Vacuum insulating glass or other such vacuum insulating material may be provided with a first plate and a second plate that are arranged in mutually opposed fashion so as to straddle therebetween a space of a gap that is a vacuum layer. The first plate may have, in order of lamination from the exterior, a first electrically conductive layer, and a first charged insulator. The second plate may have, in order of lamination from the exterior, a second electrically conductive layer, and a second charged insulator which is charged with charge of the same polarity as the first charged insulator. A repulsive force that is a Coulomb force which acts between the first charged insulator and the second charged insulator may substantially balance and counteract a tendency of ambient atmospheric pressure to reduce the length of the gap between the first plate and the second plate.