R-value (insulation) contain no trapped CFCs or HFCs (e.g., half-pound low density foams). On certain brands, twenty-year tests have shown no shrinkage or reduction in insulating value. This has led to controversy as how to rate the insulation of these products. Many manufacturers will rate the R-value at the time of manufacture; critics argue that a more fair assessment would be its settled value. The foam industry adopted the LTTR (Long-Term Thermal Resistance) method, which rates the R-value based on a 15-year weighted average. However, the LTTR effectively provides only an eight-year aged R-value, short in the scale of a building that
R-value (insulation) kelvin (W/m²K). This means that the higher the U-value the worse the thermal performance of the building envelope. A low U-value usually indicates high levels of insulation. They are useful as it is a way of predicting the composite behavior of an entire building element rather than relying on the properties of individual materials. In most countries the properties of specific materials (such as insulation) are indicated by the thermal conductivity, sometimes called a k-value or lambda-value (lowercase λ). The thermal conductivity (k-value) is the ability of a material to conduct heat; hence, the lower the k-value, the better the