InsulTech Case Study – Lawrence University Banta Bowl (Appleton, WI)

The Banta Bowl sports complex of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, has served the students and athletes of the school for nearly 50 years, but the time had come for the legendary venue to receive a dramatic makeover. The extensive renovation included new bleachers, lighting, scoreboard and an upgraded dual-sport synthetic field. However, the centerpiece of the new construction was to house locker room space for the Lawrence University Vikings, as well as visitors’ locker rooms and spaces for officials, concessions, ticket sales, public restrooms, and storage.

To usher in this new era of Viking athletics, lead architect Brad Kwasny of Bray Architects, looked to an innovative new product to accomplish multiple construction tasks in a single assembly by selecting the InsulTech™ Insulated Concrete Masonry System (ICMS) for the new structures.

“It was one of those situations where we were looking for speed of construction within a limited space, with a limited budget,” said Kwasny, who was introduced to InsulTech by a co-worker. InsulTech provided a way for the team to meet all of these goals by incorporating a number of wall attributes into a single step.

The InsulTech System offers continuous insulation, moisture management, wind and fire resistance, as well as interior and exterior aesthetics in one assembly by combining a structural CMU and molded insulation insert with a thin veneer face. As a complete wall system, InsulTech also offers fully insulated corners, returns, and beams to provide a 100 percent thermally broken system. The 15.2 R value provided approximately 20 percent higher than the R value of traditional EPS of the same density.

“Once the masons got into a rhythm of working with this new system, it installed much more quickly than the traditional way of laying the CMU, then spraying insulation, and then adding a veneer,” said Kwasny. “The finished wall also took up significantly less space by reducing what would have been a 15.5 inch wall depth to 12.25 inches.”

To help with the learning curve, an Oldcastle technical advisor worked directly with the masons on installation practices specific to the InsulTech system. “He didn’t just watch; he jumped right in and helped,” said Kwasny.

The design of InsulTech ICMS allows for either standard CMU or architectural CMU on the interior with the option of a completely different architectural face on the exterior. For the Banta Bowl project, Kwasny chose painted CMU for the interior and a variety of faces, including Trenwyth Mesastone and ground face Trendstone block, for the exterior. For more information on the InsulTech System, please click here.