This application makes reference to U.S. Pat. No. 8,291,660 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,635,823.
Roofs and walls of a building or structure must deal with various environmental and interior building factors such as heat and cold insulation, proper venting and moisture control. The design of the roof and wall systems needs to be structurally sound while providing for a habitable temperature living space. Structural Insulating Panels or SIPS and nail base panels have been used in building's roof and wall construction for many years. Customarily SIPS are constructed by having rigid foam insulation board sandwiched between plywood and oriented strand board (OSB) panels. Nail base panels are usually constructed with plywood or OSB adhered to just one side of rigid foam. Traditional SIPS are used in new building construction and nail base panels used in retrofit or remodeling structures. The rigid foam give heat and cold insulation while the plywood or OSB provides a surface for siding, roofing or other materials to be applied.
Foam insulation board is usually made up of extruded or pressed sheets made of expanded polystyrene (EPS), extended polystyrene (XPS), and polyisocyanurate (polyiso). Rigid foam board insulation provide high R-value with minimum thickness; low weight allows for easier installation and shipping cost; energy required to produce polystyrene foam insulation is 24 percent less than the energy required to make the equivalent R-value of fiberglass insulation (green product); high resistance to mold.
There are three sources of heat that affect the ability of a building structure's insulation to control heat transfer. The “insulation” or heat and cold control of the temperature controlled space may be broadened to include dealing with moisture.
Convective heat transfer is the movement of air either naturally as in where hot air rises displacing the cold air (moves the cold air down), or the mechanical convection when air is physically moved such as by a fan. Convective heat movement accounts for about 15 to 20% of heat loss/transfer (air leakage) through exterior walls.
Conductive heat is the transfer of heat energy from one object by touch to another object. Thermal bridging of solid studs in a wall is an example of conductive heat loss bridging between external face covering to interior wall covering.
Radiant heat is the absorption of radiant energy emitted by a heated object. Approximately 60 to 75% of total heat transfer in a residence or building occurs through radiation, can be as much as 90% heat gain in the attic/ceiling in the summer time.
Improper venting and moisture control can impact the ability of the wall or roof system to control heat (insulation saturation with moisture and collapse) and to maintain the structural integrity of the building (rot, decay, or insects). Moisture control and drainage in the exterior wall is critical in certain applications such as brick and stucco where there may be through face leakage.
Radiant reflective material, usually an aluminized or aluminum foil material, has been more significantly applied to many building construction material surfaces such as roof and wall sheathing, fibrous blanket and foam insulation board. The radiant reflective surface can be effective in reflecting a significant amount of radiant heat if the reflective surface faces the source of the radiant heat and there is an approximately a ¾ inch air space between the reflective surface and another surface. Conversely, if the radiant reflective surface, or sometimes called a radiant barrier, faces away from the radiated heat and there is at least a ¾ inch air space between the radiant barriers reflective surface and another object, the radiant heat will not be radiated beyond the reflective surface, the radiant barrier has a low emissivity.
But most of the radiant reflective insulation on the market today does not address one of the major requirements for an effective radiant barrier. One of the problems or inefficiencies of many of the radiant barrier applications is that when reflective surfaces of the foil engage another surface, such as the fiberglass of an adjacent insulation blanket or the adjacent gypsum foam board or other wall structure, such as siding, the radiant barrier surface loses a considerable amount, if not all, of the radiant barriers ability reflect back or not radiate radiant heat (effective low emissivity).
Another problem with the use a radiant barrier surface on combination with other insulation materials is that the surface should become dirty from an accumulation of dust, trash, fibers, vapors, etc., the reflective sheet loses its ability to reflect back or not emit radiant heat. There needs to be a protective covering spaced apart from the radiant barrier reflective surface.
Briefly described, the present invention comprises an economical and effective heat and cold insulating and venting assembly including structural insulating style panels (SIPS) and nail base style insulation assemblies that can also assist in insulating the structure from radiation heat transfer through walls, roofs or in other radiant barrier applications. The insulating and venting assembly's unique configuration either keeps radiant heat from penetrating through the roof or wall, or vents out the conduction generated heat. The SIP and nail base insulation assemblies' configurations can also be very effective in moisture venting.
The SIP style configuration and nail base insulating assembly of the application is similar to a traditional SIP and nail base insulating assembly except the rigid insulating foam is in an air and moisture venting pattern made up of columns or air spacers and open spaces between the rigid foam and the top plywood, OSB or other panel that allows air and moisture to be vented through the assembly's air spaces to the next adjoining assembly's air spaces and then able to be vented out the roof or wall.
The second embodiment of the Application invention is to have radiant barrier reflective material either applied on the surface of the rigid foam air spaces or on the underside of the panel(s) that is in contact with the air spacer columns. The spacers are also designed where a small portion of the spacer touches the reflective surface allowing the majority of the surface to effectively reflect radiant heat back upward if the radiant barrier surface is applied to the upward foam surface or not radiate radiant head downward if the radiant barrier aluminized or foil surface is placed on the interior face of the top rigid panel such as OSB, plywood or other composition panel. When the air spacers touch the radiant barrier reflective/low emissivity surface or when the radiant barrier reflective/low emissivity surface is too close to the air spacer surface, approximately ¼ inch or closer, heat is transferred by conduction from the radiant barrier reflective/low emissivity surface to the air spacer. The convective air movement within the air spaces picks up much of the conductive transferred heat and vents the heated air out the air spaces. The result is that the unique configuration of the insulating and venting assembly allows a substantial amount of radiant heat broadcast on the roof or wall is either kept above or on the roof, or exterior wall line, or conduction heat transferred to the air spacers and air space surfaces can be convectively vented through the air spaces.
The panel covering the venting foam helps protect the reflective surfaces of the reflective sheet from the accumulation of dirt, dust, insulation fiber, vapor and other things that would occlude or diminish the reflective or emissivity properties of the reflective surface of the radiant barrier.
The air spaces of the insulating and venting assembly can also be used, in conjunction with effective radiant heat reflection or low emissivity, to vent air and to allow moisture to be removed or evaporated. This can be very useful in geographic areas where there are high levels of exterior moisture and warm temperatures or in colder areas with varying interior/exterior temperatures and moisture levels. If moisture is not controlled then rot, interior wall freezing, mold, mildew and other complications can occur including reduction in insulation effectiveness. In some applications, such is in hip roofs and roof valleys, the insulating and venting assembly may have to be slightly modified or air spacer rigid foam removed to create an air space for continuous venting up or through the roof.
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