite Group) lists the density of molded perlite board as 12 lb/ft 3,with a thermal conductivity of 0.44 - 0.78 Btu-in/(hft

2F), depending on the additives used as

binders. The lower end of the Calsilite data is more representative of typical products.

Manufacturers data are presented for extruded polystyrene (XPS). These results, taken frommeasurements made on production runs, support the conductivity of 0.20 listed in the HOF,although density is not quoted. The 48 samples include roofing insulation, wall sheathing,scoreboard, and arrange of other product types. Sample thicknesses range from 0.39 to 3.11inches, and resistivity (R per inch) values range from 4.87 - 5.54 hft

2F/BTU-in. This equates to a

conductivity range of 0.181 - 0.205 Btu-in/(hft2F). Unfortunately, this is not an appropriate

reference, as it is not publicly available, so a better citation should be found, but the value appearsto be quite representative for HCFC-blown XPS. A separate reference (Booth, 1991) indicates thataged values for XPS blown with CFC or HCFC are equivalent.

The Society for the Plastics Institute provided information to ASHRAE Technical Committee 4.4 forexpanded polystyrene and unfaced polyisocyanurate in the development of the 1993 HOF. Thisinformation can be considered reasonably accurate, but the reference is not directly accessible tothe general pubic, and therefore should be replaced. The value for cellular polyisocyanurate foamwith gas-impermeable facers is taken from a large body of data based on testing of specimensfrom several different manufacturers (Sherman, 1978.).

The data for cellular phenolic insulation were provided from the manufacturer. The footnote in theHOF table notes that Cellular phenolic insulation may no longer be manufactured. The thermalconductivity and resistance values do not represent aged insulation, which may have a higherthermal conductivity and lower thermal resistance. This material was used as roofing insulation inthe 1980s, but has been phased out in North America. Nevertheless, phenolic foam insulation is

produced in China and the UK. Some US manufacturers offer a phenolic-foam product for use asa duct liner, but thermal conductivity test results are not available.

The source of the rest of these data is not known, as the Technical Committee had adopted aprotocol that did not require maintaining records of the sources of these data. Values for wet feltedmineral fiberboard first appeared in the 1967 HOF. Values for wet molded mineral fiberboard firstappeared in the 1963 HOF, but the footnote regarding the variation in insula ting value with type,size and depth of perforation first appeared in the 1967 HOF (although the same footnote appearsin the 1958 Guide, with reference to wood or cane fiberboard).

Values for wood or cane fiberboard first appeared in the 1958 ASHVE Guide, but the conductancevalues were 0.84 Btu/(hft2F) for board and 0.56 Btu/(hft2F) for board. The valuesappear to be taken from a single test. These values were not changed to the current values until

the 1977 HOF, but again it is not known what research or testing was done that resulted in arecommendation to list the new results. The values for interior finishes first appear in the 1958

ASHVE Guide.

Values for slab insulation made from shredded wood and cement are listed in the 1952 ASHVEGuide. The sources are taken from testing done at the Armour Institute of Technology (aprecursor to the Illinois Institute of Technology) and Rowley (1937). Values for Cement fiber slabs(shredded wood with magnesia oxysulfide binder) first appeared in the 1965 HOF, but the valuewas 0.55 Btu-in/(hft

2F), which does not agree with the values in the current table. The current

HOF value first appeared in the 1967 HOF.


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New Values


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Expanded polystyrene, extruded in. 1.9 0.20 0.35 IEA24 2.. 1 in. 2.4 0.16 0.35 IEA24 2............ ............... .... 1 in. 1.8 0.19 785RP 2.. 2 in. 1.7 0.19 785RP 2.. 2 in. 1.6 0.21 0.35 IEA24 2.. 1.9 0.18 0.35 IEA24 2

.. 2.4 0.15 0.35 IEA24 2.. 1.8 0.19 0.35* 1018 1Expanded polystyrene, molded beads, 1 in. 1.1 0.247 785RP 2

.............. ............... .. 1 in. 0.9 0.333 785RP 2

.............. .............. 1 in. 1.0 0.269 785RP 2

.............. .............. 1 in. 0.9 0.269 785RP 2.. 1.4 0.22 0.35 IEA24 2.. 1.6 0.23 IEA24 2.. 0.9 0.24 0.35* 1018 1

Phenolic foam board with facers, aged, 2 in. 4.1 0.12 IEA24 2.. 2 in. 4.1 0.13 IEA24 2

Polyisocyanurate, aged.. 2.1 2.3 0.14 0.18 NRCC, 2004 1.. 3 in. 1.6 0.19 0.35* 1018 1.. 2 in. 2.5 0.16 0.35 IEA24 2

with facers, aged... 2 in. 4.1 0.13 0.35 IEA24 2Perlite board 10 0.36 IEA24 2

Asbestos insulating board 45 0.76 CIBSE 1

. 47 0.83 CIBSE 1. 50 0.98 CIBSE 1. 56 1.12 CIBSE 1

Mineral wool board . 1 in. 8 0.36 NIST 2 1 in. 9 0.24 NIST 2 1 in. 14 0.29 NIST 2 1 in. 15 0.31 NIST 2 1 in. 15 0.32 NIST 2

The CIBSE reference also includes historical board insulation materials:

Honeycomb paper board, vermiculite filled. 0.69 CIBSE 1granulated cork filled. 0.55 CIBSE 1

Strawboard ... 16.2 0.59 CIBSE 1... 20.6 0.68 CIBSE 1... 21.9 0.76 CIBSE 1

Research at the National Research Council Canada (NRCC, 2004) investigated the effect of foilfacers on the long-term (aged) thermal resistance of polyisocyanurate foam insulation. A largenumber of measurements were conducted on several types of polyisocyanurate insulation,resulting in statistically valid results. These results increase the range of thermal conductivity from0.16 - 0.18 BTU/hr-ft

2-F to 0.14 - 0.18 BTU/hr-ft

2-F

Rowley and Algren (1932) reported test results for semi-rigid insulating board with a density of13.3 lb/ft3, with a thermal conductivity of 0.30 Btu-in/(hft2F). This appears to be mineral woolboard, judging by the values reported. This is consistent with NIST data (NIST, 2000) for severaldifferent specimens of mineral wool board. The NIST data show that mineral wool insulation with adensity greater than approximately 9 lb/ft

3can be considered to be board stock (lower densities

are for mineral wool batt or blanket insulation). The IEA report also includes newer values of

thermal conductivity for glass-fiber board insulation:


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Glass-fiber board insulation.. 1 in. 9.4 0.22 0.20 IEA24 2.. 2 in. 9.5 0.25 0.20 IEA24 2

Mineral fiber....................... 2 in. 9.7 0.26 0.20 IEA24 2


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Material properties of glass-fiber insulation board are also taken from several manufacturers, andare therefore generic, rather than representative of a specific manufacturers product. Thermalconductivity of the semi-rigid glass-fiber board appears to be inversely proportional to density.

Several manufacturers have provided data for a flexible elastomeric product th at is available insheets of various thicknesses, or as a preformed pipe insulation. The product is foamedpolyethylene or foamed polyolefin (depending on the manufacturer). Some data show the thermalconductivity as 0.22 0.23 Btu-in/(hft2F), but this appears to be a non-aged value. A morerepresentative value appears to be 0.29 Btu-in/(hft

2F). Several other sources were found that

cannot be used, either because they are from a single manufacturer (which would ultimatelycontravene ASHRAEs policy against commercialism) or because they are from a textbook thatdoes not properly list the source of the data, but the IEA results are an acceptable alternative.


3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Semi-rigid glass-fiber board.............. 1.6-6.0 0.22-0.28 Manufacturer 3.. 8.1 0.25 CIBSE 1

Rigid glass-fiber board........... 1-2 in. 3.0 0.23 Manufacturer 3Flexible elastomeric sheet., -1 in. 6.0 0.29 Manufacturer 3

The NIST database contains several values for cane fiberboard, based on testing conductedbetween 1932 and 1956. Densities for these specimens range from 11 to 21 lb/ft

3, with a

corresponding range of thermal conductivity from 0.32 to 0.40 Btu-in/(hft2F). The conductivity

appears to vary linearly with density.

The NIST database also contains several values for wood fiberboard, based on testing conductedbetween 1932 and 1957. Densities for these specimens range from 9.5 to 20 lb/ft

3, with a

corresponding range of thermal conductivity from 0.30 to 0.39 Btu-in/(hft2F). The conductivity

appears to vary linearly with density, according to = 0.0069 + 0.2434, where density is in lb/ft3and thermal conductivity is in BTU-in/(hr-ft

2-F). NIST also provides other values for fiberboard,

but it is not clear whether the source of these materials is wood, straw, vegetable, or cane, sothose data were not included in this study. It is also not clear whether the values for fiberboardshould appear in the table under Insulation or Wood-based building board.

Recommended Values

IEA data for glass-fiber board insulation can be used instead of the Nottage data. Booth (1991)showed that aged values for XPS blown with CFC or HCFC are equivalent, so we see no need tolist separate values for different blowing agents. The results from the IEA report encompass theresults from the 785-RP and 1018-RP projects, so a single reference could be used to show thethermal properties of all XPS samples, if a footnote is provided to indicate that conductivity isinversely proportional to density. The results from IEA and 785-RP for EPS board encompass allresults from 1018-RP and the existing HOF values, and provide a more accessible reference thanthe original SPI bulletin, so these results should be used to represent EPS.

The NRCC results encompass the existing data for unfaced polyisocyanurate. One could includethe 1018-RP results, with the same footnote on the relationship between density and thermalconductivity. IEA results for faced polyisocyanurate provide a better reference for the data, andshould be included in place of the older values, again because the data are more readily available.

For the same reason, IEA data for phenolic foam should replace the existing values. IEA testresults for mineral fiberboard are more recent, and more representative of current products, andtherefore should replace the Nottage value. For the same reason, the IEA value for perlite boardshould replace the BDC value. The values for mineral and wood or cane fiberboard (used foracoustical tile, etc.) and for cement-fiber boards should be retained, but only because there are noother values available.

Therefore, the recommended values for board insulation are:


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3Btu in/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (hft

2F) Btu/ (lbF) Type

Cellular glass........................................... 8 0.33 0.18 Manufacturer 3Glass-fiber board insulation... 10 0.22-0.28 0.20 IEA24 1Expanded rubber (rigid).......................... 4.5 0.22 0.40 Nottage 2Expanded polystyrene, extruded (smooth skin) 1.6-2.4 0.15 - 0.21 0.35 IEA24 2Expanded polystyrene, molded beads.... 0.9-1.6 0.22 - 0.27 IEA24 & 785RP 2Polyisocyanurate, aged (unfaced) .. 1.6-2.3 0.14 0.19 NRCC and 1018 1

with facers, aged............... 4 0.13 0.35 IEA24 2Phenolic foam board with facers, aged 4 0.13 IEA24 2Mineral fiberboard............................... 10 0.26 0.20 IEA24 2Mineral fiberboard, wet felted

Core or roof insulation......................... 16-17 0.34 1967 HOFAcoustical tile ...................................... 18 0.35 0.19 1967 HOFAcoustical tile ...................................... 21 0.37 1967 HOF

Mineral fiberboard, wet moldedAcoustical tile l .................................... 23 0.42 0.14 1963 HOF

Perlite board 10 0.36 IEA24 2Wood or cane fiberboard

Acoustical tile l ........................... in. 0.80 0.31 1958 GuideAcoustical tile l ........................... in. 0.53 1958 Guide

Interior finish (plank, tile).......................... 15 0.35 0.32 1958 GuideCement fiber slabs (shredded wood with Portland

cement binder) .................................... 25-27 0.50-0.53 1985 HOFCement fiber slabs (shredded wood with magnesia

oxysulfide binder)................................. 22 0.57 0.31 1965 HOF

The NIST values for cane and wood fiberboard could be presented in the table for typicaldensities, or the representative linear regressions can be presented instead of individual values.These should replace the existing values for wood or cane fiberboard (used for acoustical tile,etc.), as the current HOF values are from unknown sources

Future Work

Values for Mineral fiberboard (wet felted) and Mineral fiberboard (wet molded) (for acousticaltile, etc.) and for cement-fiber slabs are from unknown sources. Product formulations have likelychanged since 1958, and we recommend that current materials should be tested.

catalog of material thermal property data - rp905

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