Continuous Insulation (CI) has been around for some time but is gaining prominence as designers seek improved thermal performance and energy efficiency. This approach not only enhances overall comfort for building occupants but also addresses environmental concerns and rising energy costs.
However, as more companies adopt Continuous Insulation, it is crucial to ensure that you receive the full benefits of a true CI system. Without proper verification, you might end up with a system that claims to be continuous but fails to deliver the expected performance.
To ensure you are specifying a genuine CI system, consider asking these two questions:
- Is the system claiming to comply with the ASHRAE 90.1 standards? If the answer is yes, you should follow-up with the next question;
- Are the required structural standoffs penetrating through the insulation? If yes, then this system is NOT ASHRAE 90.1 compliant because the stated insulation values will not be true, as the insulation does not continue across the structural members as required in the ASHRAE 90.1 standard. See image below that shows a true CI system vs a false CI system:
The R&D team at Fairview has been developing RapidWrap CI for over 18 months to provide a wall system that could meet all the needs of the construction market with unmatched thermal performance. It is fully-tested to NFPA285 and meets the ASHRAE 90.1 standards.
The other components of our wall assembly consist of our industry leading products: Arrowhead Installation Systems (Arrowhead FLEX & Arrowhead LEAN) combined with NFPA285 compliant polyiso insulation (eg, DuPont Thermax) and finished with a choice of exterior cladding panels: Vitrabond FR or Vitraplate Solid Aluminum Plate.
