Roundtable on Walls
Brendan O’Neill,
Posted
01/01/2010
MA: Why
should a builder or architect choose a metal wall system or product
as opposed to an alternative material? What are the advantages of a
metal wall?
Ian Gordon: Metal wall panels have a short history and
a rapid advance in popularity. They became available in the 1950s
with the beginning of the metal building industry for inexpensive,
utilitarian/industrial buildings. In 1965 the high-quality Kynar
paint/coating system was introduced with a 20-year warranty against
chip, fade and peel in a virtually unlimited palette of colors.
This was a dramatic improvement over the existing silicone
polyester coating system, which more readily chalked and faded, and
was available only in a limited range of pastel colors.
In the 1970s, metal building manufacturers began expanding their
metal wall panel offerings. Concealed fastener systems were
introduced in a variety of design styles, from flush panels with
butt seams for a smooth look, to a variety of corrugated shapes for
a shadowed appearance, and simulated wood, clay tile and antique
shingle patterns. By 1990 architects began to take notice of the
competitively priced, expanded range of metal wall panel styles and
colors, compared to previously accepted exterior wall materials.
Today, architects choose metal wall panels as a first or equal
option to other wall materials because of its many attributes,
including design flexibility, high strength, attractiveness, light
weight, surface reflectance characteristics, low maintenance and
longevity.
MA: What are the newest innovations in metal walls, panels
and systems (materials, coatings, finishes, insulation,
photovoltaics, 'green')? And where are the growth markets for these
products?
Gordon: Metal wall panels have had the good fortune of
adaptability to most modern building materials, designs,
sustainable and cost innovations. Ninety-five percent of the
original aluminum panels of the 1950s were replaced by steel with
the advent of higher quality coatings utilizing Kynar addatives.
Steel reduced the cost of aluminum by one-half, as well as half its
expansion/contraction factor and provided a Class A fire-rated
material, as opposed to Class C for aluminum.
Insulated metal wall panels were originally designed for
industrial, utilitarian cold storage buildings, including grocery
storage and meat processing plants. With the introduction and
popularity of sustainability today, metal wall panel cold storage
design now has begun to move into the mainstream of architectural
design to provide energy efficient, single source, premanufactured
insulated wall panel designs for more traditional building
types.
While photovoltaics are generally located on metal roofs-where they
take the sun's rays more directly-rather than walls, they can also
be used on metal wall panels. The newest thin film photovoltaic
innovation can actually be more readily applied to flush metal wall
panels than standing-seam metal roofing, where standing seams
interrupt the thin film coverage. The same color reflectivity
improvements that have meant so much to metal roofing's growing
popularity are available to improve wall surface reflectance of the
UV rays of the sun.
Brad Robeson: I really don't see a change in the base
metal used in our industry. Maybe improving the type of steel used,
but not a shift away from steel. I do think what we're going to see
in the near term is the use of acrylics covering those zinc-based
coatings to provide a longer visual appeal of the product.
MA: What role do metal wall systems and products play in the
'green' building movement?
Gordon: Sustainability is a main feature of metal wall
panels. These products meet LEED Credit 4.1 for recycled content of
30.3 percent, worth one point toward LEED building certification.
All metal wall panel colors can meet the LEED Solar Reflectance
Index for sustainable Ultra-Cool colors. Light colors meet LEED SRI
values naturally. Darker colors are reformulated to reflect the
heat carrying UV rays of the sun without altering their color.
Metal panel colors also meet LEED 7.2 Heat Island Effect, requiring
steep slope (more than 2:12) SRI value of 29 and greater, and low
slope (2:12 or less) SRI value of 78 and greater.
Mined and recycled metal cannot be specifically traced to locations
within 500 miles (800 km) of project buildings. But steel is mined
and recycled in many areas of the country and it is hoped that
USGBC at some time will approve a LEED point for metal wall panel
"proximity of manufacture" on this basis. Portable rollforming
systems, which fabricate panels on the project site, are considered
an alternate manufacturing facility. Not surprisingly, coil
materials for the local production of architectural metal panels
can be shipped much more effectively, another feature of
sustainability, than factory-formed panels.
MA: What
advancements/changes do you expect to see in the metal wall systems
and products market over the next 12 to 24 months?
Wayne Dickenson: Building codes and regulations will
continue to get more stringent. This trend began with the voluntary
LEED-NC green building rating system and will continue with the
anticipated ASHRAE 90.1-2010, which will be mandatory. As it is
currently proposed in this standard, R-values for metal framed wall
systems will increase by an average of more than 60 percent. There
will be a requirement for continuous air barriers in this standard
as well. However, R-values and continuous air barriers are just a
few of the factors that can impact the performance of a building.
That's why finding the right product, especially for a building
envelope, is so important and we're positioning ourselves to
address these demands. In 2009, our insulated metal panel sales
were up while almost everything else across the industry was down.
Our newest insulated metal plant allows us to increase our
productivity levels and improve product quality so that we can meet
these market needs while providing an attractive, high-performance
solution.
Robeson: There will be some significant technological
advances. We're seeing a lot of energy-efficiency modeling that
will require some technological investment on our part, and that's
borne by the new insulation codes that are expected.
Then you have to look at BIM or modeling for building design and
material performance. That's critical to our success from a
building side, in being able to accurately and effectively build a
building [or wall panel] that meets all the new codes and
requirements, and then be able to present that to our audience in a
way that demonstrates the effectiveness of the product.
Right now we have to bring [our insulated panels] up and prove it
in the marketplace, while at the same time drive to market our
ability-from a technological standpoint-to sell it. So it's more
than just one initiative.
Yes, it's an insulated panel with a growth initiative, but at the
same time, strategically, IT has got to be right in the middle of
that. There are design and modeling requirements that have to be in
place for us to be able to compete.
Gordon: Metal wall panels will continue to grow in
popularity due to sustainability, cost, design and longevity
features. This will be aided by the recovery from the current
recession, which will increase building material use
generally.
Metal wall panel growth is not restricted to any building type or
market. It is highly acceptable and continues to increase in
popularity for all building types. Bethlehem Steel's original
offering of unpainted, naturally aging Galvalume for farm
buildings, has further captured the imagination of architects for a
new high-tech look, from residential to commercial design.
Other traditional building types can also take advantage of the
variety of metal panel styles and colors for more interesting
design solutions than the modern design style without
ornamentation, that the general public often found cold and
uninteresting. The latest metal wall panel designs by the 2000 AIA
architect of the year, Frank Gehry, is the titanium-clad free-form
design, developed by computer aided technology, on his
groundbreaking Bilboa Museum in Spain. This may not be the design
style of the future, but it illustrates the warmth and human
interest that metal wall panel design offers.
NCI Building Systems Inc.
Houston
www.nclip.com
Berridge Manufacturing Co.
San Antonio
www.berridge.com
www.berridge.com; www.nclip.com