Steel Building Insulation Options

When speaking to potential customers regarding their steel building project, we always inquire as to their plan for insulation. Often, the response is "I'll insulate the building later if it turns out that it needs it." or "I have not really thought about steel building insulation.". Steel building insulation is an often over-looked and neglected area of planning a metal building project. Yes, steel building insulation can add to the cost of the project in the short-term. However, the savings that proper steel building insulation and professional installation can return over the life of a steel building is very substantial - not to mention the improved comfort level of the people inside the building.

In addition to energy savings, steel building insulation can help to eliminate condensation issues - which are particularly challenging to deal with in places like Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. We often muse at steel building owners who claim their roof is leaking - only to learn that the "leaking" roof is really just condensation caused by both Mother Nature and the owners desire to save money and forgo steel building insulation at the time of purchase. Steel buildings that do not have roof insulation are prone to condensation issues as during the day the hot sun heats up the roof panels and interior of the building. At night, when the sun sets and temperatures fall, the difference between the air temperature and warm roof panels creates the same condensation that a cold glass of water does when left on your kitchen table in the summertime. Over time, condensation issues can not only cause damage to the steel building, but can also cause damage to the valuable items stored inside.

White Vinyl Backed Insulation (WMP-VR)
steel-building-insulation-2While there are many different kinds of steel building insulation, for most projects, the industry standard white-vinyl backed fiberglass insulation is the perfect mix of cost and performance. Standard white vinyl-backed steel building insulation comes in R10 (3"), R11 (3 1/2") R13 (4") and R19 (6") and is similar to the standard fiberglass insulation that is commonly used in the walls and attic spaces of our homes. The primary difference is that one side of the fiberglass steel building insulation is bonded with a thermoset resin that creates a uniform layer of white vinyl. This backing plays an important part in protecting the insulation from damage originating from any activities taking place on the inside of the building as well as providing a moisture barrier. Additionally, the bright white color helps to reflect interior light which results in a much brighter interior space.

White vinyl-backed insulation is installed during the erecting of the steel building. After the red-iron frame is erected, the insulation is draped over the red-iron frame with the white vinyl side facing the inside of the steel building. Wall and roof panels are then installed - resulting in the insulation being "sandwiched" in place between the panels and the frame. The image above shows this very clearly, and we have some fantastic high-resolution images of this in our steel building insulation options photo gallery.


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