A Monumental Upgrade: Preserving America's Landmarks for the Next 250 Years
The Lincoln Memorial, constructed in 1914, is one of America’s iconic monuments and home to a towering statue of the 16th president.
As America prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, we're reminded that our nation's story isn't only written in books. It's preserved in the landmarks, museums, memorials, and institutions that connect generations of Americans to our shared history.
Across the country, many of these iconic structures are undergoing critical renovations—not to change their character, but to ensure they continue serving future guests.
From the Lincoln Memorial to the National Museum of Women in the Arts—both in Washington, D.C.—building professionals are combining modern building science with historic preservation to protect some of America's most treasured places. Amrize Building Envelope is part of that effort, bringing protection that’s essential but unseen.
The Lincoln Memorial: A new reason to visit an old favorite
The Lincoln Memorial is visited by roughly 8 million people per year.
Few U.S. landmarks are more recognizable than the Lincoln Memorial.
As part of a major renovation, a new museum and visitor area have been constructed beneath the memorial itself. The new experience, which opened June 25, 2026, enhances accessibility, improves educational opportunities, and helps preserve the monument.
Energy One America, a national installer, selected Enverge OnePass® closed-cell spray foam insulation as part of the building envelope strategy for the museum and visitor area.
The Lincoln Memorial's 43,800-square-foot undercroft sits atop a foundation engineered to withstand the region's swampy Potomac soils. The structure is supported by 120 concrete pillars extending approximately 50 feet to bedrock.
Unlike traditional insulation systems that require multiple products and installation steps, Enverge OnePass delivers air sealing, vapor control, and high-performance thermal resistance in a single application. This continuous insulation layer helps eliminate gaps where air and moisture can infiltrate, providing long-term efficiency.
For an iconic structure like the Lincoln Memorial, managing moisture migration and temperature fluctuations is critical. The seamless nature of spray foam helps create a stable interior climate while supporting the long-term durability of this historic attraction.
This project beautifully demonstrates how modern building science can support the preservation of historic landmarks without compromising their integrity.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts: Finally insulated after 118 years
The National Museum of Women in the Arts started as a Masonic Temple—an organization that, at the time, didn’t admit women.
The challenge of preservation extends beyond monuments.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts, housed in a historic 1908 building just blocks from the White House, underwent a significant renovation to improve energy efficiency and environmental control without altering its historic character.
Like many older buildings across America, the museum had little or no insulation within its envelope. To meet modern performance standards, the project team used advanced spray foam technology to improve thermal performance, air sealing, and moisture management.
Energy One America, a commercial spray foam and air barrier installer, applied the upgraded envelope, taking the walls down to the studs and adding two inches of continuous Enverge Nexseal® 2.0 LE closed-cell spray foam to the walls and eight inches of Nexseal® 2.0 LE to the underside of the roof deck.
This seamless thermal barrier is projected to slash energy loss through the building envelope by more than 50%. It also functions as a vital vapor retarder, regulating interior humidity to help safeguard the museum’s priceless collection.
Today, the National Museum of Women in the Arts is a more energy-efficient building, with a more stable climate for the artwork and a more comfortable environment for visitors. It’s a clear example of adaptive reuse and building envelope retrofitting working together to fortify an older structure for the future.
A presidential seal of approval? When Ronald Reagan signed our insulation.
Factory visits were a favorite campaign backdrop for presidents and candidates alike — including Ronald Reagan, who signed a piece of Ox Thermo-Ply at one of our plants in the 1980s
For decades, American builders, architects, contractors, and manufacturers have pushed building science forward, creating modern building envelope solutions that bring historic structures into the future without sacrificing the features that make them special.
Our own history has evolved with this movement.
A striking photo in our archives captures President Ronald Reagan signing a piece of Ox Thermo-Ply Insulated Sheathing during a manufacturing facility visit years ago. It’s a perfect snapshot of a moment when building science captured national attention. This milestone reminds us that the high-performance solutions we build today are part of a proud, enduring history of American manufacturing.
That spirit of innovation continues across the Amrize portfolio. From advanced insulation and air barrier systems to high-performance roofing and weather-resistant solutions, our products help architects and contractors meet modern codes, efficiency goals, and durability standards on every kind of project.
From monuments to museums: Protecting the past to build the future
Amrize Building Envelope provided insulation to help preserve the National Building Museum, whose Great Hall includes some of the tallest classical columns in the world.
As America’s 250th birthday approaches, we’re reminded that preservation requires action, not just admiration.
Every retrofit, restoration, reroof, and renovation helps ensure that the places defining our communities remain strong for future generations. Whether it's a national memorial, a historic museum, a school, a hospital, or a local community landmark, building envelope solutions play a vital role in protecting the structures that tell America's story.
At Amrize Building Envelope, we stand with the contractors, architects, building owners, and preservation teams doing that work one wall, one roof, and one landmark at a time.