Insulated metal panels for rooms that hold a temperature
Cooler and freezer rooms, modular coolers, building additions and clean rooms. Panels 2 to 8 in. thick, installed by D.W. Ross or supplied material-only.
How a panel gets specified.
Six decisions, in the order we work through them with the architect and the contractor. Open one to see what it decides.
Panel width sets the module, the reveal and how the wall reads. We work the width to the building, not the other way round.
An interior partition panel and an exterior wall panel are different products, with different edges and different fastening.
Exterior configurations where the fastener does not show. A different joint, and a different install sequence.
The facing on each side, chosen for the room it faces: washdown, food contact, traffic, or plain durability.
How one panel meets the next. It is where an envelope holds temperature or stops holding it.
Thickness and core type together decide thermal performance and fire behavior. Specified against the room's design temperature.
Thickness, R-value and skins.
Standard insulated panels run from 2 to 8 inches thick. Insulating value is roughly R-8 per inch, so choosing the thickness is choosing the R-value.
Architectural metal building
Typically R-16, a 2" panel
Cooler or freezer down to -20°F
R-32 minimum, about 4" at R-8 per inch
Fire-rated wall
Mineral fiber core, 4" to 8" by rating
The standard core is polyisocyanurate. Continuous-line panels are foamed in place: the polyisocyanurate is chemically bonded between two roll-formed steel skins.
Polyisocyanurate over G90 galvanized steel is the construction the FM Approvals standards FM 4880 and FM 4881 test. The listing belongs to the manufacturer's tested panel. Ask us which one covers your wall.
On a tall wall, a shadow-line face is preferred over flat smooth. Flat steel at height tends to oil-can, the visible ripple in a flat sheet, and the profile prevents it. Flat smooth on a tall exterior wall needs a signed waiver.
The panels and the board, by name, with the data.
QuadCore cold storage panels, K-Roc mineral fiber panels, the CLEANsafe wash-down coating and GreenGuard freezer floor board: sizes, R-values, published test results, data sheets and CAD details, product by product.
Cold storage and controlled-environment panels
Wash-down panel coating
Freezer floor insulation
Product data and images: Kingspan Insulated Panels and Kingspan Insulation. Values as published by Kingspan; the data sheet linked on each page is the current reference.
A freezer addition, panel by panel.
Insulated panel walls set against the structural steel, 2026. D.W. Ross coordinated the panel and door specifications with the architect and structural engineer of record, then set the walls and the doors that go in them.
The seam is the whole job.
A panel holds temperature across its face without being asked. Where a room gains or loses one is the line where two panels meet, and how that line is made depends on which side of the building it is on and what the room does for a living.
Exterior concealed-fastener joint
One panel's edge closes into the next, and the fastener that holds the wall to the steel is inside the joint rather than through the face. Nothing to see on the outside, and nothing on the outside to work loose.
Enlarged at the edge where two panels meet
- 1Exterior skin
- 2Foam core
- 3Male and female edges lock together
- 4Concealed clip
- 5The next panel laps over the clip, so nothing goes through the face
- 6Structural fastener into the steel
- 7Warm-side seal
- 8Second seal, where the room calls for it
Interior wall and ceiling joint
The same interlock, on the standard shadow line face, for interior walls and suspended ceilings. It is fastened through the face rather than through a concealed clip. The reveal stiffens the skin and takes the waviness out of a long run. A dead flat face is available for clean rooms, on a limited basis and in a heavier gauge.
Enlarged at the edge where two panels meet
- 1Shadow line profile — standard, on one face or both
- 2Foam core
- 3Male and female edges lock together
- 4Square joint, flush on both faces — no chase to trap washdown water
- 5Seal, captured in the joint
- 6Second seal where the room calls for it
High-rib roof and wall panel
A ribbed outer face, where the rib carries the span and the clip sits over it. Used as a roof panel, or run vertically as an industrial wall. The inside face stays flat, so the room below is still a clean surface.
- 1Ribbed exterior skin
- 2Saddle clip over the rib
- 3Structural fastener into the support
- 4Foam core
- 5Sealant, on the warm side
- 6Flat interior skin
Drawn to show the principle. The panel, the clip and the fastener that suit a given wall come out of the operating temperature, the span and the structure behind it.
Fire-rated wall panels.
Mineral fiber core, in three ratings. The core thickness carries the rating, so the wall gets thicker as the requirement goes up.
They are a viable alternative to tilt-up pre-cast concrete, or to 8" and 12" block, on a wall that has to carry a rating.
The panel face is also a washable surface as it arrives. Block is porous, so getting a cleanable wall out of it usually means a coating or epoxy system applied over it.
One hour
4" mineral fiber core
Two hour
6" mineral fiber core
Three hour
8" mineral fiber core
A rating belongs to the tested assembly: the panel with its skins, joints and supports as listed. Not to the core on its own. Tell us the wall and we will confirm the listing that covers it.
These are wall assemblies. We are not currently offering or representing rated ceilings.
Related figures, projects and articles from D.W. Ross.
Bring the drawings, the room size, and the temperature.
Installed by D.W. Ross, or supplied material-only with our people on the phone while yours install.
Room size, height and operating temperature move the conversation fastest. Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM.