When it came time to erect a new office building, Kevin Johnson, owner of Rhoads and Johnson, a design/build construction firm in Fenton, Mich., decided to stick to what he does best.
Johnson says the new office and shop, a 12,000 square foot facility, is a showcase for what his company does. The framing is from Butler Manufacturing and the shell of the building consists of 8,000 square feet of insulated metal panels (IMPs) from Metl-Span.
Johnson says IMPs provide a cost-effective way to construct offices, shops, recreational storage, industrial facilities or retail shops and restaurants. Rhoads and Johnson has also used metal building framing and IMPs to erect medical facilities and churches.
For the new Rhoads and Johnson office/shop, the exterior and interior of the Metl-Span IMPs is CF Light Mesa, coated in Igloo White. The panels are 42 inches wide and filled with a three-inch urethane insulation."Insulated metal panels eliminate the need for interior finishing," says John Asselin Jr., AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, partner at Asselin McLane Architectural Group (AMAG) in Flint, Mich. "Kevin’s been in the industry a long time and he’s done a number of metal buildings with insulated panels. These panels are smooth and we wanted to stay away from the crinkled barn look."
The project took nine months to complete – Rhoads and Johnson moved into the facility in March 2021.
Johnson says weather doesn’t affect IMPs the way it can damage other forms of more traditional insulation. The cost of other construction materials, including plywood and steel, also makes IMPs a more cost-effective option.