any experience with Trespa panels?

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Author Message Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 370 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 05:33 pm:    we have a project in a "jurisdiction that will remain un-named" that has decided to prohibit the use of metal building panels. Our project is now IN CONSTRUCTION and we need to find an alternative rain screen panel of the approximate size and weight of our now-prohibited metal panel, and the team is looking at Trespa Meteon. I've seen the nice ads, but I don't know anyone who has actually used this panel and can't offer an anecdoctal advice one way or the other. anyone with experience with this system and who can tell me what to watch out for? be careful about? and generally avoid? the panels look like sort of "fat" plastic laminate to me, and I don't even know how to think about them as a building exterior. oh, if it helps, this is in a middle of the country location, with a lot of hot sun and rain in the summer; possible freezing rain in the winter. thanks Anne thanks. Jo Drummond, FCSI Senior Member Username: jod Post Number: 9 Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 06:17 pm:    Anne, talk to John Carter. He and I were discussing Trespa panels this morning. He has had successful experience with them. Let me know if you need his phone number. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 371 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 06:53 pm:    Jo- thanks I called him, and also corrected my email address for him. Anne David R. Combs, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: davidcombs Post Number: 156 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 08:27 am:    Anne - Just curious . . . What was the AHJ's reasoning for disallowing the specified metal building panels? Was this jurisdiction-wide, or just for your project or building type? Thanks. Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEED AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 403 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 09:31 am:    Pier Wisconsin (which you can Google to see) used Trespa Meteon. The 5' by 10' panels have been there for 9 months, and a mock-up has been there for over a year. We've seen no weathering problems and have heard of no difficulties. I just asked the guys doing CA and they reported only a slight oil-canning of the material used for the horizontal reveals (not Trespa). We specified metal panels and Corian panels as alternates; the Trespa panels were chosen; they were the material of the original design intent. The alternates were included for pricing. We included all the standards for rain-screen construction as well as engineering by contractor, mock-up, warranties on finish, etc. Some panels had black vinyl letters applied for about 3 months - on the west side, exposed to hot afternoon midwest sun. When the letters were removed, there was no ghosting on the white panels, and believe me, we looked! There is no way to know how it will do over 10 or 20 years, of course. David Cline, CSI Senior Member Username: dcline Post Number: 40 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 01:02 pm:    Another alternate you could consider is Swisspearl. Several installations to reference through the US including U of M Art Teaching and Research Building, Minneapolis. Talk with Valerie Concepcion at WSF for information. (408)294-4606. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 372 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 02:35 pm:    regarding the non-use of metal panels: this jurisdiction is in Texas and I have heard from another colleague that the newer provisions not allowing metal panels are in reaction to the hurricanes of last year. apparently instead of being specific about how the metal panels are anchored and secured to the building, the jurisdictions just banned "all metal panels". since more senior people in the office than I will take on arguing with the local building department (since our project has been permitted and is under construction) I am simply doing the panel research that was requested of me... Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 446 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 02:53 pm:    I realize codes have changed since I was a code official, but your comment of "just banned...." seems to indicate a recent adoption, done since your project was placed under permit. Usually, code provisions are not [and under some laws cannot be] adopted retroactively. While your project panels may now be "banned" they apparently were not when the plan review took place and the permit issued. May be an issue or direction to follow. I can understand their concern, but not their stance. (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 04:35 pm:    We ran into the same "banned" metal wall panels on a recent project in Texas. The City in question has prohibited metal wall panels on all commercial/education/retail projects within city limits. An attempt to keep pre-engineered buildings out of the city; we were told. We considered the Trespa panels but found that they were too expensive for our project, so we are using stucco. George A. Everding, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: geverding Post Number: 220 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 03:33 pm:    Has anyone used 'PARKLEX 1000' or had it proposed as a substitution for Trespa Meteon? www.parklex.com Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 387 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 12:50 pm:    I have a study in front of me that compares Trespa, Parklex and Meteon panels and they all look sort of the same, sort of different. (different resins, different application, etc.). Trespa is the only one that requires trained applicators; the others are surface fastened. I can't find anyone who has had a lot of experience with them, and some of the photos show very faded (UV degradation) panels after a short period of time. of course the architects involved said they "liked" that because it looked aged. they all look sort of as if one were installing fat plastic laminate on the outside of the building, or at best, installing toilet partition material up there.