Types of Insulation

Cellulose insulation. The word cellulose comes from the French word cellule, for a living cell, and glucose, which is sugar. Building insulation is low-thermal-conductivity material used to reduce building heat loss and gain, and reduce noise transmission.

Fiberglass (or fibreglass; "Fiberglas" is a trademarked brand name) is a type of fiber-reinforced plastic where the reinforcement fiber is specifically glass fiber. The glass fiber may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet (called a chopped strand mat), or woven into a fabric.

Mineral wool is also known as mineral fiber, mineral cotton, mineral fibre, man-made mineral fibre (MMMF), and man-made vitreous fiber (MMVF). The nomenclature of these wool products is simply the parent/raw material name in prefix to "wool". Specific mineral wool products are stone wool and slag wool.

The word Styrofoam™ is often used to describe expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam; however, ‘Styrofoam’ is actually a trademarked term for closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam made for thermal insulation and craft applications. EPS foam is the correct term for any form of expanded polystyrene.

Polyurethane is formed by mixing an isocyanate, such as methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI)with a polyol blend. These components are mixed to form a rigid, cellular foam matrix. The resulting material is an extremely lightweight polymer with superior insulating properties.