Bob Hope Airport's hangar No. 25 is the first facility of its kind to achieve LEED-platinum certification, officials say. 

Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp., was selected to outfit hangar No. 25 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., with 57,000 square feet of T-2832 and TLC-1 metal wall panels.

The Metal Sales exterior contributes to the facility, in addition to providing striking aesthetic benefits, officials said.

Hangar 25 is the first facility of its kind to achieve a platinum certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program and has also been awarded the Environmental Management Award by the Airports Council International-North America. The 62,000-square-foot hangar was designed to offset aircraft carbon emissions, incorporating a solar-powered roofing system that runs all electric vehicles and office operations – totaling 110 percent of the building’s energy needs.

The hangar also features low-water plumbing fixtures, native plant landscaping, and low-maintenance diamond-polished concrete flooring. It employs natural day lighting and large propeller ventilation. Its innovative water mist fire suppression system is the first of its kind in the US, and uses significantly less water than an ordinary system, while avoiding hazardous chemical transmission. 48 percent of the materials used in construction were obtained locally and 77 percent of construction waste was recycled.

The Metal Sales wall panels, which cover all sides of the hangar, contribute to the 35 percent recycled content for the building materials. The ruggedness provided by a metal envelope ensures long-lasting and low-maintenance durability, officials add. The Energy Star-listed colors used on Metal Sales products also assist in lessening the environmental toll, as their high solar reflectance ratings are proven to help lower cooling costs.

“We are very proud of the sustainability of our products,” said Jeff Hoopes, western regional vice president for Metal Sales. “Architects come to us because they know we will have a range of options; green is simply a given. Hangar 25 is an excellent example of the beauty that a bold metal exterior can achieve without compromising a project’s environmental goals.”

  The Metal Sales T-2832 wall panels and TLC-1 soffit and liner surround the hangar in Metallic Silver, Mistique Plus, and Snowdrift White PVDF (Kynar 500) colors. The metallic look of the panel colors used on both the exterior and interior lend an appropriate aesthetic that, according to architect Dan Bianco, “speaks to the progressive nature of the aviation industry.”

“While we could have gone with stucco or similar surface, we wanted to utilize a material on the exterior that reflects what’s on the interior,” said Bianco, a principal at J.R. Miller and Associates. “Not only does metal help achieve LEED goals, but it truly represents the type of operation it envelopes. We chose Metal Sales because they have a much wider selection of architectural profiles than most other pre-engineered panel manufacturers.”

Hangar 25 sits on a 2.1-acre site and accommodates a Boeing 757, a Boeing 737 business jet  and two Gulfstream G-V business jets. It was designed for Shangri-La Construction of Los Angeles and Avjet Corp. of Burbank as a flagship model for similar future projects. Its construction was efficient and waste-reductive, thanks in part to efforts by companies like Metal Sales, officials added.

"We have worked with Metal Sales before and are consistently impressed with both their products and their service,” Bianco said. “They coordinated well with both the pre-engineered metal building vendor and the construction team in order to help us achieve our goals.”

Construction on Hangar 25 was completed in fall 2008.

(This article was supplied by Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp.)