Walls that Help Regulate the Temperature
Our FactorLoads headquarters has one of the most efficient heating and cooling systems available, but no system can work at its optimal levels if the building it not properly insulated.
That’s why our building uses insulated concrete forms (ICFs) for the walls. Basically, the ICFs are eight inches of concrete with an additional two inches of foam on either side of the concrete.
These highly efficient walls hold a temperature for many hours. In warm months, they trap most of the radiant heating from making its way into the building. The heat is retained long into the night, but by morning they have cooled. The walls hold the overnight coolness long into the day.
In winter, the retained heat in the wall helps save from heating the building at night. This simple process evens out temperature swings, thereby lessening the load on heating and cooling units year round.
Because the building features an open ceiling, no Fiberglas insulation could be used. And since the building’s walls are so efficient we had the contractors add more insulation to the roof to insure it would not be a weak link in the chain. They added 3.5 inches of gravel/tar mix insulation on the roof which holds the warmth in winter and reflects heat away in summer.
Views of Utah’s beautiful Wasatch Mountains were important to our team, as was the use of energy efficient window technology to better enjoy that view. The building employs all highly-efficient double-paned glass that keeps the cold and heat out. The lobby has double sets of doors, helping even out the exchange of air between inside and outside.