IMPs for commercial construction
Commercial buildings offer an excellent opportunity for IMP usage. The wide variety of IMP profiles, coupled with a universal colour palette, provides the building owner with a high degree of customization and building performance at a competitive cost.
IMPs can be used for exterior and interior walls, ceilings, and roofing in both new and retrofit construction. These panels are single-source products, which provide ease of installation as well as a long lifespan—reaching 60 years—not achieved by many other building methods. IMPs are routinely used across many sectors, including retail, sports complexes, automotive, educational, aviation, self-storage, and religious facilities.
New energy codes and testing
The country is divided up into climate zones—the higher number the zone, the lower the average temperature and the higher the R-values required for roofing and walls. Within Zone 7, along the border between Canada and the United States, the requirements are R-27 for walls and R-35 for roofing. Roofing R-value requirements are higher because heat rises, and buildings lose most of their energy through the roof.
Canadian energy codes specify minimum insulation values for various climate zones, and IMPs are an ideal solution to easily meet these increasingly stringent requirements. IMPs with either a polyisocyanurate (polyiso) or rigid polyurethane (PUR) foam system offer the highest insulation value.
IMPs with 100 mm (4 in.) of urethane insulation can meet the wall requirements, and 127-mm (5-in.) IMPs meet the evolving roofing requirements. design professionals are even opting to specify 152-mm (6-in.) IMPs for the roof to improve energy efficiency. Insulated metal panels work effectively in all seasons by keeping interior temperature down on warm days and up on cold days.
Some other building methods, such as stud-frame building, now require a wall anywhere from 203 to 305 mm (8 to 12 in.) thick due to the added batt insulation needed to meet the new R-value requirements. Those extra layers increase the cost of materials as well as labour. IMPs may cost more than stud framing materials, but the associated labour and installation costs are still less. IMPs measuring 16 x 1.07 m (53 x 3.5 ft) can be installed in less than 20 minutes, while it will take considerably longer to install most other wall systems covering the same amount of space. Depending on the desired code and R-value achievement, IMPs are available in 50- to 152-mm (2- to 6-in.) thicknesses. IMPs with 100-mm thicknesses are most commonly used in Canadian construction.
IMP manufacturers have dedicated resources and invested heavily in research, development, and testing to ensure their products meet ASTM, Underwriters’ Laboratories of Canada (ULC), and other required standards, including:
- Factory Mutual (FM) 4880, Class 1 Fire Rating of Insulated Wall, Ceiling, and Roof Panels;
- CAN/ULC S101, Standard Methods of Fire Endurance Tests of Building Construction and Materials;
- CAN/ULC S102, Standard Method of Test for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials and Assemblies; and
- CAN/ULC S126, Standard Method of Test for Fire Spread Under Roof-deck Assemblies.
