Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1295215
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 | 29 Metal Roofing/Cladding P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E SY RC A B C GUA R A N T EE CO R P.; B EH L EN I N DUS T R I E S L P mining, and of course there remains many project opportunities arising from the LNG pipeline." Behlen of course provides many products for the benefit of its diverse clientele, but Lepper believes the Artspan insulated metal panels (IMPs) his com- pany distributes will assume a growing market importance. These IMPs are highly recommended for their esthetics, excellent thermal efficiency, ease of installation, and overall structural integrity. IMPs in their most general form are rigid insulation sand- wiched between two facings of coated metal and come in two- to six-inch thicknesses, and Lepper says "It made sense for us to be the sole distribu- tor of this Canadian made IMP given Canada's strict energy code requirements. The market demand for the energy savings these panels can achieve is huge." Artspan Inc. is Behlen's sister company that offers insulated metal panels in a variety of config- urations. For example, the Horizon Wall panels are produced with a standard Mesa profiled steel face and a smooth or light embossed finish, and are an ideal economical solution for industrial/commercial walls requiring added strength. Leading Edge wall panels are produced with a standard flat steel face and no profile for a clean look, and the Skyline roof panels are produced with a standard Mesa profiled non-embossed smooth steel face. Vlad Sobot, president of Sobotec, presides over a company that was founded to produce the best mod- ern wall panel systems possible, and as a result it became the first company in Canada to design and develop the Rainscreen Wall Panel System (SL-2000) for the metal composite material (MCM) Alucobond, which was quickly adopted by architects and widely expanded the use of MCM across North America. Sobotec has benefitted from a healthy backlog of projects in the first half of 2020, but like so many others in his line of work, Sobot is looking forward to a complete return to normality so that his company can continue to exercise its strength as a custom manufacturer that creates memorable structures out of aluminum, zinc, copper, and stainless steel. When asked what recent project typifies Sobotec's skills in this regard, Sobot unhesitatingly replies, "The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, New York. That really showcased our ability." Sobot is referring to a $165-million renovation of a 1974 structure that consisted of wrapping the entire 85,000-square-foot concrete exterior with 4,700 unique aluminum "fins" on a frame created by Sobotec. These fins, each of which vary slightly in profile and dimension to create a subtle flow, were made from 225,000 square feet of Alucobond Plus, a product consisting of two sheets of 0.020- inch aluminum thermo-bonded to a proprietary fire-resistant core for a standard four-millimetre thickness (these panels have a flame-spread index of less than 25 and a smoke-developed index of less than 450 when tested in accordance with ASTM E84). Fabrication of the fins alone took six months and was achieved by rendering the architect's 3D models into shop fabrication drawings that could be read by the company's CNC equipment. David Waugh, architectural sales, Ontario Panelization, notes that his exterior cladding company "is always trying to find new materials to include in our portfolio of solutions that create efficient, func- tional, and esthetically pleasing building envelopes." While Ontario Panelization is well known for its use of Alcotex Aluminum Composite Panels, Aluminum Plate, and Ceramitex Sintered Ceramic Facade System, its newest material isn't metal at all but rather a complement to the other materials – and energy generating. Solstex, a solar facade system by Elemex Architectural Facade Systems, enables designers and architects to incorporate lightweight, large-format photovoltaic panels into a building's facade instead of on its roof. Solstex leverages high- efficiency, weather-resistant photovoltaic panels that not only reduce a building's carbon footprint, but also generate LEED credits and savings that are said to cover the cost of installation within 10 to 12 years. Waugh says, "After getting the idea to use these panels as cladding via our Unity attachment tech- nology, we matched the panels with our other materials, including aluminum, on an existing building in London, Ontario. This was to determine their practical and esthetic appeal, and the outcome was very impressive." Although the next step is to "sell" the design community on the benefits of Solstex, Elemex and UBC's Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre featuring a low slope copper roof. Stainless Steel fixed clip for use with copper roof panels. Potato storage shed in MacGregor MB featuring Horizon wall and Skyline roof panels.