Knight Wall Systems announced the company has introduced a new horizontal-girt rain screen attachment system—called HCI-System—that enables ASHRAE 90.1-compliant continuous insulation with vertical cladding, according to company president Doug Knight.

“We’ve had tremendous success commercializing our rain screen CI-System,” Knight said, “which is a vertical girt attachment system, great for horizontal cladding. The new HCI-System allows vertical cladding to be installed directly on top of the HCI girt without the need for a second rail.”

The HCI-System is a stiffened, ventilated horizontal rail (girt) that can span up to 32 inches-on-center. Roll-formed in-house at Knight’s Eastern Washington fabrication plant, the ¾-inch thick attachment system is available in 16- or 18-gauge Galvalume (standard or black Fluropon finish) or stainless steel. As with the original CI-System rain screen, should a secondary rail be needed, Knight produces additional standard or custom HCI-System rails for a variety of cladding types.

Designed for rain screens with fiber cement, metal-panel and aluminum composite material (ACM) cladding, among others, the HCI-System can be used both stand-alone and in conjunction with Knight’s CI-System, affording any building envelope project a great deal of flexibility.