16 are sealed about the periphery of the vacuum insulating panel with a heat sealing process or ultrasonic welding the core material 12 is encased in the membrane films 14 and 16 with an open end 18 left along one edge through which air can be evacuated to draw a vacuum according to an exemplary embodiment shown in fig3 the insulation panel 10 is then placed in a flexible vacuum assembly 20 the vacuum assembly 20 comprises a flexible vacuum bag 22 that receives the insulation panel 10 a vacuum pump assembly 24 to evacuate the air from inside the vacuum bag 22 and a sealing mechanism 26 disposed inside the vacuum bag 22 the vacuum bag 22 is configured to be large enough to completely surround the insulation panel 10 and the sealing mechanism 26 but small enough to limit the interior volume of the bag 22 and the amount of air that must be evacuated from the interior of the bag 22 the bag 22 is larger than the vacuum insulation panel 10 and sealing mechanism 26 e g 10 15 larger to allow the bag 22 to conform to the shape of the insulation panel 10 and sealing mechanism 26 as the air inside the bag 22 is evacuated the bag 22 is formed from a flexible material that is relatively impermeable to air e g polyurethane vinyl silicone nylon polyvinyl acetate polyethylene rubber a rubber or polymer coated fabric a laminate of several different films etc the vacuum.