Insulated Metal Panels (IMPs) are composite panels that combine both transverse load resistance and insulation for buildings in a single assembly. This unique approach requires special consideration during both the design and installation to ensure good product performance. This is obviously true for resistance to code-mandated design loads such as wind. But it is just as true for resistance to loads induced by temperature gradients or framing deviations as well.

Unlike design loads, which a building may never experience during its service life, thermally and geometrically induced loads occur under everyday conditions. The primary effect of these induced loads are surface waves on the exterior (or fascia) skin. Although these waves rarely impact panel strength, they are aesthetically unpleasing and avoidable through application of best practices.

This Technical Bulletin will provide these best practices and related simplified criteria to building designers and installers addressing these complex issues in the context of IMP wall panels of polyurethane cores.