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Ship Configurations and Insulation Design /
Application
by
Gordon H. Hart, P.E., Artek, Inc.
Pat Fulton, Silencing Ocean Systems
Gerald Cox, Performance Contracting, Inc.

Abstract

Since their early development, the construction and outfitting of steel vessels have presented a unique challenge to
the insulation designer in ensuring comfort and quality insulation treatments. The drive to make large commercial
and military sea-going vessels lighter, faster, and stronger invariably contributes to complexities of stiffening
members, compartmentalization, and system integration. In so doing, the designer must first balance the cost of
thermal insulation treatments against several competing factors: the capacity of heating and cooling equipment, the
cost of this equipment, and the cost of energy per unit time to meet thermal requirements.
In the past, the US
shipbuilding industry has relied on a fixed table of maximum allowable thermal transmittance values, or U values,
to determine the thickness of insulation for particular configurations. In this paper, the authors show that these U
values are inadequate, in comparison to current standards for the use of thermal insulation on walls and envelopes
in building construction, and that a selective increase in insulati on thicknesses used on ships can reduce the weight
of fuel and equipment for space heating and cooling. The authors also propose that the insulation designer be
encouraged to incorporate different methods of estimating heat flows given specific environmental conditions and
stiffener configurations compared with long-held industry standards. These methods include computer-assisted
Finite Element Analysis, recognition of varying extreme conditions, and actual stiffener configurations that
contribute to thermal flows.
With these changes, the insulation systems for US built ships could be improved thermally, the total ship weight
could be reduced, and the insulation systems could be installed more quickly, thereby reducing the cost of
construction.

Introduction

The steel boundaries
of ocean going ships are thermally insulated for basically the same reasons we insulate the envelopes of any
habitable structure: to reduce energy use for space heating and cooling, to provide an acceptable thermal
environment for occupants, to prevent moisture condensation on the interior surfaces, to protect against the spread
of fire, and / or to protect stored goods and materials and, in some instances, insulation is required to mitigate noise
migration for occupants.
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The piping and mechanical equipment on ships are insulated for many of the same reasons: to reduce process or
HVAC related energy use, to reduce loads on mechanical equipment, to provide personnel protection, and / or to
reduce noise.
Increasingly, we insulate systems to reduce quantities of emissions and thereby reduce the adverse impact on the
environment.

For over 40 years the American ship construction industry has relied on a document first published by the Society
of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) in 1963 for the selection of structural insulation thicknesses.
While thermal insulation standards in residential, commercial buildings, and industrial environments have changed
dramatically in those 40 years due to both significantly higher energy prices and to a greater understanding of
insulation performance, those standards for the American marine industry have not changed.

This paper will review the thermal requirements for marine insulation on ship boundaries, the methodology for
determining insulation thicknesses, some of the problems associated with using previously prescribed thicknesses,
and then make recommendations for changes.

Reasons for Insulating Ships Shells, Bulkheads, and
Decks

From the perspective of requirements for thermal insulation, a ship can be compared to an entire community
comprised of different types of structures.
There is insulation for the thermal envelopes, which separates indoors from outdoors, such as one would see in
houses or commercial buildings.
There is also mechanical insulation on piping and air handling ducts, such as one might see in a typical commercial
building, as well as insulation for fire proofing and fire barriers and for noise reduction. Finally, there is
mechanical insulation such as one might see at an industrial facility such as an electric power generating plant.

Crewmembers occupy or work in a variety of areas aboard ship. Whether living spaces, cargo spaces, or
workspaces, the various compartments within a ship need to meet certain acceptable criteria for either human
comfort or for acceptable working conditions. To maintain inside air temperatures within an acceptable range,
heating and cooling systems must be designed in combination with thermal insulation systems. In stowage spaces,
maintaining air temperatures and moisture levels within predetermined limits often protect cargos. In machinery and
equipment spaces, temperatures and moisture levels must likewise be kept within acceptable limits. Frequently,
within a ship, one cargo space or mechanical equipment space may need to be kept at a different temperature than
an adjacent space, requiring structural insulation to thermally separate the compartments.

The shell boundaries and decks of ships are critical paths of heat flow. They separate the interior, temperature and
humidity conditioned space from the outside weather and sea conditions. Parts of the hull above water are exposed
to ambient air, and the parts below water, exposed to the ocean water. For the portions of the hull that are below
water level, because the water temperature can be much lower than the inside air temperature and because the heat
transfer coefficient from water is much greater than for air, insulation must both limit heat loss to the water and
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prevent moisture condensation on the cold steel surfaces. Heat transfer through a ships shell is most extreme
where shell plate stiffeners act as heat transfer fins which, if not adequately insulated, significantly increase the
overall heat transmission. The heat flow through these interfaces is one of the focal points of this paper. The
typical minimum design outdoor air temperature for heating conditions is 0 F; the typical maximum design exterior
surface for cooling conditions is 135 - 155
F, values which account for a combination of both a hot air temperature and strong incident solar radiation.

In a stationary environment, such as a shore side structure, the ambient conditions typically change over the course
of a year, with the expected ambient conditions depending on both location and time of year. In the case of a ship,
traveling the globe to different climatic conditions those ambient conditions are in a constant state of change
affected by both location of the ship and time of year. A modern ships envelope and heating and cooling systems
must be designed for the extremes of those ambient conditions.

Shipboard generator units, usually diesel driven, are typically used to generate electricity on a ship. This electricity
is used to power both resistance space heaters as well as vapor-compression air-cooling systems. A ships electrical
generating load capacity is a primary concern in the design and operation of any vessel. That capacity is always
one of the critical factors of a ships performance specifications. These diesel generators, of course, require diesel
fuel to operate, and this fuel must be carried within the ship, adding to the total weight of the ship. Furthermore, the
diesel generators must be sized adequately to provide sufficient electrical power for both cold conditions, in polar
or artic zones of the earth, and hot conditions in the tropics. The greater the heating and cooling load, the larger the
generators and the greater the amount of diesel fuel, the greater the added weight to the overall weight of the ship.
In the ship construction industry, weight limitation is a very important design consideration. Therefore, there
should be a strong, inverse relationship between the amount and location of installed thermal insulation and the
total combined weight of the diesel generators and the diesel fuel to power them. This inverse relationship is an
extremely important issue that cannot be overemphasized.

Scantling Effects

Scantling and plate stiffener configuration greatly affect heat flows and heating and cooling loads. Modern ships
are structurally reinforced with a variety of stiffeners. To provide an effective thermal envelope, one with a low
U value, the thermal insulation must be placed against the steel boundaries and around the steel stiffeners, facing
the conditioned space. Figures 1 and 2 show uninsulated and insulated stiffeners. When conditions warrant, the
industry attempts to design the insulation for the unstiffened side of an internal bulkhead since that surface is planar
and hence easier to insulate.

To understand the heat transmittance through a complex steel boundary, we must consider the relationship between
a number of variables.
These include the thickness of the plate, the distance between stiffeners, the depth, thickness, and configuration of
the stiffeners, the insulating value of the insulation and its appl ied thickness on both the plane and stiffened
surfaces.
Each of these factors must be examined and accounted for in the determination of a composite U value for each
assembly or boundary.

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Figure 1: A close-up of a partially insulated stiffener on the hull of a ship.

Figure 2: A view of several stiffeners on a ship, some having been insulated and some waiting to be insulated.
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.
Historical Insulation Treatment

The standard thermal insulation material used for exposed structural boundaries such as the shell, bulkheads, and
decks is referred to as hull board or Navy Board. The standard military specification for thermal insulation
material for US Navy vessels hulls is MIL-I-742. This is a semi-flexible, nominal 2.8-lbs/ft
3
fibrous glass wool
board with 3.0% organic binder content.
These boards are typically faced with a heavy-duty, very durable, coated, woven fiberglass cloth, or reinforced
Mylar facing.
Standard practice requires that this product be installed on the ship hulls using weld pins, washers, and / or drive-on
caps. A typical shell boundary is shown in the extract from a contemporary midship section, Figure 3A. Shell
stiffening on modern ships often utilize extensive bulb plate stringers. For structural reasons, based on ship
vibration, weld pins are typically installed with 12 to 18 inch spacing and no more than 6 inches from the edge of a
board.
A matching woven glass fiber tape is applied over the facing joint of two adjoining boards and at all corners and
thermal edges.

As illustrated here, common sizes for shell longitudinal stiffeners run from 260 x 12 mm to 300 x 13 mm bulb plate.
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While there are options available in the selection of thermal insulation on a typical ship, this paper is going to focus
on the insulation criteria and methodology for the selection and installation of semi-rigid fibrous glass insulation
boards on structural boundaries such as the ships hull or shell, bulkheads, and decks.

SNAME Technical and Research Bulletin 4-7 (1963)

The standard for determining hull insulation thicknesses, for both US built commercial vessels and Navy ships built
to commercial standards, is given in Reference 1: SNAME Technical & Research Bulletin 4-7, Thermal Insulation
Report (hereafter referred to simply as SNAME 4-7). The data contained in this publication was generated by a
series of thermal tests that were conducted to determine insulation performance in combination with
two-dimensional angle stiffeners.
This paper challenges that basic premise and the applicability of SNAME 4-7 to todays ship construction. Many
boundaries on todays ships are stiffened with bulb type stiffeners, which create differing heat flow for similar
insulation thickness.
Additionally, the authors believe that the maximum allowable thermal transmittance values set forth in the SNAME
4-7 are too high to permit efficient space heating and cooling given current and future costs of energy.
In SNAME 4-7, the thermal requirements for hulls, bulkheads, and decks are given in terms of maximum allowable
thermal transmittance values, or U values. Insulation thicknesses are then derived from those values. These
maximum allowable U values are given in the SNAME document in a Table 2 titled Temperature differences
versus U factors. This table is shown below:

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Table 2 from the SNAME Technical & Research Bulletin 4-7:
Temperature Differences vs. U Values
Temperature Differences ( F)
Maximum U values
(Btu/hr - ft
2
- F)

0 to 15 1.75
16 to 30 0.37
31 to 50 0.26
Over 50 0.16

To use this table to determine hull insulation thickness, one must first be given the design Temperature Difference
for the particular section of insulation.
Using other tables in the research report, he then determines the Surface Coefficient values for the particular air
temperature difference, direction of airflow, and location of the air film. He then determines the thickness using
still another set of tables, based on those thermal tests conducted in the early 1960s, which account for additional
heat loss due to the presence of the rib stiffeners.
These insulation thickness tables go on for many pages, with different sets for insulation thickness and choices for
direction of heat flow, winter or summer conditions, and boundary conditions (inside air to outside air, inside air to
sea water, inside air to inside air).
The tables are based on 36 stiffener spacings for angle stiffeners measuring 6 x 4. Since there are numerous
other stiffener spacings, angle stiffener sizes, and stiffener designs used in ship construction, this gives the reader an
insight into the difficulties of using these tables for insulation thickness determination. There are, in fact, other
tables for additional stiffener spacings than 36 in the SNAME document and these can be used to adjust the U
values obtained from the insulation thickness tables.
However, because they are premised on a single size of a single angle type of stiffener, they cannot account
accurately for the U values for the wide variety of stiffener design variables found in the decks, bulkhead
assemblies, and other thermal boundaries encountered even within one ship.

A Practical Example

For example, to illustrate a design problem, let us say that we are considering a portion of the hull that separates
heated inside air at 60 from cold outside air at 0 during the Winter Conditions, giving a design Temperature
Difference of 60 F. In this instance, there is no lining separating the hull from the indoor air. So, the Table 2
above shows our maximum U value allowed, for a Temperature Difference for over 50, of 0.16 (at this point, the
units are understood and will not be repeated).
From experience, we know that the ends of the angle stiffeners will have to be covered with insulation; it will not
be enough to simply insulate the plane surfaces of the hull. We flip through the pages of tables looking for the
configuration just described.
On page 76, Table 17, Type 52, we find one that meets the maximum U value allowable of 0.16 (see Attachment
1 for a reproduction of this page).
For Horizontal Heat flow, Winter conditions, for Inside Air to Weather Air, with 2 of insulation board on the
hull and 1 completely over the angle stiffeners, the table gives us a U value of 0.131. Now, the shipbuilder may
consider that he could save some material and labor by not insulating the angle stiffeners to that degree. However,
if he were to leave the stiffeners uninsulated, this would obviousl y result in a higher U value for that assembly.
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To determine the attendant U value, one would look on the same page at Type 50, which has the same 2 on
insulation board on the hull but none on the angle stiffener. There, he can see that his U value would be 0.326, a
value that greatly exceeds 0.16.
Therefore, for this set of design conditions, the contractor will have to insulate the angle stiffeners as well as the flat
surfaces between the stiffeners to reduce the U value below 0.16.

As an example of heat that flows through stiffeners, the following extraction from SNAME 4-7 illustrates the heat
mitigation value of insulation covering the stiffener:

Note that the heat transmittance (U-value) decreases more than 57 % with the introduction of insulation covering
the entire stiffener.
It can also be recognized that heat flows primarily through stiffener members of the ships structure.

For those who are accustomed to using computer programs such as 3E-Plus, this SNAME 4-7 methodology is
reminiscent of how things used to be done in the design-engineering world. We would remind the reader, however,
that this SNAME 4-7 document, while dated, is incredibly comprehensive and detailed for the subject matter it is
addressing, namely two-dimensional heat transfer through a combination of steel and fibrous glass board insulation,
with two fluid boundary conditions.
The most practical way to improve on this methodology with modern technology is with Finite Element Analysis
(FEA), a heat transfer methodology for which there are very few practitioners in the insulation industry. Further,
while it is commendable that this SNAME 4-7 methodology takes account for two-dimensional system thermal
performance, it does not allow for variations in system design that might provide an equal thermal performance with
either less insulation or with a less labor-intensive application. Therefore, FEA may be the only way we can
improve on this SNAME 4-7 methodology (note that 3E-Plus will not do the job accurately since it assumes
one-dimensional heat transfer and therefore cannot account for heat transfer through the two-dimensional angle
stiffeners).

Returning to the SNAME 4-7 document Table 2 above, one needs to ask whether these maximum allowable U
values are adequate for todays energy costs and practices. A U value of 0.16 is equivalent to a system R value
of 1 / 0.16 =6.25 F-hr-ft
2
/ Btu.
Many of us are accustomed to seeing R value recommendations, such as from the Department of Energy, for
insulating walls and ceilings of houses.
These are not always system R values; rather, they are typically limited to those portions without doors and
windows and without considering the effects of studs. So, for a comparison, let us consider a cold climate location
such as central Indiana , which has 5700 Heating Degree Days. There, DOE insulation calculator
2
recommends, for
a wood-framed house with natural gas heating, that attic ceiling insulation have an R value of 49 and the above
ground walls have a combination of R-5 sheathing and R-13 between the studs, for a total R value through the
insulation of R-18.
Taking a cursory look at this one example using the DOE standard calculator, one can see that the insulation
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requirements for the Navy ships, per the SNAME 4-7 document, are significantly less. We might need insulation
thicknesses on the order of 6 inches or so to achieve the same R values typically installed in house walls in cold
climates.
So, it would appear that the SNAME 4-7 thickness requirements, essentially given in Table 2, have not kept pace
with todays insulation practices.

Another consideration is with the assumptions behind the SNAME 4-7 design methodology. The issues that skew
the thermal performance of stiffened, insulated boundaries are the spacing and the configuration of the stiffeners.
The data in SNAME 4-7 is based on using angle stiffeners measuring 6 x 4. Tests, conducted more than four
decades ago and using 4 x 3 x thick angle stiffeners, were used to validate the tables. These angle stiffeners
no longer predominate.
Stronger steel is now used in ship construction and the stiffener design has changed: ships are increasingly
constructed with bulb stiffeners.
Figure 4 below is a photograph showing, side by side, both a 4 x 3 x angle stiffener and a 240 mm x 10 mm
(9.45 x 0.39) bulb stiffener.
While the same basic heat transfer and insulation issues confront us, the design is different and so the assumptions,
upon which the SNAME 4-7 design methodology is based, are no longer valid. Because of this, we have a choice:
either conduct a whole new set of heat loss tests such as were done over 40 years ago, using the new bulb stiffener
design, or have an engineer, skilled in the use of a FEA heat transfer computer program, model these new stiffener
configurations and perform analyses to find solutions for particular design problems.



Figure 4: A photograph of a 240 mm x 10 mm bulb stiffener currently used compared to a previously common 4 x 3 x angle
stiffener.
Note that the larger bulb stiffener, while obviously stronger, would also result in increased heat transfer from the ambient to the
conditioned ship interior without additional insulation.
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Why there is a need for insulation improvements

While a cursory comparison to DOE recommendations for home building insulation thicknesses makes the SNAME
4-7 requirements look inadequate, an ocean going vessel is not a house. We need to look in more depth at energy
use on a ship to determine what hull insulation actually does.

The space air heating energy on a ship is provided by electrical resistance heat. Diesel generators generate the
electricity with an operating efficiency of about 40% (i.e., the ratio of electrical energy generated to the energy
content of the diesel fuel burned).
To generate a kilowatt-hour of electrical energy then, one can compute the amount of diesel fuel that must be
burned.
Assuming a diesel fuel content of 19,000 Btu / lb, calculations show that about 1.2 lbs. of diesel fuel, or about 1/5
th
of a gallon, is needed to generate each kilowatt-hour of electricity. For electric resistance space heating, we can
safely assume 100% conversion of electrical energy to heat.

For the purposes of an example, let us assume that we have insulated the above water portion of the hull with the
solution found above from the SNAME 4-7 Table 17: 2 of hull board insulation over the hull and 1 of hull board
over the angle stiffeners, an insulation configuration which we saw provides a U value of 0.131. Let us further
assume that a ship travels for a month between refueling stops and that it experiences heating season conditions
with an average indoor to outdoor temperature difference of 40 F. Under these circumstances, calculations show
during that month, each 1000 square foot of hull surface area would require about 180 gallons of diesel fuel.
Assuming a price of $1.12 per gallon for diesel fuel, the monthly fuel cost would be about $200 per 1000 square
feet of hull for space heating. Is this expensive?
That would depend on the ship itself and on the duration of its operation between refueling stops.

Now, to determine whether it might be worthwhile to better insulate the hull, let us propose using 4 of hull board
insulation, instead of 2, but still with 1 on the angle stiffeners. According to Table 19, page 94, of the SNAME
4-7 document, that insulation system would provide a U value of 0.065, about half the 0.131 U value with 2
hull board thickness and Inside Air to Weather Air, horizontal heat flow (see Attachments 1 and 2). Calculations
then show that this 2 additional insulation thickness would of course add weight, about 470 pounds of weight per
1000 square feet of surface area, but would reduce the diesel fuel use by half, on a square foot basis. That is, the
monthly use of 1,370 pounds of diesel fuel consumed per 1000 square foot could be cut in half, to 680 pounds of
diesel fuel per 1000 square foot, just by doubling the thickness of the insulation board, only adding 470 pounds per
1000 square feet of thermal insulation!
That represents a monthly weight payback savings of 220 pounds per 1000 square feet

of surface area. Further,
the monthly cost of the diesel fuel saved would be about $95 per 1000 square foot simply considering the value of
the reduced use of diesel fuel.
So, in summary, the 2 of added insulation board would significantly reduce the weight and reduce operating cost
of the ship in just one month of operation in one of the earths more extreme climatic zones.

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It is important to note that the reduction in heating and cooling loads, resulting from the use of thicker hull board
insulation, could also reduce equipment weight and equipment cost. That is, the size of the diesel generators and
the size of the cooling units could consequently be reduced. That, in turn, would reduce weight and reduce first
cost of constructing the ship, in spite of the thicker hull board i nsulation.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to perform detailed calculations for weight reductions achievable by using
smaller diesel generators.
However, as an example, a 21,600 kW marine style diesel generator from a particular manufacturer is listed on his
Web site as having a weight of 264 metric tons.
If that same manufacturers 14,400 kW diesel generator, which is listed as having a weight of 190 metric tons,
could replace this larger one, then the overall ship weight could be reduced by 74 metric tons. This is a significant
weight reduction.

FEA Modeling As A Tool

Structural finite element analysis (FEA) modeling is a design tool increasingly used by the shipbuilding industry to
analyze steel stress and fatigue through similar steel mesh modeling techniques as used to analyze heat flows.
Naval architects can design and test their structural models against simulated extreme sea conditions with the aid of
computers.
Similarly, and with similar levels of confidence, insulation designers can design and test expected heat flows, using
thermal FEA models, given input environmental and ship conditions to arrive at proper insulation thicknesses.
Given the connectivity between heat flow and structural design, the insulation designer must insulate what the naval
architect designs. He can do this using FEA modeling. It is a powerful tool that can greatly assist both the structural
designer and the insulation designer in the determination of proper ship design.


Regardless of the maximum U value requirements in Table 2 of the SNAME 4-7 document, the US ship building
industry, the US Navy, and other owners and constructors of ships could also benefit from FEA modeling of heat
loss or gain through the insulated hulls, bulkheads, decks, and other surfaces with the heavier scantlings. The
benefit of doing this would be to obtain more accurate and representative results. FEA modeling provides more
accurate overall material and surface temperatures from which system U values can be calculated. Figure 5
below shows the results of one FEA on a bulb stiffener surrounded with hull board (for a 70 F indoor temperature
and a 13 F outside weather temperature):
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Figure 5: FEA temperature profile for a 370 mm bulb stiffener with 3 inches of hull board on the plane surface and
2 inches of insulation on bulb under 70 F indoor air, winter conditions with 13 F outdoor air, and horizo ntal heat
transfer.

The advantage
of FEA modeling, such as was done for the above case in Figure 5, is that different insulation thicknesses, different
bulb sizes and spacings, and different indoor and ambient conditions can be evaluated with essentially the same
model. This makes FEA modeling an extremely powerful design tool. It also allows us to derive a more accurate
U value for a particular ship bulkhead construction.

Conclusions and Recommendations

For over 40 years, the US
shipbuilding industry has relied on, or been influenced by, the same standard for designing insulation systems for
ships structural boundaries, bulkheads, and decks. Shipbuilding and design engineers have relied on a document,
SNAME Technical & Research Bulletin 4-7: Thermal Insulation Report, for this standard. While this document
represents excellent research for its time, insulation practices in the United States have made major advancements in
those 40 years, thereby leaving the SNAME 4-7 U values inadequate for todays thermal insulation guidelines.
Further, given the shipbuilding industrys concern for reducing shi p weight, the inadequate thermal requirements
result in excess weight and cost of consumption for diesel fuel, as well as excessive costs for over-sized diesel
generators, and for over-sized mechanical HVAC equipment. Finally, in recent years, the US shipbuilding industry
has changed to more robust scantling practices
and consequently changed the predominant stiffener design from angle type to a bulb type. This brings application
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of the results and recommendations in SNAME into serious question.

These authors strongly recommend that the US
shipbuilding industry undertake a new project to evaluate and revise the maximum allowable U values for hulls,
bulkheads, and decks.
This undertaking should include considerations for minimization of overall ship weight, not just insulation weight,
allowing tradeoffs between insulation weight increases on the one hand and weight savings for fuel and mechanical
equipment on the other hand.
The development of new U values should also include considerations for minimization of fuel cost and labor to
install thermal insulation.
Finally, these authors recommend the writing of a specification for marine insulation that encourages the use of
FEA to evaluate different insulation strategies.

References:

Technical & Research Bulletin 4-7, Thermal Insulation Report, The Society of Naval Architects and Marine
Engineers, 1963.
1.
United States Department of Energy Insulation Fact Sheet, R-Value Recommendations, available on the
Internet through the Web address: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+wal ls/insulation/ins_16.html
2.

Attachments:

1. A copy of page 76, Table 17 with 2 of insulation, from Reference 1.
2. A copy of page 94, Table 19, with 4 of insulation, from Reference 1.
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3.
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