HomeMy WebLinkAbout1330 Blue Spruce Dr - Correspondence/Insulation - 10/28/200705/20/2010 13:37 FAX 3037613776 ROCKY MTN CONSTRUCTION 0 001
OWENS CORNING
2280 GRASS VALLEY HWY.. #172
AUBURN, CA 95603
DAVID W. WADE
MANAGER, CODES & REGULATION
WESTERN REGION
Patricia Rothwell
Area Sales Manager
Denver, CO
W
October 26, 2007 C l
RE: PERFORMANCE OF OWENS CORNING UNFACED INSULATION IN AIR PLENUMS
Dear Customer.
This letter responds to questions sometimes asked for information supporting the use of Owens
Coming unfaced insulation in air plenums. Many mechanical ventilation systems specify
insulation in plenums for thermal and acoustical control. In these applications, insulation is often
placed directly inside air plenums or on top of a drop ceiling where the space above acts as the
plenum itself. Unfaced insulation in the "plenum" area is left exposed. This is an allowed
insulation application and meets the requirements of Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC) and the
International Mechanical Code (IMC) which call for insulation to meet Underwriter's Laboratory
(UL) Standards 181.
UL Standards 181 is directly referenced in the IMC as the performance criteria for insulation
materials in plenums. All our faced and unfaced thermal insulation complies with this standard
under UL Special Services Investigation File # R3576; this includes all product R-values and
insulation such as Select Sound and SonaBatts. Under the criteria of this test standard, our
insulation meets all the conditions for environmental degradation (mold, humidity, air borne fiber
erosion) at the test velocity of 2,500 fpm. The sole purpose of our continuous maintenance test
file with UL (#R3576) is to test a variety of insulation product types to insure their conformance to
the performance criteria UL Standards 181. This test velocity is well above plenum air stream
velocities encountered in most buildings.
I trust this information is helpful. If you have any further questions please feel free to call me.
Sincerely,
David W. Ware
Manager, Codes & Regulation
Western Region