Thermal energy loss
is one of the largest drains and expense in a building
owner’s budget.
Insulation materials have remained
quite consistent with pricing over the past few years
while energy costs are soaring. This makes re-insulating
a viable, quite attractive investment for the building
owner and user. Danny Wirth President of Building Outlet
Corp a national supplier of insulation products states
“It is all about the cost of ownership, employees
comfort and payback of the initial re insulating
investment through the savings of energy costs.
Adding additional insulation to any
climate controlled environment will pay for itself, it
is just a matter of how soon. Owners may need help in
this area This is our area of expertise or they can use
a simplified energy calculator found in our web site
www.metalbuildinginsulation.com to compare the benefits
in terms of cost with using different R-values for their
particular building size. Additional paybacks are
achieved through taking advantage of the IRS tax credits
offered by the government through the year 2007 when
upgrading the energy efficiency for a commercial
building.”
At Building Outlet
Corp over 50% of their Vinyl faced fiber glass
insulation volume on a national level goes into a metal
building Retro-fit application. “In the past Building
Outlet Corp only supplied Fiber Glass insulation for new
construction and now some of our largest projects are
existing facilities. With access to over 400 installers
and 50 different laminating and shipping points
nationally for laminated fiber glass products we are in
a position to meet the expected industry wide boom over
the next 2 years for re- insulating existing metal
buildings. The building owner can take measures for
increasing the
efficiency of the building
with HVAC and insulation up grades or basically he can
pay the utility company the rest of his life.”Adding
additional insulation to an existing metal building does
not require technical or skilled labor. In other words
it is not a hard to understand process but patience
helps to get a quality finished look. It does require
the proper equipment and safety gear as required from
OSSA. Heights are dangerous so make sure you are
adhering to all the regulations.
CHOOSING YOUR FIBER
GLASS BLANKET SIZES The key is to hold the
insulation blankets up in the cavity between the
purlins. The most common method of adding insulation to
a METAL BUILDING ROOF is the “banding System”. Typically
the metal building purlins are 60” or 5’ apart. In these
cases a 5’wide fiber glass blanket is standard. For
purlin spaces that are custom or random our blankets are
factory pre- cut to fit the existing purlin spacing
prior to the lamination of the vinyl facing.
All rolls are then labeled
with the sizes to help insure that the sizes are placed
in the proper space. The factory pre-cut roll length is
then determined usually by the spacing of the bays or
the distance between the rigid frames. Steel bands 1”
wide (depending on the supplier) are screwed to the
under side of the metal purlin 30” apart creating a grid
system in the roof. The purlin depth can vary with 8”
being the most common. The factory pre-cut rolls are
then fed through, above the steel bands through the
length of the bay. This can be a relatively easy process
and can turn challenging when the roof area is not open,
full of mechanical, electrical or other obstacles. In
these cases shorter length blankets are recommended with
taping of the seams for a finished look.
CHOOSING A FACING Your
facing is the material (white or black vinyl or
polypropylene) used as the finished vapor barrier cover
which is laminated to and over the fiber glass blankets.
The most common facing is WMP-VR-R which is a vinyl
reinforced product. Up grades are available for
increased durability and strength. For instance to go to
a WMP-50 facing which is twice as strong it is only
about 4 cents additional per sq foot.
TABS The tab is the
extension of the vinyl facing past the fiber glass
blanket which in retro-fit is usually 3” on each side.
This tab is either tucked up along the side of the
fiberglass acting like a trim or used to cover the
bottom of the purlin. If it is glued it can then be
considered a vapor barrier. To prevent additional heat
transfer a 2” wide strip of rigid board acting as
thermal blocks can be fastened at the bottom of each
purlin along the entire length of the building.
WALL INSTALLATION
is much like the roof. The girt spacing will vary for
the different eave heights and wind loads in a metal
building. Typically the first girt is 7’4” above the
floor with the additional girt spacing being 6’ or less.
When the spacing is less than 6’ we factory pre-cut the
roll width and length to the proper size then laminate
the fiber glass and label as wall and the location which
it is to be installed similar to the roof. For the first
girt area of 7’4” the blankets are install up and down.
A base angle must be installed at the floor the
perimeter of the insulated area.
This base angle will provide
a attachment point for the steel banding running
vertical at the base as well as a place to help seal the
bottom and help prevent the fiber glass from being in
contact with moisture. A common option available from
our company is a taped tab. This is a tab or extension
of the facing which covers the base or a seam where 2
pieces of insulation come together. This tab has a
factory pre-applied adhesive (double faced tape) which
the installer peals paper off to stick once the
insulation is in place. This makes it easy to seal the
seams.
STICK PIN INSTALLATION
A common retro fit installation for the (clean steel surfaces) walls utilizes a “stick pin” that is glued onto the steel panel surface then used as a hanger for the insulation blankets.
Once the insulation blankets are installed over the stick pin a friction washer is placed over the pin to keep the insulation in place. The pointed pin tips are then cut off with a wire cutter. They should be cover in areas that will be subject to human traffic because they may have sharp edges. You sort of get a quilted look.
To determine the quantity of pins take the total sq foot area that is to be insulated x 65%. This will give you the pin quantity. The cost of pins will vary for the length (insulation thickness) but for budget purposes you can use 16 cents each plus $40.00 per gallon of glue which will supply up to 1000 pins.
COSTS
Insulation materials such as R-19 faced with vinyl
facing can be purchased depending on the facing, at less
than .60 cents per sq foot. The steel banding and
accessories would be additional. While the installation
through an insulation installer can run an additional $1
to $1.75 per sq foot for clean unobstructed interiors,
buildings with a lot of obstacles, unclean such as
foundries or other manufacturing are difficult to
estimate. In sever cases you are better off to remove
the siding or roof to install the new insulation
package.
