Poultry barn spray foam insulation in Lethbridge has to contend with something operations further north do not face to the same degree. A controlled barn depends on air moving exactly where the system directs it, and in southern Alberta there is a competing force outside doing the same job badly.
Wind pressure works against an engineered system
Ventilation in these buildings is designed around specific pressures and specific inlet openings. A sustained wind pressurises one wall and puts the opposite one under suction, which adds to or subtracts from the pressure the fans are trying to establish. Where the shell leaks, that outside pressure enters the calculation and the distribution the system was designed to achieve stops happening. Sealing the envelope is what removes the competing force and lets the controls do what they are set to do.
Hot southern summers and the heat load
This is one of the warmer and sunnier parts of the province, and a poultry building here has a real summer problem as well as a winter one. Solar gain through the roof and the sunlit wall adds a load the ventilation system has to remove before it does anything else. An insulated shell reduces that load directly, which is the difference between a system that copes on a hot week and one that is at its limit.
The gable ends
On a long barn the two ends are a small fraction of the area and a large fraction of the problem. They usually carry doors, fans or both, they are framed differently from the side walls, and they are where the side wall assembly stops and something else begins. That junction is rarely continuous, and on a building with wind pressure across it those ends are where air enters that the system did not plan for.
Curtain-sided barns and where they stand
Some buildings in this area use curtain sides rather than solid walls, and they are a different proposition entirely. A curtain is a deliberate opening, so the useful work is on the roof, the gable ends and any solid sections, and the expectation has to be set accordingly. It is worth identifying which type a building is on the first call, because the answer changes what can be promised.
Poultry Barn Spray Foam Insulation Lethbridge: Common Questions
Our ventilation is engineered. Why does the envelope matter? Because outside pressure competes with it. Around Lethbridge wind adds to or subtracts from the pressure the fans establish, and a leaking shell lets it into the calculation.
Is summer really a factor? Here it is. Solar gain through the roof and the sunlit wall is a load the system removes before doing anything else, and insulation reduces it directly.
We have curtain sides. Can anything be done? Yes, on the roof, the gable ends and any solid sections. A curtain is a deliberate opening, so the expectation is set around that.
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