Kennesaw State University, located about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta, is home to more than 35,000 students pursuing one of more than 75 bachelors, masters, or doctoral degrees. The university’s main campus in Kennesaw covers approximately 350 acres of land and boasts dozens of residential, classroom, and administrative buildings. Opened in June 2015, the all-new Dr. Betty L. Siegel Student Recreation and Activities Center is a centerpiece of the KSU campus, serving as a gathering place for the student body with a wide variety of fitness and social opportunities.
The bright, modern building offers 174,000 square feet of indoor space as well as an outdoor pool, two sand volleyball courts, and a basketball court. Inside, visitors find courts for basketball, volleyball, racquetball, and more, an 8-lane pool, tracks for walking, jogging, and running, fitness studios, a climbing wall, a tennis complex with a hitting wall, weight training and conditioning areas, multipurpose rooms, and fully equipped locker rooms.
A top priority in constructing the new facility was sustainability, focusing on both the materials used and the energy performance to minimize the carbon footprint. The project architect and builder chose materials that would best support this goal, relying on insulation products to help achieve it.
One of the key components in the wall construction is the use of Kingspan GreenGuard® Type IV 25 PSI XPS Insulation Board from Kingspan Insulation. The two-story building features masonry framing with a brick exterior, and the Kingspan GreenGuard® XPS Insulation Board provides the ideal exterior insulation performance for this cavity wall application.
Extruded polystyrene (XPS) provides superior moisture resistance, and because it has low moisture absorption, it retains its insulating properties over time. With an R-Value of 5.0 per inch of thickness, the board improves energy efficiency while offering the advantage of being lightweight, easy to handle, and easy to cut with a knife. In this application at KSU, the board is two inches thick for an R-10 value, which exceeds the code requirement for the area.
The Dr. Betty L. Siegel Center is constructed with a concrete block base covered by a fluid-applied membrane. Brick ties from the block extend out to the brick, and the Kingspan GreenGuard® XPS Insulation Board is friction fit between the brick ties with an adhesive on the back that helps strengthen the bond between the board and the fluid layer. Two inches of dead space between the insulation board and the brick allows for drainage and ventilation that enhances the performance and further eliminates moisture issues. Construction of the dramatic new facility began in late 2013 and took about 18 months.
Since its official opening and dedication, the Dr. Betty L. Siegel Student Recreation and Activities Center has become one of the key buildings on campus and is performing as planned. Every exterior brick wall on the building features the Kingspan GreenGuard® Type IV 25 PSI XPS Insulation Board underneath, ensuring that it will deliver many years of enjoyment for students and faculty at KSU.
Location: Kennesaw, GA
Building Type: Student Recreation & Activities Center
Kingspan Product Installed: GreenGuard® Type IV 25 PSI XPS Insulation
Architect: Cooper Carry
Installer: B&M Masonry
