The Advantages of an IMP Roof
CASE STUDY: ROOFING SOLUTION FOR KVCC FOOD INNOVATION CENTER
Photo courtesy of Centria
The insulated metal roofing panels on the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Food Innovation Building in Kalamazoo, Michigan, were installed to create the building’s overall silhouette with the added bonus of thermal and moisture efficiency.
When Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) received 13.5 acres of land in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, donated by Bronson Healthcare Group, the idea emerged to use the space to advance urban revitalization and promote community health, workforce development, and sustainability. The Healthy Living Campus included three buildings, one of which would be dedicated to food innovation and sustainable food education.
The Food Innovation Building was constructed in response to the rising popularity and interest in food-growing simulations. It promotes technological advances in food growth and wellness with hands-on greenhouse work and research. The building houses four distinct training areas: a food education space, an indoor growing space, outdoor growing area, and processing area.
Construction of the facility was executed in collaboration with the City of Kalamazoo, Bronson Healthcare Group, the Department of Environmental Equality, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), so the architect TowerPinkster was required to specify building materials that provided state-of-the-art sustainability features and thermal performance.
IMPs were selected to enclose the exterior walls and roof of this project. The inherent insulation, air barrier, and vapor barrier equip the building envelope with ample thermal performance and moisture protection. The exterior wall panels were installed horizontally and offer pressure equalization along the length of the horizontal joinery, providing unmatched weather resistance. On the roof, the strong steel skins of the panels increase span capability and cut costs on the support steel necessary for the structure.
Simple, fast installation is another benefit realized on the KVCC Food Innovation project. The lightweight and simplistic design of the IMP system allowed construction to conclude before December’s heavy snowfall.
CASE STUDY: DAIRY FARMERS OF AMERICA MILK POWDER PLANT
Photo courtesy of Kingspan
The insulated metal panels on the Dairy Farmers of America facility in Garden City, Kansas, help provide the highest R-value for controlled environment and cold storage needs.
The Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) milk powder plant in Garden City, Kansas, is a cold storage facility that was designed to achieve impressive sustainability goals. In fact, it was named the 2018 Sustainable Plant of the Year by Food Engineering magazine. The use of IMPs in the building envelope was critical to achieving both of these important design objectives.
The DFA receives four million pounds of raw milk each day and turns it into 500,000 pounds of dry milk powder. At 267,000 square feet, it is the largest facility of its kind in the world and it operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Designed and built by Shambaugh & Son, the facility features more than 344,000 square feet of insulated metal panels.
The IMPs provide the R-values necessary to meet the demanding thermal performance requirements of a cold storage project. The interior finish on the panels is a white siliconized modified polyester, which is compliant with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In terms of sustainability, the design of the plant emphasized reducing, reusing, and recycling wherever possible. The plant’s wastewater treatment facility utilizes all the water extracted from the milk during processing, so it can be used to clean tanks and used by the city as a non-potable water source. The IMPs also supported sustainable design objectives by offering an exterior wall solution that incorporates recycled content and is 100 percent recyclable at the end of their service life.
Image courtesy of Kingspan Metal Panels
Fast Installation
Another benefit of selecting an IMP roof is the speed with which it can be installed. Instead of the multi-piece field-assembled metal systems or built-up roof systems that require the addition of several individual layers and components, the IMP roof system installation is comprised of basically one installation step. The panel contains the exterior face, the insulation, the air and water barriers, and an interior face. Installers only need to install the panel. Now this is a rather simplified explanation, but it does correctly convey the comparative simplicity of the different installation processes.
This quicker installation results in labor cost savings and dramatically shorter project schedules. It also allows the inside finish work to begin sooner. Let’s take a closer look at how these panels are installed and how they are able to offer such a time-saving benefit.
The first step in the process is getting the panels to the elevation of the roof. Numerous lifting methods are available, but suction lifters are the safest and most efficient method.
One item to note about IMP roof panels is that thermal expansion is accommodated by thermal bow which induces thermal stress. Because IMPs are a composite sandwich with both the interior and exterior facings bonded to the core, there is no significant linear differential expansion between the interior and exterior facings. Instead, the expansion of the panel is distributed among the individual spans as curvature, called thermal bow, rather than linear expansion. Because the overall panel does not significantly elongate or contract, there is no need to install an insulated metal roof panel with slotted clips. Thermal bow does not adversely affect the performance of the panels in a properly detailed system.
One step that is unique to IMP installation is the creation of an end lap. An end lap can be necessary when the length of the panel installed at the perimeter of the roof must be adjusted to perfectly fit the size of the roof. To create an end lap, installers will typically cut away the inner facing (liner) and foam core, leaving a nominal exterior facing extension that will then lap over the lower panel. The length of the extension and end lap is dependent on the slope of the roof and the panel profile. The end lap joints are caulked and fastened according to the roof panel manufacturer’s recommendations.
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