insulated metal panels Archives

How Insulated Metal Panels Enhance Building Design and Performance

Posted on January 3, 2020May 31, 2023 by Tyler Roose

Insulated metal panels can be a high-performing, aesthetically-pleasing solution for your customers’ building projects—particularly when the weather is colder. These lightweight panels feature an insulating foam core with a metal skin face and offer superior performance and design flexibility. This makes them the ideal choice for many building projects in many industries.

Enhanced Design Using Insulated Metal Panels

In addition to their functional responsibilities, Insulated Metal Panels also need to be aesthetically pleasing. Available in a variety of colors and profile shapes, they help meet the varying design requirements of your customers’ projects. Insulated metal panel finishes resembling traditional construction materials such as precast concrete, stucco, masonry and others are also available. This provides more customization and integration options for customers.

Flexibility and Code-Compliance

Insulated metal panels easily integrate with other building materials such as concrete tilt-up, stucco, brick, single-skin metal panels, glazing and exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS). They also require less space for insulation to comply with energy codes as compared to other insulating methods. This helps to maximize enclosed space within your customers’ buildings.

Additionally, the use of insulated partition panels gives customers the flexibility to decide how much of their building they want to insulate. These interior panels can help section off portions of buildings that require temperature regulation like offices and storage space. Insulated partition panels can span floor to ceiling up to 20 ft., so in most cases no additional framing is needed for installation.

Strength and Savings

The strength of Insulated Metal Panels allows for greater spanning and load-bearing capabilities as compared to single-skin alternatives. With fewer required supports, these panels easily integrate into building designs without added cost.

And, of course, the advanced polyurethane core of Insulated Metal Panels can help reduce heating and cooling costs. This energy efficiency translates into savings for building owners across the life of the panels.

Superior Performance and Cost Savings of Insulated Metal Panels

Offering superior strength and durability across their lifecycle, Insulated Metal Panels are designed as a long-term building solution. Their consistent, all-in-one air and water barrier design makes them simple to install, which can expedite the project build and minimize schedule delays.

Minimal Maintenance Requirements

Needing minimal maintenance, Insulated Metal Panels help building owners save time and money, while delivering peace of mind their strength affords. Compared to some traditional materials, insulated metal panels are also easy to repair and replace. This reduces building material costs over time while also allowing flexibility for building expansion and remodeling down the line.

Putting it All Together

Superior design and performance make Insulated Metal Panels an efficient, effective, all-in-one solution for insulating metal buildings. Contact your local ABC sales representative today to learn more.

Quote Online. Order Online. Build Your Business.

Posted on August 15, 2018September 20, 2023 by Shelby Shipman

The age of electronic commerce is firmly in place. It seems that just about anything can be ordered and paid for online then shipped directly to the purchaser. This includes metal roof and wall panels, trim, accessories and even roll-up doors! American Building Components is among the first metal building components manufacturers to offer a robust and time-saving online ordering service to its distributors. Here are some of the benefits to those who take advantage of this very efficient and convenient tool:

Simple and Safe Online Ordering Account Set-Up:

Getting started with online ordering usually only requires that you provide little more than basic contact information. Once those details are provided, your account verification and activation generally takes a few business days. This may seem like a long time to some—particularly in comparison to those e-commerce businesses that allow almost immediate account activation and even ordering by guests without accounts. However, instantaneous account approval methods often don’t allow for the customization and specialized pricing like ABC’s do.

If you’ve already ordered from a retailer offline, historical account information is typically linked to your new online account. This generally also includes any unique pricing agreements. Of course, sensitive account information is kept safe using appropriate online security methods and password protection. These features are vital to keep everyone’s mind at ease when doing business online.

Immediate and Accurate Product Pricing:

The biggest benefit of online ordering tools is often the convenience of getting quick, accurate, pricing information anytime. When a quote is sought for a project of any size, customers can simply log into their online ordering account and view up-to-date information related to all of their quote queries and order transactions. Some online ordering platforms like ABC’s even include a “Quick Price” tool. This enables users to search for specific products and set customized attributes for them to get an accurate price for that item immediately—all based on either unique or general pricing agreements. An added bonus: when changes are made to pricing agreements, quotes and preferences, they can be seen in real time.

Time-Saving Features:

ABC’s Quick Price Tool allows you to immediately see accurate pricing on any product. (Pricing subject to change.)

When under a deadline, you don’t always have time to wait for a sales representative to process your order manually. And besides, who has time to wait even when there are no deadlines? Instead of relying on others to receive accurate pricing, get a quote or place an order, you can use an online ordering tool to save time by:

creating as many custom quotes as you like and submitting orders anytime, anywhere and from any device—even when sales offices are closed
saving items as favorites for quick reference
creating custom quote templates for frequently-ordered product combinations

While online ordering is inherently faster than more traditional processes, these tools help speed up the process even further.

Intuitive Order Checkout Process:

Once you’ve customized the products you need and added them to your cart, you are ready to checkout. Online ordering makes this easy by providing fields that capture all necessary information like shipping address, delivery instructions, jobsite contact and more to help prevent delays in material delivery. In addition, a variety of payment methods are often available. These include purchase orders and even credit cards, allowing you to select the method you prefer best. Once you’ve set your preferences, your account remembers them, helping you reduce the repeated entry of rarely-changing information.

Order Status Visibility:

Anytime you need to know the status of an in-progress or already-completed order, a quick glance at your online account should provide all the information you need. In most cases, checking an order status is done by simply clicking on it to view details like the order confirmation and shipping status, which can also be easily shared with colleagues.

Online Ordering Account Management:

Most online ordering websites feature a robust suite of administrative tools that make it possible to easily:

manage employee access
designate which employees are allowed to purchase
set spending limits on those employees and
assign customers to specific employees within a sales team.

In addition, account management tools can make it very easy to:

view detailed reporting that shows order trends by product type, order time-frame and more
enable notifications to track updates and changes
build an integrated, company-wide address book to expedite order checkout

With benefits like those listed above, it’s no wonder that businesses are transitioning to this digital means of operation. To find out more about how ABC’s online ordering tool can help you quickly create quotes with accurate pricing, order the products you need to start building, and save time so you can focus on your business, watch this video.

You can also visit http://www.abcmetalroofing.com/SHOP/ or contact your local ABC representative for more details on how to get started with your own online ordering account.

What You Need to Know About Insulated Metal Panels

Posted on June 28, 2018May 31, 2023 by Tyler Roose

Insulated Metal Panels (IMPs), simply put, are the insulated version of single-skin (uninsulated) metal panels. As the name suggests, IMPs provide insulation and, therefore, thermal control and barrier protection to structures. This helps ensure air, heat and moisture stay outside of a building, reducing the chances of mold, corrosion and rotting.

A versatile and practical choice, IMPs are designed for many roof and vertical and horizontal wall applications—including ceiling panels and wall partitions for commercial, industrial and post-frame building types. IMPs are ideal for sustainability-minded designs, offering excellent R-values (indicating their insulating power) and improving energy efficiency. What’s more, they’re available in various colors, thicknesses, widths and finishes, providing many customization options to choose from.

Here, we’ll take a look at some of the many benefits of using IMPs. Plus, we’ll review some factors to consider when deciding if IMPs are the right choice for a building project.

Choosing IMPs:

There are several important factors that go into the decision to use IMPs. While they offer tremendous benefits, it’s always good to research the product to ensure it meets your needs. The manufacturer, as always, is a great resource to help determine the optimal material and product, given all the parameters. Here are some of the main factors to consider.

Benefits of using IMPs:

Installation and Maintenance: IMPs have similar requirements to single-skin in terms of time and labor.
Longevity: IMPs can enhance the building lifespan, as they protect from unwanted and damaging heat and moisture.
Versatility: Available in a range of panel colors, thicknesses, widths and finishes, IMPs offer many customization options.
Energy Savings: Because they help regulate interior temperature, IMPs are more effective at energy conservation as compared to single-skin panels.
Energy Performance: Contractors and builders can use IMPs to achieve necessary energy performance levels with this single-source enclosure, providing a continuous blanket of protection.
R-Value Performance: IMP tests show thermal performance values up to R-8.515 (roof panels) and 7.08 (wall panels) per inch of panel thickness. i.e., a 2.5-inch-deep panel would easily meet the International Energy Conservation Code and ASHRAE minimums.
Cost: While generally more expensive than single-skin panels, this cost is often offset by long-term savings.
Tax Savings: Federal, state and/or local governments often offer incentives for using sustainable or “green” products that meet energy-efficiency requirements. Your personal tax advisor can share more information on any currently available incentive programs.

How to know if you need an insulated metal panel:

Building Type/End Use: Any structure that will hold people or goods should consider using IMPs. Specialized facilities that require reliable temperature and moisture regulation are excellent candidates for IMP use. These include refrigerated warehouses, research laboratories, government facilities, defense contractors, technology companies, MRI clinics and food production facilities, to name a few.
Geography and Weather: Depending on region/weather considerations, IMPs might be the best choice. To help determine if that is the case, you can calculate the functional amount of insulation needed in your area by using the minimum rated R-values method or the maximum U-factor assembly calculation. [For IMPs, the Maximum U-Factor Assembly calculations is recommended and can be tested using ASTM C1363.]
Meeting Fire Rating Requirements: To become fire-rated, IMP manufacturers can submit full-size product samples to a testing laboratory like Underwriters Laboratories (UL). The products are then tested according to standard, agreed-upon procedures such as ANSI/UL 263, “Standard for Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials.” The manufacturer can provide confirmation as to whether a particular IMP meets the requirement for your project.

All things considered, the advantages IMPs offer often make them ideal for many building applications. This is particularly true when it comes to energy efficiency and sustainability for the post-frame, commercial, industrial and institutional markets. For more information on IMPs, check out ABC’s IMP resources or reach out to an ABC representative in your area.