The construction industry is facing a tight labor market. The number of open construction sector jobs currently averages between 300,000 and 400,000 every month. The most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that there were 374,000 construction job openings in June of this year. An aging workforce and not enough new workers coming into the industry are some of the factors contributing to the construction labor shortage.
Growing demand for residential and commercial construction and an influx of federally funded infrastructure projects are intensifying labor challenges in the industry.
As labor issues continue to slow and even delay projects, construction firms are looking for strategies to increase speed of build and reduce the amount of labor time required on-site.
That’s where insulated metal panels can help.
These thermally efficient, pre-engineered, single-component panels require less labor and fewer trades on site, which minimizes scheduling issues, allows for faster dry-in and reduces construction time.
Requiring only one installer instead of multiple trades to attach to the structural framing, insulated metal panels provide a high-performance, low-energy, weathertight building envelope in a fraction of the time of traditional site-built wall and roof enclosure systems.
According to the Metal Construction Association’s (MCA’s) Selection Guideline for Insulated Metal Panels, insulated metal panels can be erected at a rate of up to 5,000 square feet per eight-hour shift by a four-man crew on an industrial project, and up to 1,100 square feet per eight-hour shift by a four-man crew on an architectural project.
The time-saving ease of installation of insulated metal panels make them the building envelope solution of choice when the clock is ticking on projects such as Blue Grass Harley Davidson’s new location in Louisville, Kentucky. Pandemic fueled labor and supply chain issues caused several business disrupting delays of this project. The selection of Kingspan Optimo® panels made it possible to speed up construction, mitigating these issues to get this project over the finish line.
IMPs were also instrumental in the retrofit of a Holiday Inn hotel in Florida after Hurricane Michael destroyed the original building in 2018. With the profitable tourist season only a few months away, Holiday Inn chose Kingspan's insulated metal panels to complete the entire project in several months which allowed the hotel to be open for the summer, thus saving the business. Kingspan’s BENCHMARK Designwall 4000 panels were ordered in January, shipped in March, and the hotel was up and running by June.
Insulated panels have many clear advantages over other wall systems. Their thermal performance, sustainability, design flexibility and durability make them a top contender for any construction project in any business environment. Today, as construction firms operate in an environment of persistent labor shortages, insulated metal panels are an ideal building envelope solution for a faster speed of build advantage that can help mitigate these labor shortages, reduce project delays and keep projects on budget.