Roundtable on Insulation:
Metal Architecture asked three industry insiders for their perspectives on the insulation industry and their opinions on the issues facing this market segment now and in the
Brendan O’Neill,
Posted
05/01/2010
MA:
Why should a metal building specifier choose one type of insulation
over another?
Mike McLain, General Manager, Bay Insulation: There are
several critical issues that must be considered before making this
decision. What is and/or what might be the "end use" of the
structure? Will it be conditioned, semiheated, unconditioned or a
low energy building space. Each of these conditions as well as the
geographic location of the structure will determine the thermal
performance requirements of the building envelope. The performance
requirements of the roof and wall envelope will determine the
various solutions that are available and applicable. These
solutions each have their own features and benefits the least of
which is satisfying the code and standard requirements. Other
features regarding economy, installation, appearance and durability
are also considerations.
Dan
Harkins, CEO, Thermal Design: Design build contractors and
architects should first determine what the most economic energy
design is for a particular building and use. Nearly 100 percent of
the time,maximizing the installed thermal performance utilizing
fiberglass insulation is the best and least expensive option. This
is easy to do with structural member depths of eight to 10 inches
in depth.
Any system that creates the space for the inexpensive fiberglass
insulation to fully expand and isolates the conductive metal
framing members from the conditioned space will perform well. The
direct result of achieving good insulation performance is about a
50 to 60 percent savings in HVAC equipment, gas piping, wiring
circuits, etc. Bright white colors also result in 25 percent or
more savings in lighting equipment, wiring and lighting energy use,
which often are the largest energy use in metal buildings.
Generally, upon careful analysis, the savings of HVAC, lighting
equipment, wiring, etc. offset most or all of the added cost to
insulate properly to the higher level.
Blaine
Bancks, LEED AP, High-R Insulation Systems: The biggest
question is, 'what's the intended use for the building?' If it's
going to be a cooler for flowers or something like that, you're
going to have to have a building envelope that is well insulated.
If the space is semi-conditioned for dry storage, then you can do
minimal insulation. But that's why you have to choose different
systems-it depends on what you're doing with the space.
MA: What are the newest innovations in insulation for
metal buildings?
McLain: The newest innovation is thinking of insulation as
potentially having an impact on the structural design of the
building in particular when it comes to secondary bracing details
and techniques.Consideration must be given to provide larger
unencumbered spaces to install more material and assure expected
levels of recovery in order to optimize cost and performance.
Insulation is all about saving energy. A metal building with a
standing seam roof that is properly insulated with an integral
daylighting solution will provide the owner and occupant with years
of reliable service that will offer an innovative solution to the
performance expectations that exist today and well into the
future.
Harkins: Innovations in insulation systems and
products are products that provide multiple functions and warrant
the installed performances. Single products not only provide
thermal insulation, but also provide finishes, light reflectivity,
acoustical absorption, installation safety, high quality vapor
barriers, air infiltration barriers and reinforce the structural
systems of the building's roof and wall systems. Often, the
synergistic benefits come at little added cost and typically result
insignificant collateral system savings. It is not unusual for
superior energy efficient buildings to actually cost less to build
than the energy obsolete designs. It is all about informed design.
The sum of the cheapest components is NOT the lowest cost building
to build, own and use. People that think this is the case are doing
a great disservice to their customers and are building energy
obsolete buildings, needlessly polluting the earth.
Bancks: Spray foam is not brand new. Cellulose or
fiberglass is not brand new. What we're seeing is the hybrid
systems. For example, we do spray foam; we do different systems
beyond High-R. I think the newest innovation is to use the whole
'buffet' of products out there. I know everyone is concentrated on
sustainability,but it's all about energy savings; the best
management of resources. There are a lot of different things you
can do now, where it used to be, 'Oh, you want fiberglass? Or, oh,
you want cellulose?' And that's what you got for the whole thing,
along with the advantages of that system-and the disadvantages.
Just because you chose a single system. Today, you can mix and
match different systems, and our guys can do it all. I don't think
there are any real innovations; it's just the way they're being
used.
MA: Where are the growth markets for
insulation?
McLain: Insulation can no longer be evaluated as a
stand-alone component of the building. Its role must be
re-evaluated and challenged to do more than provide a thermal
barrier, it must also be used to reduce or eliminate random air
infiltration.
Harkins: Growth for insulation in metal buildings lies
in simply changing outdated design practice from 'the sum of the
cheapest components' to the 'lowest cost of ownership.' This change
requires designers to consider the optimal performance of the
entire building and include energy cost. Maximizing the installed
performance of envelope insulation is the foundation of all
energy-efficient metal buildings. Surprisingly, the savings from
correctly designed HVAC, lighting, wiring, service sizes, finishes,
etc.typically more than offset the added cost of properly
insulating. If contractors are not installing eight inches or more
of 'inplace insulation thickness' in the roofs and walls of their
conditioned buildings, they are likely producing an energy-obsolete
building design.
Bancks: Retrofit. What we're seeing is that with the
codification changes, here in Iowa there's a big push for fire
stations, etc.-anything municipal-and they're having a contest for
who can be the most energy-efficient, and that includes upgrading a
building's insulation. With the economy, I've seen it where a
building was foreclosed-it was an old lumber yard-and these new
owners are coming into this metal building with not a stitch of
insulation and having High-R put in there, and it's going to be
climate controlled to be a distribution center for some pretty
high-dollar products. The intended use changes, and because they
bought it fora song, along with the rebate money out there with the
local utilities, it makes financial sense to retrofit these
buildings, and that includes upgrading the insulation.
MA: What affect will the new codes and regulations have
on insulation for metal buildings in the near future?
McLain: In terms of the next few years there will certainly
be a higher level of demand placed on the thermal performance of
all but the low energy building spaces.
Harkins: New codes and regulations will essentially
correct the overstated performance of obsolete methods which have
been grossly misrepresented as to their installed performances by
industry in the past. Nearly every conditioned metal building that
has been constructed since commercial energy codes have been
enacted due to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 do not meet the
thermal performance intent of the energy codes because of incorrect
modeling and non-representative thermal performance testing. Most
of these false performance values are being corrected in the new
energy standards and dependent codes. Any methods that continue to
be misrepresented will not go unchallenged by parties interested in
honest representations of all products. The effect of the
correction of the performance values of various methods will be a
paradigm shift from obsolete methodologies to methods and products
that actually perform as represented.
The paradigm shift is that compressed insulation will not meet new
minimum thermal performance requirements and new methods must be
employed that actually perform.
Bancks: ASHRAE wants to change a lot. They don't just
want to take a step; they want to take a leap. That was all
supposed to be finalized this past January and it looks like
they're backing off on some of their loftier requirements-some of
it is unrealistic. You can only go so far. I think there has been
some careful consideration by people in the metal building industry
and insulation, working together to have a realistic approach to
what the code should be. We can always improve, but to say in
another five years was want another 20 percent-I don't think it can
be done. The best time to do it right is the initial time. You can
go back and retrofit some things, but not everything, and not
cost-effectively. The new codes are making insulation a very
important aspect of metal buildings.
MA: What advancements do you expect to see in the
insulation market over the next year or two?
McLain: The 2010 ASHRAE standards will be published and
adopted across the country and be the basis of many commercial
energy codes. However, the adoption of every aspect of the
standards will probably continue to meet with mixed results when
comparing state to state. Some states will take a more aggressive
posture, others not. Currently five different releases of the
ASHARE standards are in play across the country.
Harkins: Major changes will take place in the
insulation market and the entire metal building industry as the new
energy codes move requirements beyond the capabilities of the
traditional products and methods. Also there will be more
accountability in the installed performance mandated which will
create major consequences for designers and contractors that do not
produce conforming installed systems. Existing traditional methods
of insulating metal buildings have been proven to perform
significantly less than advertised, and they have not met the
intended minimum thermal performance requirements of existing
energy conservation codes. Building permits will likely not be
issued in the near future for buildings using those traditional
methods and products. Building owners will refuse to pay for their
buildings if they do not at least get one that meets the minimum
code requirements. It is not known at this time how the millions of
buildings will be fixed that have the poorly performing,
misrepresented products used in them.
Bancks: The energy thing will not go away. Alternative
energy is important- I think we are going to have alternate
sources, but still, whether you use wind or oil, you want to be as
efficient as possible because there's still that cost of
production, delivery, etc. The energy issue is going to be here
from here on in. We're going through the 'awareness' phase, and
soon we're going to change from awareness to 'implementation.' I
think you're going to see people implement the technology that's
available as far as insulating a building-whether it's metal, wood
or masonry-to be more energy efficient. It's all going to adhere to
the new codes which will raise the bar. And it will make spaces
better for the occupants, so I think it's a win-win and it will be
improved in the long-term.
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