The Resnick Sustainability Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, uses 13,000 square feet of GreenGirt Max CMH™ over steel studs, behind ACM cladding, with mineral wool insulation. It is a university research building dedicated to sustainability and energy science. The project was designed by SmithGroup and built and installed by Dittemore Insulation Contractors, Inc.

For a building dedicated to sustainability research, the envelope is expected to exemplify the high-performance, thermal-bridge-free construction the field advances, which is the central argument for continuous insulation on this project. Steel studs conduct heat directly through the wall, reducing its effective R-value substantially below the nominal value. GreenGirt Max CMH counters this by carrying the mineral wool in an unbroken layer outboard of the framing. In Pasadena’s mild climate, the governing factors are not a demanding heating or cooling load but California’s energy code and the building’s own credibility, both of which a continuously insulated, thermally broken wall satisfies.