Insulating Metal Buildings: Comfort & Energy Efficiency

While there are some types of steel buildings that may not need insulation, if your commercial building, home workshop, or other metal building is located in a region that sees changes in weather throughout the year, metal building insulation is important.

Champion Buildings, Inc. understands the importance of a steel structure that provides thermal and acoustical insulation. That’s why our metal building insulation experts have everything you need to know about the cost-efficiency, energy efficiency, and overall comfort offered by metal building insulation packages.

Purposes And Benefits Of Insulating A Metal Building

Having an adequate steel building insulation system is vital to the long-term durability of your metal building and the energy consumption used by your business. The structural integrity of a metal building is affected by how well wall panels and ceilings are insulated, as well as what materials are used for insulation.

Some of the many benefits of insulating your metal building are that insulation:

Prevents condensation
Manages temperature
Absorbs sound
Saves energy
Reduces operational costs
Is easy to install
Keeps birds and pests out
Has a high R-value

Limits The Building’s Moisture

One of the most important reasons to insulate your metal building is to prevent condensation. Metal buildings can accumulate moisture due to varying temperature shifts, but with insulation options, a vapor barrier is created that limits the amount of condensation that can form on the metal panels.

When looking at the materials for metal building insulation, one of the key components in evaluating the insulation options is to look at its permeability rating and ability to create a weather barrier. The perm rating lets you know how well the material allows water vapors to pass through it, while also keeping new water out.

A successful weather barrier insulation package includes:

Air resistance that keeps air from passing through the walls.
A liquid water resistance that keeps new water from rain entering the building.
Strong durability.
A low perm rating for an effective vapor barrier.

Absorbs Sound

Non-insulated metal buildings easily absorb sound from outside, while also emitting sound from within. Limiting the amount of sound that escapes your metal building is important for structures that operate loud machinery inside of their commercial spaces as well as for buildings located in heavily populated places.

Acoustical insulation not only improves the sound quality within your building, but it also keeps sounds coming from your building inside and is non-disruptive to neighbors.

Stabilizes The Building’s Temperature

Metal building insulation controls the climate inside the steel structure. When people are working in the building, animals are kept in the building, or temperature-sensitive materials are stored in the building, it’s important to regulate the right amount of heat flow. Insulation for the roof and exterior walls allows for thermal control of heat transfer and cold air.

Due to energy code requirements, insulation is typically installed to avoid heat loss, lower energy costs, and reduce energy consumption.

What is an Insulation R-value?

When looking at how insulation works, its effectiveness is related to heat flow. The heat flow is determined by three factors:

Conduction: the movement of heat through materials.
Convection: the transfer of heat through liquids and gases.
Radiation: radiant heat travels through solids, absorbing energy.

Insulation materials work by slowing down the conductive and convective flow of heat so that temperatures are evenly controlled throughout the metal structure. A radiant barrier layer of insulation reflects heat from entering the structure. One of the effective ways to choose the best insulation option for your metal building is to consider its r-value. The r-value is the material’s thermal resistance to the conductive heat flow.

The higher the R-value, the better the insulation materials are at doing their job. R-value rating can be based on several contributing factors:

The type of insulation.
The thickness of the material.
The density of the material.

Types Of Metal Building Wall Insulation

When choosing the right metal building insulation for your new or existing building, it’s best to discuss the needs of your property and what your commercial building is used for with your metal building insulation contractor. The size, function, and location of the building can affect your decision when looking at metal building insulation options.

Spray Foam Insulation

Spray foam insulation is great for smaller-sized buildings. Installed directly inside the metal wall panels, an advantage of spray foam is it is easy to install, but a drawback is that it falls short in cost-effectiveness when compared to other metal building insulation prices.

Standard Metal Building Blanket Insulation

Installed between the girts- also known as the sheets of structural metal wall beams- and the metal panel’s interior walls, traditional blanket fiberglass insulation is user-friendly, cost-efficient, and has an effective air barrier. While the r-value is adequate, the thermal resistance values are reduced due to the girt location.

Fiberglass Insulation

Fiberglass insulation is the most popular type of metal building insulation, offering superiority when looking at the affordability and performance of materials. Fiberglass insulations have long-lasting durability, are easy to install, and are eco-friendly. However, because of the materials that make up fiberglass insulation can be dangerous to breathe in or cause irritability to the skin if touched. Because of the sensitive fiberglass materials, it’s best to have fiberglass insulation installed by a reputable metal building professional.

Insulated Metal Panels

Insulated metal panels have gained popularity in recent years thanks to companies who build pre-engineered metal buildings offering them in their metal building insulation packages. Insulated metal panels are attractive both on the interior and exterior of the metal building, are easy to install, and offer reliable insulation that will protect your metal building for years to come. The drawback of insulated metal panels is that it takes special equipment to install them, therefore, you need to contact a local metal building company to install your metal panel walls.

Types Of Metal Building Roof Insulation

Roofs have different needs than walls, though they both need insulation in order to provide all the great benefits of a temperature-regulated, comfortable, energy-efficient workspace. If incorrectly installed or if the wrong materials are chosen for insulation, water and moisture can enter the materials and erode the roof structure. A consequence of this is the potential for the metal building’s roof to collapse, causing damage to your building, business, and materials, and ultimately jeopardizing the safety of the people who work there.

It’s important to speak with an expert in metal building roof insulation so you can ensure nothing is left exposed to the elements.

Single-Layer Faced Fiberglass Insulation

The traditional choice for metal roof insulation, single-layer blanket fiberglass insulation is easy to install, has an appealing visual aesthetic, and is low in cost. However, the energy code requirements are difficult to achieve, making it incompatible with most metal building structures.

Fabric Liner and Multilayer Insulation Systems

The other popular metal building insulation choice, fabric liner, and multilayer insulation packages meet most energy code requirements while also offering multiple layers of protection that include a vapor barrier and components that reduce thermal bridging. While this insulation is affordable and reliable, it is difficult to install and will therefore require the work of a professional metal building insulation company.

Can You Insulate A Metal Building After It’s Built?

An already-built steel building can be insulated. If you’ve noticed your existing commercial metal building’s energy bills have increased or are losing heat or cold air, it’s important to contact a metal wall and roof insulation company. Champion Buildings will evaluate your current insulation system, and recommend where your insulation can be improved as well as the best materials for insulation.

Contact Champion Buildings for Metal Building Insulation

Does your commercial business need better temperature control or do you need to have a new, insulated steel building built? Champion Buildings’ metal building insulation professionals are here to help!