Why is phenolic foam Better?

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When looking at phenolic foam(pt,ja,th) insulation, thermal performance is probably the most obvious place to begin; why? Because phenolic foam is simply better than every other commonly available product, and by quite a distance. Typically phenolic insulation has a thermal conductivity of around 0.025W/m.K at +10ºC, (The initial value is usually more like 0.021W/m.K for a good quality foam but this will age over the first 90 days and then stabilise) compared to to around 0.032W/m.K for glass wool at the same temperature. Does this make it a better insulation? Yes and no, thermally speaking it is certainly the superior product, but we always advocate that you need to use the right insulation for the right application. Phenolic foam is suitable for a wide range of heating and cooling applications, and as it is such an efficient product (due to the very fine cell structure) you can usually use a thinner layer of insulation to achieve the same results. This also means the material has a smaller surface area, so if you are using finishing materials such as PIB sheeting or Aluminium Cladding then you do not need to use as much.

Phenolic Foam has excellent fire performance characteristics. It is difficult to ignite, has either zero or very low flame spread and low smoke emission with a very low level of toxic gas emission. As phenolic foam is a thermoset material it will not run, melt or drip when it comes into contact with a fire source. For this reason it is capable of meeting or exceeding all international building regulation requirements. The toxic gases that are given off by phenolic foam in the event of a fire tend to be limited to either carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide with very low levels of other gases.

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Phenolic foam typically has a low water vapour permeance, thus it is highly resistant to the passage of water vapour and it also has very low water absorption characteristics. The material is also "non wicking", this means that if the vapour barrier is punctured and water or moisture that gets in will be limited to the damaged area. This means that you have a measure of damage limitation; you will have to replaced the damaged section, but it will not compromise the system as a whole.

As it is so efficient thermally speaking you can usually use a thickness below to achieve the same results as a mineral fibre product. eg You can often use 15mm Thickness Phenolic where you would have to use 20mm Thickness Mineral Fibre, which is very often the cheaper option. Typically phenolic has a temperature range of -180ºC to +120ºC, so it is not always true that you can simply substitute one for the other - which comes back to the issue of choosing the right insulation for the right application.

Another factor to consider, especially on larger installations, is whether or not you need to use any kind of facing materials on the insulation, such as PIB or Aluminium Cladding. As you can use thinner insulation, the surface area of the insulation will be less, therefore you can use less facing material which in turn saves you more money.