Project Challenge

The owners of a distribution center in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, wanted to provide conditioned space within their three facilities to protect sensitive inventories and improve the work environment for employees. Knowing that insulation would play a critical role in achieving performance goals, the owners contacted Berrong Commercial Services, leaning on their 25 years of expertise insulating distribution centers, warehouses, cold storage facilities, and industrial buildings.

The distribution center buildings feature concrete tilt-up walls which have very low thermal resistance. To help maintain the indoor temperature year-round and allow mechanical systems to run more efficiently, the owners planned to have continuous insulation on the interior walls installed while two of the three facilities remained operational.

Approach

“Working on these three facilities was a bit unique,” said Cannon Berrong, CEO of Berrong Commercial Services. “Building one had been damaged by a tornado a few years ago, so when the owners reconstructed the building, they decided to rebuild it as a conditioned space and wanted to use continuous foam board insulation to insulate the area better. The other two buildings were not damaged but to retrofit with insulation, crews would need to safely work around equipment and employees since they remained operational.”

Having worked with Atlas polyiso insulation solutions on prior projects, Berrong and his team collaborated closely with a local Atlas distributor to procure EnergyShield Pro continuous wall insulation based on the determined R-value and board size required.

“We’ve found that EnergyShield Pro is an excellent product for us because, it’s not only a high-performing solution, but we can order it in different lengths to fit the size of the project,” said Berrong. In addition to variable board thicknesses to ensure it meets the project’s thermal requirements, EnergyShield Pro is available in longer lengths to help minimize board cuts throughout the facility, providing a cleaner, less complex installation.

For the Mt. Juliet distribution centers, the team selected 2-inch thick EnergyShield Pro in 4-foot by 14-foot board lengths for optimal energy efficiency and speed of installation. The nonprinted white facer of EnergyShield Pro served as an aesthetically pleasing interior finish. Perfect for warehouse and manufacturing facilities, the exposed acrylic-coated foil was easy to clean and eliminated the need for costly finishing as white joint tape and fasteners blend for a clean look. With these benefits and the high-level performance of Atlas continuous insulation, choosing EnergyShield Pro became an easy decision. 

Installation

The large footprint of the three Mt. Juliet facilities required approximately 260,000 square feet of Atlas EnergyShield Pro to be installed on the walls. The team worked through phases during installation using the single empty Building One for product staging as the insulation was delivered. The team used powder-actuated fastening guns to easily attach the polyiso insulation boards to the concrete tilt-up wall. A white 3M tape was then installed over the joints to create a smooth, visually uninterrupted wall. 

"In working on these retrofit facilities, the Atlas polyiso insulation solutions provide peace of mind for our team because it's lightweight, easy to work with, and creates very little mess to ensure construction efficiencies," said Berrong. This was especially important since two of the three buildings required the installation team to work around daily operations in the occupied warehouse space. "Additionally, the product's white foil facer makes a great interior solution because it blends in nicely with the building and gives it a clean finish."

In addition to delivering exceptional R-value and a finished look, EnergyShield Pro meets the code compliance requirements for interior exposed rigid foam insulation, passing NFPA 286 fire and smoke requirements, meaning it can remain exposed on the interior walls or ceilings of a building without an added thermal barrier such as gypsum. This enhanced level of fire testing is critical to occupant safety and an important reason why Atlas EnergyShield Pro can be utilized to provide interior insulation solutions. 

Impact

As a multifunctional solution for interior and exterior walls, Atlas EnergyShield Pro serves as a continuous insulating barrier against energy loss and helps maintain proper vapor and air management. The addition of the product at the Mt. Juliet distribution centers enabled the owners to achieve their goal of creating a higher quality work environment and improved inventory protection to the benefit of their occupants and customers. It also helped alleviate stress on the HVAC units allowing them to function more efficiently, to keep the spaces a comfortable temperature, and to reduce electricity costs.

“Atlas has been a true partner on these projects – from the knowledge and support we received, to the deliveries coming on time, to the quality of the boards,” said Berrong. “Everything that we’ve experienced with Atlas has been phenomenal.”