There's nothing ordinary about the U.S. Army Special Forces, and there's nothing ordinary about the insulated roof and wall systems chosen for several buildings dedicated to the Special Forces and located at Cannon Air Force Base in Curry County, New Mexico. Featured on the unit's new hangar and aircraft maintenance facility are products from Kingspan Insulated Panels North America of Deland, FL.
The total scope of the project included the construction of a high bay aircraft maintenance hangar, with an associated aircraft maintenance unit, complete with water storage tanks, a pump house, and an aircraft parts storage warehouse. Construction work had to be completed quickly and without interfering with the daily operations at the airfield.
Kingspan's KingZip™ Standing Seam Insulated Metal Roofing Panels and 300 Azteco Insulated Metal Wall Panels (IMPs) were specified by the U.S Army Corp of Engineers to match other hangars adjacent to the project. Their decision to go with the Kingspan products was based on the recommendation of Consolidated Metal Builders. CMB was the building envelope subcontractor on the project for the general contractor, Hensel Phelps Construction of Phoenix, Arizona. Ric Justus, CMB's CEO, said that his company had become familiar with Kingspan products during previous design-build hangar projects at Cannon AFB. To construct the roof and walls, the project utilized 120,000 square feet of Kingspan panels.
Roof Requirements Readied
Justus said there were specific reasons why KingZip metal roofing panels were selected, even though a single-skin roof system and separate blanket insulation were originally specified. “The KingZip panels were chosen as a value engineering option after the job was awarded,” he said. “They substituted for an underlayment, rigid board insulation stack, and single skin standing seam roof.” Product performance was an important reason for the switch. Safety was another. “It allowed us to perform a quicker and safer installation of the roof system on this airfield project in cold, windy winter conditions," Justus said.
The 300'-wide hangar's roof peak reaches80' high. The blanket insulation system originally selected for the project would have required installation from the underside using boom lifts. The single skin standing seam would have to be coordinated to be installed at the same time as insulation. That was considered to be a slow process and risky given the weather conditions at the time. “Kingzip gave us the best substitute because it is a sandwiched ‘all in one’ system to install the roof from above with minor equipment below for the joints,” said Justus. The insulation value of the panel was equivalent or better with the 4” standing seam system. Costs of the materials were higher, however the installation costs were much lower, especially when taking into consideration the reduced chance of weather delays, inside equipment coordination with other work, and getting started and stopping each day.”
Approximately 28,000 square feet of red KingZip panels were installed for the lower roof while another 42,000 square feet of white KingZip panels were installed for the upper roof. Justus described the unique design features that challenged Consolidated Metal Builders on this project. “We had two roof colors and one was visible that needed to match a neighboring identical building being built at the same time,” he recalled. “We used a single skin of the KingZip product for a fascia panel which hadn’t been done previously.”
Not all standing seam metal roofs panels are alike and the KingZip metal roofing panel stands out amongst the crowd. It is manufactured with energy-efficiency, durability, and low maintenance in mind. With a KingZip metal roofing system, the building owner—in this case the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces—can enjoy energy and cost cutting savings of as much as 30% over standard cavity-based insulation systems. The savings come with a high R-value, thermal performance of superior airtightness, and low thermal bridging. The eco-friendly metal roof panel also contains a substantial amount of recycled content on the exterior skins and the panels themselves are recyclable. The panels help to lower operational energy demands (primarily heating and cooling), and as a result, were able to reduce the carbon footprint of the Special Forces Hangar at Cannon Air Force Base.
Another benefit of KingZip metal roofing panels is that they are rigorously tested to ensure they remain both air and weathertight over the service life of the building. This added effectiveness helps fight air leakage, which is one of the biggest sources of building heat loss (or heat gain). KingZip roofing panels provide an exterior weather barrier, high efficiency insulation core, and an integral vapor barrier. In addition to the construction and energy savings, designers will appreciate the array of color and finishing options provided by KingZip. “Simply stated, it's a superior commercial metal roofing system,” said Ric Justus.
Walls And All
The old saying, “time is money,” is so true when it comes to the performance benefits of an insulated metal roof and wall. Kingspan’s one-step installation can reduce on-site installation time by up to 50% compared to traditional multi-part insulated metal panels systems. This reduces multiple labor steps required with other roof and wall systems down to a single operation.
Approximately 50,000 square feet of Kingspan 300 Azteco insulated metal panels were specified for the wall of the Cannon AFB hangar. This type of IMP can be used in a multitude of building designs. When utilizing this single component insulated metal panel product, compared to the more complicated built up wall system, construction delays are minimized. Much like the KingZip roof panels, the Kingspan 300 Azteco insulated metal panels provide high R-value thermal performance, excellent airtightness, and low thermal bridging. The 300 Azteco panel also offers that very desired intangible factor by giving a building an impressive look.
According to Justus, the three primary benefits of specifying Kingspan products were a safer and quicker installation, a high R-value with less thickness of roof stack, and less layers of product to handle on site. Justus said he thinks KingZip roof panels and Kingspan insulated metal panels will continue to become a more standard cladding material on commercial buildings in the Southwest. “We believe, based on the last five years of building projects here at CAFB, that KingZip has great potential in this area,” he said. “All the customers, designers, and contractors I know just love these products.
For the Special Forces hangar at Cannon Air Force Base, KingZip standing seam insulated metal roofing panels and 300 Azteco IMPs provided the best way to update and enhance an existing building. Today, with KingZip insulated roof panels and Kingspan Azteco insulated metal panels, U.S. Special Forces has an impressive mission capable facility at Cannon Air Force Base.
Photographs ©MikkiPiperImaging.com