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Nov. 10, 2015 — Mount St. Mary’s University’s John J. Dillon Field House in Emmitsburg, Md., is a 30,300-square-foot multipurpose facility used for basketball, tennis, volleyball, track, and other athletic activities at the school’s campus. Since 1987, students and community members have relied on the field house for athletic practices and indoor recreation year-round.
With the 2015 school year underway, the facility was re-opened after a summer-long renovation consisting of new LED lighting, HVAC equipment, and flooring, capped off with a new Tensotherm insulated translucent membrane roofing system by Birdair.
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.
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.
The new roof is fortified by an 8-millimeter aerogel insulation layer that is expected to save the university over $10,000 in energy costs annually. The facility re-opened on Oct. 6, 2015, with a rededication ceremony, and the school’s Division I athletic teams, clubs and intramural programs began enjoying the enhancements.
“Tensotherm is a great product for retrofitting and upgrading existing facilities.” said David Capezzuto, director of business development, Birdair. “It will help enhance the thermal and acoustical performance of the John J. Dillon Field House.”
Birdair worked directly with university facilities staff to remove the existing roofing system and provide a complete design-build solution for the new roof. The company's extensive in-house design, fabrication, installation, and maintenance capabilities were imperative to the project’s success and timely completion.
Tensotherm is the world’s first and only translucent and insulated fabric roofing material. To create the product, 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 extraordinary benefits. These benefits include superior thermal insulation and dampening of acoustics, which is a real benefit for multi-purpose venues. Tensotherm is also surprisingly lightweight.
For more information about the company, visit www.birdair.com.
