GBA Logo horizontal Facebook LinkedIn Email Pinterest Twitter Instagram YouTube Icon Navigation Search Icon Main Search Icon Video Play Icon Plus Icon Minus Icon Picture icon Hamburger Icon Close Icon Sorted

Community and Q&A

Mineral Wool Insulation

John Brooks| Posted inEnergy Efficiency and Durabilityon

What are the upsides and downsides?
How much does it cost?
How difficult is it to install?
Why is it not used more often?
Where is it usually manufactured (region of country)?
Moisture storage?
Thermal mass? Vapor permeability?
Fire safety?
Always Blown-in .. or Batts or sheet goods?
Off-gasing?

GBA Prime

Join the leading community of building science experts

Become a GBA Prime member and get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.

Replies

  1. Riversong||#1

    Google.com

  2. John Brooks||#2

    Let me rephrase...I have noticed it seems to be used more widely in Europe.. yet seems rare here.
    I am curious if anyone here at GBA has used it.
    maybe I should have only asked "what are the upsides and downsides"

  3. Riversong||#3

    In the broadest sense, mineral wool insulation includes fiberglass, fibered rock and fibered blast-furnace slag. But we generally use the term mineral wool for the latter two.

    I suspect the reason it has not seen the popularity in residential construction in the US that it has in the British empire is the power of fiberglass industry advertising. It is, however, widely used in commercial and industrial applications because of its high heat tolerance, fire-resistive and acoustic properties.

    It is more dense and has a higher R-value per inch than fiberglass and though it has about half the embodied energy per pound as fiberglass, it has about the the same EE per R because of its greater density.

    It's greater density, however, makes it a better acoustical barrier than fiberglass and more impermeable to both fire and air movement. It's vapor permeance is about the same as fiberglass.

    It can be used as loose-fill, as batts, or as dense boards for foundation insulation/drainage. The batts are 98% inorganic material with the remainder a thermosetting resin binder and oil (the binder, like with fiberglass, may contain phenol formaldehyde). And, as with fiberglass, airborn fibers may be a health threat.

    I believe it is generally more expensive than fiberglass.

Log in or create an account to post an answer.

Community

Recent Questions and Replies

  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |