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Committee Days 2007

A Special Luncheon Presentation

Be one of the first to get a sneak peek at the NIA-designed online Mechanical Insulation Design Guide (MIDG) for commercial and industrial applications. This guide will be housed on the Whole Building Design Guide website (www.wbdg.org), which is a project of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). It will be a comprehensive, Internet-based resource to assist specifiers and other insulation end users in the design and specification of mechanical insulation systems for a wide range of applications.

The National Mechanical Insulation Committee (NMIC) for Building and Industrial Applications, which is chaired by NIA, has successfully brought together government agencies, private industry, and other organizations concerned with the design, installation, and maintenance of mechanical insulation. The NMIC has worked to develop the MIDG, with funding being shared equally between government agencies through NIBS and industry through NIA. The following organizations were represented in the NMIC:

• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
• Architectural Computer Services Inc. (ARCOM-Masterspec)
• General Services Administration (GSA)
• Midwest Insulation Contractors Association (MICA)
• National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS)
• National Insulation Association (NIA)
• North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA)
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
• United States Department of Energy (DOE)
• United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
• United States Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC)

This high-priority project has been a focus of the Foundation for the past 2 years. The special luncheon presentation on Wednesday, November 7, will walk you through the guide and how it will be used.

As the name implies, the MIDG is primarily intended to help designers, specifiers, facility owners, and other insulation end users determine the proper types of insulation for the specific needs of their projects. The engineering design process is generally divided into a number of phases along these lines:

• Identify the need or define the problem.
• Gather pertinent information.
• Identify possible solutions.
• Analyze and select a solution.
• Communicate the solution.

For an insulation design project, these phases could be expanded and restated as follows:

• Identify the design objectives. (Why insulate?)
• Identify what is to be insulated. (What?)
• Identify the location and appropriate ambient design conditions. (Where?)
• Identify the materials and systems available. (How?)
• Analyze and determine the acceptable solutions. (How much?)
• Write the specification. (How to?)

So for insulation, the design process boils down to answering these basic questions: Why insulate? What? Where? How? How much? How to?

The MIDG is organized to help answer these questions. It is divided into the following five sections:

• Design Objectives (Why, What, and Where?)
• Materials and Systems (How?)
• Installation (How?)
• Design Data (How much?)
• Resources (Where?)

Mechanical insulation is important to facility operations and manufacturing processes, and is often overlooked and undervalued. However, the development of the MIDG is a great step toward increasing knowledge and awareness, and providing education to end users who need their insulation questions answered.

Don’t miss this informative luncheon presentation at the 2007 Committee Days meeting. Expect to learn, take advantage of networking opportunities with your peers, become more informed about the industry, and see why NIA is and always will be the voice of the commercial and industrial insulation industry.