Expert Analysis Writer: Brandon Kinsey, district sales manager at CENTRIA

Exceeding Expectations: The All-In-One Wall System

The building envelope – and how it is constructed and installed – has substantial impact on any structure’s appearance and its long-term performance. Architects, designers, builders, installers, and other construction stakeholders must take a variety of factors into account when deciding on a building envelope solution – aesthetic impact and curb appeal, installation requirements, construction schedules, energy efficiency throughout the life of the building, and durability against the elements.

It begins in the design process.

Insufficient air barrier detailing often occurs at transitions in wall materials, roofing, or windows. The lack or misplacement of an air barrier allows for thermal bridging through window framing, insulated glass units, components, or sub framing.

Even a perfectly designed multi-component wall system will look and perform only as well as those who install it. The variables are nearly endless – laborers who do not possess the requisite skills, workers that are not properly trained or supervised, or lack of coordination on the job site amongst multiple trades. Taken together, this means that installation errors can heavily impact a building’s longevity.

When a barrier fails, who is responsible? The architect? The contractor? The installer?  

When insulated metal panels (IMPs) are specified as the all-in-one wall system for a building envelope, many of these variables are eliminated. IMPs are built to integrate seamlessly with any materials, increasing building performance and aesthetics.

Built to Perform

A traditional wall system is typically comprised of stud framing, air and vapor barriers, rigid insulation, and the exterior cladding component. For the most part, these multi-component systems require a high level of detail, leaving room for performance setbacks. IMPs do not need a backup wall assembly to keep air, water, or vapor out. IMPs are an all-in-one wall system, comprised of two steel skins and a liner that that are typically G-90 galvanized. Rigid foam insulation binds the two sheets of metal together. Integrated components withIMP systems maximize thermal and moisture protection with engineered, pressure-equalized joinery, concealed sealants, and a built-in vapor barrier.

The backside of an IMP liner is a metal G-90 liner that is typically a 26-gauge panel, forming an effective air barrier that is then married into a non-skinning butyl for complete adhesion of the air barrier. The continuous water barrier, a rainscreen, is on the exterior side of the panel. With the help of a slope joinery, the water will hit the panel and simply drain downward.

Insulation value is a driving factor for architects and building owners to consider specifying IMPs for a project. The insulation value varies based on the thickness of the panel. Typically, architectural IMPs are manufactured with polyisocyanurate, which helps IMPs hold an R-value of R-7 per inch. Compared to other commonly used insulation materials like mineral wool, IMPs guarantee almost double the R-value that can be assigned to the building envelope.

Insulated metal panels can be made one of two ways – laminated or foam-in-place.

With laminated IMPs, the manufacturing process begins with taking the exterior sheet and roll forming it into the desired shape followed by the same process on the liner side. Then, workers take a board stock insulation and glue it to the steel skins to laminate the three pieces together. Laminated panels are best reserved for customized applications.  

Foam-in-place panels have the liner and face sheet rolled in place with a liquid-applied foam to fill the gaps between the two sheets. The process creates a superior bond, filling all voids and producing excellent panel flatness.

Meeting the Standard

Architects. contractors, building owners, and installers are under pressure to ensure today’s buildings are sustainable and energy efficient. When specifying building products, the first question often on a project manager’s mind is: How well will it perform? When it comes to specifying the right product for a facade, the design team weighs a variety of factors, including building usage, location, energy efficiency, thermal performance, costs and more.

IMPs can contribute to energy performance and recycled content credits for a project, including LEED certification. IMPs are manufactured using highly recyclable steel, meaning the product can be made of up to 90% recycled content. The use of an electric arc furnace (EAF) is a more sustainable method for steelmaking as they emit fewer pollutants and greenhouse gases, reducing the environmental footprint.

Today, many building material manufacturers are pushing toward overall carbon footprint reduction, with many aiming for net zero emissions. How are architects and manufacturers making a difference?

Specifying insulated metal panels (IMPs) for a project preserves an architect’s flexibility in terms of design and performance, while also providing a wide range of sustainability benefits.

The Desired Look and Feel

With every project, architects and designers are consistently seeking products that will help them deliver the look and feel they envision on paper. While performance is a top consideration when building or renovating a space, a project team has a variety of factors to consider: Is the material weather resistant? Is it available in the desired colors? Will it require constant maintenance to retain its look? How will the exterior meet the desired vision?

Insulated metal panels meet the demands of not only performance but also unlimited design freedom for architects. When thinking about IMPs, often a plain, flat panel comes to mind. With today’s IMPs, a wide variety of colors, profiles, lengths, and widths are available that can help bring any architect’s vision to life. The versatility of the panels allows designers to create multiple styles and looks that can be integrated across the building envelope.

Simplifying the Process

Construction stakeholders of every kind are under constant pressure to finish a job as quickly and efficiently as possible. Multi-component building envelope systems require the coordination of multiple trades for installation, which can often expand a project timeline and involve additional costs. With an integrated component system such as an IMP, a construction manager writes one contract for the full building envelope, condensing the contracting process. With one installer for wall panels, windows, louvers, accent fins and sunshades, there is less liability and a simpler installation schedule. Rather than coordinate multiple trades on site, the building can be enclosed with a single installer.

In addition, utilizing IMPs means fewer structural supports are needed, which is crucial to long-lasting appearance. The panels can span long distances while maintaining and increasing building enclosure durability due to the multi-layer design. This saves costs on materials and simplifies building engineering.  

Consider the case for the Hyatt Regency in Salt Lake City. The 26-story, 700- room hotel needed to accommodate a busy, tight urban location with limited places to stage equipment and materials. This required a fast-paced construction schedule. Designers needed a material that could be installed quickly while also integrating with the glass curtainwall. IMPs fit the bill on all fronts – labor reduction, ease of installation, and ability to integrate.

Integration Made Easy

IMPs integrate seamlessly into windows, sunshades, louvers, and daylighting to deliver a seamless, high-performance building envelope. Window joinery is fully engineered to integrate with the metal panel joinery, eliminating the need for receptor extrusions and exposed sealants.  The thermal performance of a typical window is significantly less than one that is fully integrated at the window head. The fully integrated window system also provides a clean façade with no extra flashings, maintaining the architect’s desired look.

Sunshades can be used to significantly reduce building heat gain from solar radiation, while maintaining opportunities for daylighting, views, and natural ventilation. If the shading is from an internal device, solar gain through a window can be reduced up to 80%, increasing energy efficiency, and lowering cooling costs for the building.

Making the Case-St. Josephs Candler Hospital

Saint Joseph’s/Candlers (SJ/C) Hospital in Savannah, Georgia is comprised of two of the longest-standing hospitals in the United States. The building needed a facelift, including a building envelope solution that eliminated water intrusion, provided wind resistance, and thermal efficiency.

The upgrade also had to be handled in a way that would not interrupt hospital operations, enabling the facility to continue providing care. With an insulated metal panel system and integrated windows, the new facade accommodated an accelerated construction schedule that enabled care to continue. In addition, the IMPs seamlessly integrated with the new windows. The detailed intersections and edges of the insulated metal panel system brought a new level of integration to the project.

Specifying a Simpler Solution

Consider the following when selecting insulated metal panels: ease of detailing, long-term weathertightness, and enhanced energy efficiency. IMPs can accommodate high-quality views, daylighting, and ventilation, integrating directly with joinery of the panels.  By eliminating the need for detailing component/wall interfaces, IMPs simplify and accelerate the construction process while providing virtually unlimited design freedom.            

From the contractor managing the job to the installers, the building owners, and eventual inhabitants of the structure, the entire project team benefits from designing with IMPs. IMPS have grown to be the faces of sports arenas, office buildings, healthcare facilities, schools, museums, and more. No matter the market, insulated metal panels are an all-in-one cladding solution for architectural, commercial, and institutional markets.

Expert Analysis Writer: Brandon Kinsey, district sales manager at CENTRIA

The Best Solution for Efficiency and Sustainability  

When designing a new building or planning to retrofit an existing structure, architects and specifiers have a wide array of building envelope options. On every project and in every situation, the driving forces include operational efficiency, ease of installation, and overall aesthetic impact. With such an equation, there is one system that vaults to the top: Insulated metal panel (IMP) systems with integrated components.

Consider the benefits:

• Long-term performance: IMP systems with integrated components maximize thermal and moisture protection with engineered, pressure-equalized joinery, concealed sealants, and a built-in vapor barrier. IMP-integrated windows eliminate receptor extrusions and exposed sealants, maintaining structural integrity. An integrated component includes windows, louvers, or sunshades engineered to fit into the same joinery of the metal panel, delivering a seamless building envelope.

• A seamless appearance: Integrated components eliminate flashing typically needed around an opening in a wall. For a non-integrated window, flashing would be required to create the opening before installing the window. This process results in less clean detailing, adds sight lines to the elevation, and potentially adds the use of sealant that can become a maintenance problem.

• Energy efficiency: In addition, integrated components are thermally improved systems with thermal breaks engineered into the products. The window systems are highly efficient, thereby achieving cost savings for building owners. An integrated window is more thermally efficient than a standard window, saving on energy consumption and heating and cooling costs. For designs utilizing sunshades, solar heat gain is reduced in the summer to cool the building interior, and in the winter with the sun lower in the sky, it can improve heat gain.

        When considering product lifespan and the end use, integrated components remain a leading option. Most windows, louvers, and sunshades are made of aluminum, making them 100 percent recyclable at the end of their life span.

Simplifying the Building Process   

In today’s construction market, there is a shortage of labor and an endless list of projects to complete. Specifying an integrated component system means a construction manager writes one contract for the full building envelope, condensing the contracting process. With one installer for wall panels, windows, louvers, and sunshades, there is less liability and a simpler installation schedule. Rather than coordinate multiple crews on site, one installer can enclose the entire structure at once.

When installing integrated components, the support system that holds up the system is crucial to the long-lasting appearance. Utilizing IMPs means fewer structure supports are needed. The panels can span long distances while maintaining and increasing building enclosure durability due to the multilayer design. This saves costs on materials and simplifies building engineering.

Further, integrated systems can be a warranted system for the installer. Weather testing can be done on the system as a whole – IMPs and integrated components – and deliver a wall system that performs optimally with similar joinery. This translates to long-term confidence in system performance for all stakeholders.

Case in Point: Loma Linda University Medical Center  

Loma Linda University Medical Center in Murrieta, California, is among the top 15 percent of medical schools. When designing a new facility, it was imperative to reflect this excellence and deliver a first-class healthcare center.

One goal of the hospital’s renovation and expansion was to enhance the teaching program. The building’s height and color reflect its standing in the community and its healing mission. Designers planned for windows that would flood the buildings with bright, natural light off the vibrant, white facade to create a positive and healing environment for patients and visitors.

Integrated IMP and window systems helped the project team to create a dramatic aesthetic without sacrificing performance. The high-performing insulated metal panels integrated with windows to eliminate the potential for error in coordination of systems and thermal breaks. In addition, installing the entire building enclosure as one system allowed the project team to keep on track for the two-year construction timeline. 

The Road to Full Integration 

While the integrated component is not new to the industry, the demand for an energy-efficient and time-efficient system for the building envelope remains high. From schools to office buildings, research and development facilities to healthcare centers, design teams are readily embracing the benefits of integrated components. When they do, they provide value to everyone in the chain – the contractor managing the job, the installers, the building owners, and eventual inhabitants of the structure.

Expert Analysis Writer: Brian Finnegan, District Sales Manager at CENTRIA

Preferred Performance, Appealing Aesthetics

How the Evolution of IMPs Can Bring a Design Vision to Life

When selecting materials for any building project, architects and designers have a vision in their mind’s eye of what the building will look like when it is completed. That means they are constantly searching for products that will help them achieve the desired impact. Among the questions they ask themselves: How will the façade help create a signature for the resulting structure, telegraphing its mission and purpose? How will the materials for the exterior walls take what is on paper or in a diagram and deliver it in real life?

Those same architects must factor in all the key criteria when it comes to performance: protection from the elements, durability over the long haul, and energy efficiency.

To make that vision a reality, designers and architects hand over the controls to contractors and installers, who face ever-increasing pressure to deliver on time and on budget. One of the key value propositions for these construction professionals is ease of installation, which drives efficiencies.

Insulated metal panels (IMPs) are engineered to deliver results on both fronts – aesthetics, and performance.

IMPs have evolved in how they are utilized for the façade. Years ago, they were often specified for a more rudimentary structure such as a rectangular storage facility. Today, they have helped to transform the faces of sports arenas, office buildings, healthcare facilities, schools, museums, and more. A product that was once offered in limited colors, profiles, and finishes can now be customized to meet the most specific designs. Panels can be fabricated thinner than any other exterior product to achieve any face, sharpness, or appearance while still achieving the performance advantages of other materials.

Taken together, this means that choosing IMPs for a project preserves the design freedom architects seek, and it also opens the door to a wide range of benefits for those charged with constructing the building. It is an all-in-one cladding solution for architectural, commercial, and industrial buildings.

Eliminate Complexity: The Single-Component Solution

Traditionally, if a building’s barrier fails, the air barrier is the first weakness to be detected. This is due to multiple product layers, which leave room for gaps, failing to achieve that continuous barrier to eliminate breaches. In a single component, IMPs provide thermal, air, water, and vapor protection. Offering a metal air barrier that is impervious to moisture and vapor creates the perfect barrier solution for commercial buildings.

Beyond protection from the air and the elements, today’s buildings must meet stringent energy performance codes. The façade – and the materials selected for that outer layer – are a critical component of this equation.  Insulated metal panels provide continuous insulation, and they do so in a thinner profile. The strength of metal panels combined with the panel’s structural foam core promise a durable building façade that is resistant to conditions in all climates and environments.

By using recyclable materials to manufacture panels, IMPs become 100% recyclable products, which can contribute to LEED credits for a project, something that is increasingly desirable. IMPs also come with finishes that are engineered for a reduced carbon footprint, maximum solar reflectance, and thermal resistance.  

An Eye on Design

With increased performance comes greater design flexibility. By providing the same look as thinner materials, IMPs allow architects to specify each color, finish, profile, and application that is best suited for each design. IMPs are available in vivid, fade-resistant color, with incredible durability and environmentally friendly cool technology.

Consider the case of the Monument Arena in Rapids City, South Dakota, a 250,000-square-foot facility for several local teams and for entertainment. It seats 12,500 spectators. The design team aimed to provide the community and surrounding region with a facility that was functional, visually appealing, and accessible. Specifiers for the project had additional conditions to meet. The arena was publicly funded, which meant the contractor had a guaranteed maximum price for The Monument and needed to ensure first-time quality for any materials selected. Contractors installed 25,000 square of IMP panels in colors that complemented the beautiful natural environment where the arena was located, ensuring that the facility would make a statement with its new look. 

Integration: Making it Seamless

Integration of materials and profiles is an important consideration when it comes to designing a building. IMPs provide benefits in this arena as well.

An IMP’s ability to integrate with doors, windows, louvers and more represents a unique advantage over other materials. IMPs can seamlessly merge glass curtainwalls, metal, masonry, or stone. For products with a more intricate design, IMPs can go in between different materials or behind those materials to carry out the designated design. A wide variety of colors, profiles, lengths, and widths can help bring any architect’s vision to life by allowing for multiple styles and looks to be integrated into different parts of a building.  

The façade of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Phoenix Outpatient Clinic in Phoenix, AZ, offers the perfect example of IMPs that can deliver on aesthetics and the need for integration with other materials. The facility offers comprehensive care to veteran patients and is one of the largest VA facilities ever built. Designers of the facility had achieved great success by specifying IMPs for the facades of other such facilities and did the same for the new Phoenix clinic. This included ones that created flat, flush walls for the entryway. The panels seamlessly integrated with glass panels and served as a feature to welcome patients into the center.

Installation and Durability

Compared to a traditional rainscreen product, IMPs deliver significant benefits to time and cost savings on installation. Specifying an IMP replaces all other components for installing the building envelope. Depending on the location and climate, there are factors where efficient construction is hard to achieve thanks to conditions such as cold temperatures, high winds, and heavy rain. Compared to other materials, IMPs can be a quick fix. By requiring only one pass around the building, installing IMPs save on coordination of trades, reducing time that crews spend on a construction site. This can lead to lower costs.

When it comes to durability, IMPs deliver as well. Traditional single-skin panels with a thinner profile will begin to bow in extreme heat, creating a wavy or distorted look. However, with an IMP, the steel is adhered to a foam core to make the panel thicker. The stress from a fastener that often causes distortion of a panel is greatly reduced or even eliminated with an IMP. Concealed fasteners attach to the entire assembly rather than a single layer of steel.

The Smart Choice for Aesthetics and Performance

When building or renovating a space, architects and designers have a host of factors to consider for the materials of the façade. Does it create the desired look and feel that will set the building apart and give it curb appeal? Is the material durable and resistant to the elements and long-term wear and tear? Will it require constant maintenance to retain its look? And is it a product that will produce long-term benefits when it comes to energy efficiency and sustainability?

IMPs create the ideal formula for countless advantages to designers, architects, contractors, and installers – design freedom, verifiable credentials when it comes to performance, and easy-to-calculate savings on time and money on the job site.