insulation in metal building

[eieio]

During a site walkdown for repairs to an existing helicopter hangar which includes the repair/replacement of the existing insulation, the following questions were asked:

1. Is the insulation is required?
2. And if not, should it be removed?

The hangar doors are open most of the time due to the fact that they doors are also in need of repair. This will be corrected and the doors will be functional again. Regardless, the doors will likely continue to remain open unless there is an approaching storm or inclement weather. There are ventilation fans in the hangar, but no HVAC to the hangar.

How do you determine if the insulation is needed?

 

[jheidt2543]

If you are not heating the building, then you really don't NEED insulation. However, insulation in the roof of a metal building is usually installed as the roof panels are being installed, ie the insulation is rolled out over the purlins and then the roof deck is screwed down over it. Therefore, tearing out the existing insulation MAY disturb the roof deck.

Also, some insulation in the roof slows down the heat gain in the summer and also reduces the noise level in the building as the wind ripples the roof deck.

There are "under hung" (or retrofit) style insulation systems for metal buildings that can be installed without removing the origianl installation.

Just a few thoughts!

 

[pba]

Also insulation makes it less likely that condensation will form on the inside fce of the roof (less likely but not impossible)