After 60 years, Our Lady of Fatima gets a facelift and energy upgrade replacing original Kalwall translucent panels.
Built in 1964, Our Lady of Fatima, in Wilmington, VT is a Roman Catholic Church serving residents and visitors of southern Vermont. Kalwall’s translucent daylighting panels played an integral part of the church’s original design by delivering calming, serene and diffuse daylighting to create comfortable spaces for its occupants.
Many churches utilize stained glass, and Our Lady of Fatima chose to utilize a custom grid in combination with Kalwall’s colored inserts to achieve the stained glass look while benefitting from superior thermal and energy performance compared to glass. Sixty years later, the church chose to again use Kalwall panels when it was time for a retrofit.
It’s important to note that the original Kalwall panels installed are 60 years old (as seen in the image above). This is a true testament to the durability and structural performance of Kalwall’s fiberglass reinforced panels that clearly stand the test of time – Especially given the notorious harsh winters of New England.
The new panels feature a custom grid and transparent colored insulation tailored to meet desired light transmittance, u-values and solar heat gain requirements. Being thermally efficient while aesthetically beautiful was the goal, and the upgraded panels will realize increased energy savings and lower HVAC costs, especially important in the cold-dominated climate of New England!
Check out a few case studies that describe other Kalwall energy efficient projects.
The pictures above were taken during the replacement process and show the original translucent and colored insulation. After 60 years the colors remain as vibrant as when they were originally installed.
Below is an exterior elevation of the retrofit. You can see that the design features trapped heads on the upper panels as well as some operable sash for ventilation, also glazed with Kalwall.
The below video features the panel assembly process for this project. The Kalwall factory unitizes its panels to minimize onsite assembly.
Here you can see highlights from the renovation and the finished retrofit. We couldn’t be more pleased with the final results!
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