College campuses are building new spaces that focus on encouraging engagement and collaboration among students, faculty and staff. Campus building design trends are focused on sustainability, design flexibility and adding more daylighting to buildings.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a priority for building projects on college campuses today. That means reducing the overall carbon footprint of campuses by using thermally efficient materials that have lower embodied carbon.

Kingspan’s insulated metal panels are used in the construction of college campuses across the nation for their ability to balance sustainability with modern design. Sustainability is embedded throughout Kingspan’s product life cycle. Durable insulated metal panels are designed for 30-40 years of use and reuse after that. Much of the steel in the panels is recycled and 100% of the scraps created during manufacturing can be recycled.

In Toronto, Ryerson University made cutting carbon a priority in the construction of its Centre for Urban Innovation. The historic building was preserved with a brand-new addition that required sustainable building materials and construction. The 27,000-square-feet of insulated metal panels provide a critical airtightness and low thermal bridging to improve thermal efficiency and reduce energy usage.  In analysis conducted by KieranTimberlake, Kingspan panels equipped with QuadCore have been shown to reduce embodied carbon by up to 28% compared to conventional wall systems such as tilt-up and precast concrete.

Design flexibility

College campus design projects – whether new build or retrofit – must seamlessly integrate into their surroundings. Building envelope solutions make a major design statement on any project and need to provide the creative flexibility to deliver on the aesthetic nature and design appeal required by the project.

That’s why Kingspan’s BENCHMARK Designwall panels were selected in the construction of the University of Maryland’s Jones-Hill House which is home to the university’s athletic performance and football operations. Offering a variety of finish and color options, trimless ends, longitudinal and traverse bends, and folded corners, the product line allowed architects to design a building that stayed true to the historic nature of the original Cole Field House from which it was built.

Design flexibility was also the reason Kingspan Insulated Metal Panels were used in the construction of the Northern Arizona University Student-Athlete High Performance Center. Architects selected building materials including KS Mini Micro-Rib panels to design a sleek facility to fit within the natural landscape.

Daylighting

The use of natural light in buildings, or daylighting, reduces building energy consumption and is a contributor to the health and well-being of building occupants. When it comes to educational facilities, studies show bringing in more natural light can positively impact student performance and health.

The natural lighting provided by Kingspan’s UniQuad® system was a key reason why this wall system was installed in The Pavillion at Ole Miss. The system provides an abundance of natural light that diffuses throughout the facility from a 50 ft. elevation down to the stadium’s entrance and arena floor. This glare-free natural light not only benefits the athletes who play in the building but provides energy savings that benefit the University’s bottom line.

With universities putting sustainability and aesthetic at the forefront of new projects, insulated metal panels are an all-in-one system that help them achieve high marks.