Bill Beals: A visionary with a proactive approach to advancing new energy code standards in metal construction design

by David Flaherty | 19 November 2024 9:30 am

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2024 Metal Construction News Hall of Fame – Manufacturer / Supplier

Growing up on a potato farm in Maine, Bill Beals learned invaluable lessons that led him to be in the position he is today. With 38 years of experience in the metal construction industry, he is renowned for his advocacy and promotion of commercial energy codes, teaching industry professionals such as architects, builders, and engineers about the importance of sustainable design. “It was through work ethic and common sense, and all of what I learned growing up in Mars Hill, Maine, that was my education,” says Beals. “Back then, I didn’t think that. To me, we were just a bunch of poor farmers who weren’t going to be much.”

Despite holding the title of district manager for Therm-All, West Lake, Ohio, Beals is an esteemed visionary within the industry, and by his own initiative assumed the role of a commercial energy codes specialist. “Being in this industry since 1986, as we came through the ’80s and ’90s, metal buildings were basically just cheap, fast, easy buildings to build with minimal insulation,” says Beals. “That was our industry. From 2010 to 2012, I saw the energy code side of things starting to affect our industry by huge amounts, and no one was really paying attention.”

During this period, he joined the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and began attending meetings, in addition to going to Army Corps of Engineers air-barrier presentations and seminars. These air-barrier presentations subsequently led to Beals developing the patents for the MaxTight Air Barrier System, an innovative concept for metal buildings. Installed in walls and roofs, the proprietary system reduces air infiltration and air leakage in a building envelope by nearly half.

Beals is an active member of numerous industry and trade associations, including the International Code Council (ICC), the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) Energy Committee, the National Insulation Association’s (NIA’s) Metal Building Insulation Laminator Committee, and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Further, he also has a blog dedicated to commercial energy codes called “The Code Man” and has authored several reference guides and articles on the topic.

An inherent educator, Beals has the remarkable ability to assimilate complex information into easily understandable ideas. Over the past several years, he has led AIA-certified seminars and presentations on commercial energy codes for professionals in the metal construction industry. “It was knowing where my industry was going to be three years before, and reacting then,” says Beals. “The building designs had to change, the labor in the field almost tripled, just to install the systems that were back in the day, a single-layer pink insulation…they charged about 20 cents a square foot. Now, with the new energy codes, for that same insulation system to meet code, it’s about $1.75 a square foot in labor, so it’s a huge challenge for our industry. That’s why I started to educate our industry about what was coming.”

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/metal-construction-hall-of-fame/bill-beals/

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