by Brianna Crandall — December 2, 2015—Mount St. Mary’s University’s John J. Dillon Field House is a 30,300-square-foot multipurpose facility used for basketball, tennis, volleyball, track and other athletic activities at the school’s campus in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Since 1987, students and community members have relied on the field house for athletic practices and indoor recreation year-round.
This summer, the facility underwent a renovation consisting of new LED lighting, HVAC equipment and flooring, with a new Tensotherm insulated translucent membrane roofing system by Birdair selected to cap it off.
The 28-year-old John J. Dillon Field House was upgraded with Tensotherm membrane to reduce noise, retain heat and improve performance with natural daylight.
John J. Dillon Field House
The facility is part of the University’s Knott Athletic Recreation Convocation Complex (ARCC), a 105,000 square foot fitness, recreation and event center that houses a swimming pool, full gym, spin studio, conference rooms and more, used by the school’s Division I athletic teams, clubs and intramural programs and the rest of the student body, as well as members of the community.
Although at 28 years old, the facility had outlived its expectations, the university’s facilities department wanted to apply some upgrades to the field house, including the replacement of its silicon-coated fiberglass roofing system in an effort to improve its noise reduction and heat retention performance.
The new roof, which was chosen to help the field house run more efficiently, is fortified by an eight millimeter aerogel insulation layer that is expected to save the university over $10,000 in energy costs annually.
Birdair worked directly with university facilities staff to remove the existing roofing system and provide a complete design-build solution for the new roof. Birdair says the company’s extensive in-house design, fabrication, installation and maintenance capabilities were imperative to the project’s success and timely completion.
Tensotherm
Tensotherm is described as the world’s first and only translucent and insulated fabric roofing material. Its many benefits include: diffused glare-free natural daylight; enhanced temperature control, even in the most extreme environments; remarkable acoustics; and innovative sustainability.
Numerous studies of daylighting document these benefits and show improved teaching and learning for schools, improved productivity for offices and manufacturing facilities, improved sales for shopping malls, and improved healing rates in hospitals, according to Birdair.
To create Tensotherm, a thin translucent blanket, embedded with aerogel, is placed between a PTFE fiberglass membrane exterior skin and a thinner and lighter acoustic or vapor barrier interior liner. The resulting composite material is a thin, flexible and highly translucent glazing system that provides numerous benefits, such as superior thermal insulation and dampening of acoustics — a real benefit for multi-purpose venues.
Tensotherm is also surprisingly lightweight, points out Birdair. Comprised of 95 percent air, Cabot Corporation’s aerogel is said to be the world’s lightest solid material. This combination of materials delivers a composite system said to be lighter than any other insulated roofing option, ideal for small / mid-size to long-span applications.
Its decreased weight limits the need for heavy supporting structures, minimizing material usage and cost, and reducing energy consumption for shipping and installation.
Like traditional fabric architecture, which is installed in tension through principles of tensile architecture, Tensotherm’s light weight and freedom of form allows for extensive design possibilities.
A Tensotherm roof and traditional single layer PTFE roof are very similar in appearance, notes Birdair. In addition, PTFE is engineered to be extremely durable and weather resistant in all climates, with projects known to last in excess of 30 years.
