In steel building construction, insulation addresses 2 important goals: stabilizing the structure’s interior temperature and preventing moisture from entering or condensing between the outside and inside walls.
There are four popular types of insulation materials for steel buildings and each material has varying costs as well as benefits including: reflective foil, fiberglass, mineral wool insulation materials, and insulated panels. What kind of material is the best to insulate a steel building? The answer depends on whether the characteristics of the material should match with the building’s shape, size, geographic location, and the building’s intended use.
Reflective Foil
Reflective foil insulation is ideal for hot weather and tropical climate, and is mostly used in roofs and walls. It’s designed to reflect heat radiation by a reflective and waterproof surface. Such thermal foil insulation is typically made from aluminum, fibers and polyethylene bubbles. It also comes combined with bulk insulation like glass wool or rock wool batts to create a composite type insulation, which insulates against heat transfer through convection and conduction too. Reflective foil insulation can be more expensive to purchase, but it’s very light, clean and easy to install.
Based on industry characteristic is cold storage, ATAD installed reflective foil insulation for both roof and side wall in Satra Cold Storage project.
Fiberglass
As the most popular insulation, fiberglass is made of very thin glass fibers which are lightweight, cost-effective, and practical option for both residential and commercial applications. However, fiberglass is easy to irritate your skin; we should wear protective clothing when installation. Moreover, it will also attract rodents, birds, and nesting bugs because of the soft batting fiberglass material and its ability to absorb moisture. To solve this problem, fiberglass is generally sold with a protective facing.
Mineral wool insulation materials
Mineral wool insulation materials are made of stone and possess very favorable properties within fire resistance, moisture repellent and sound insulation. Moreover, mineral wool insulation materials are an inorganic material so they won’t also attract rodents, birds, and nesting bugs
Insulated Panels
Insulated panels consist of 2 steel panels bonded to an insulating foam core between them. This is one of the more expensive ways on initial investment to insulate a steel building. In terms of long-term operation, they are very economical by great insulation, simple maintenance and long life.
Source: http://www.aerolaminsulations.com
https://www.whirlwindsteel.com
