Nuanced Solutions for Greener Façades

Design details and novel technologies lead to better, higher-performing building exteriors
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Sponsored by EXTECH/Exterior Technologies Inc., Fi-Foil® Company, Inc., FunderMax USA, Guardian Industries, Kawneer Company, Inc., Lorin Industries Inc., Pella EFCO Commercial Solutions, Quest Window Systems Inc., Simonton Windows & Doors, and W&W Glass, LLC
C.C. Sullivan

While innovation with rainscreens and polycarbonate, among other materials, is a major driver for today's façade designs, in some cases architects are also relying on timeless, classic approaches that have benefited from incremental improvements over the decades. As an example, tried-and-true anodized aluminum finishes are seen as resilient, sustainable and healthy, says Phil Pearce, LEED AP, vice president of sales and marketing for Lorin Industries, which anodizes aluminum coil for architectural uses. “It may cost more than paint, but it never chips, peels, or flakes, and it passes a pencil hardness test for graffiti resistance, ASTM D3363,” says Pearce.

The Volo Aviation hangar at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Conn., designed by Beinfield Architecture, uses a full-height translucent polycarbonate facade to provide insulation as well as daylighting within the large technical facility.

Photo courtesy of EXTECH/Exterior Technologies Inc.

The Volo Aviation hangar at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Conn., designed by Beinfield Architecture, uses a full-height translucent polycarbonate facade to provide insulation as well as daylighting within the large technical facility.

While industrial anodizing dates to the mid-1920s, the results still can outshine other metal finishes, especially with the color and finish consistency that continuous coil anodizing can deliver, as opposed to batch or piece-part anodizing. Yet many of those metal cladding assemblies benefit from design processes and material innovations that are only recently becoming mainstream.

Inflection Points in Façade Design

For a closer look at how façade and cladding product approaches are shifting architectural currents, the following five topics demonstrate where manufacturers and fabricators have provided products or systems that lend subtle inflection points. These begin with the emergence of new design tools that are successfully expanding the horizons of building envelope performance.

Underlying the new tools—which include standalone online calculators, specification analytics, and output ready for use with building information modeling (BIM) platforms—are widespread concerns about incomplete or inappropriate specification practices. “Experienced architects know you can't just always go with what you've used before,” says Andy Nixon, a builder sales manager and architectural specialist for Simonton Windows & Doors. “Yet the specs we see are often very broad, or they list performance and thermal characteristics that are out of synch with the project or application.”

Nixon and other window makers recommend that architects spell out the required standards, including American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) certifications, the North American Fenestration Standard (NAFS), and National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) listings. Specifications should also provide all relevant performance components, such as U-values, visible light transmission (VLT), and solar heat-gain coefficient (SHGC), among others.

Some façade systems, like the one used for Insignia Tower in Seattle, designed by Perkins & Company Architects, are designed so that each infill of glass, panel, operable window, or door is individually drained, as well as the surround of the window.

Photo courtesy of Bosa Development

Some façade systems, like the one used for Insignia Tower in Seattle, designed by Perkins & Company Architects, are designed so that each infill of glass, panel, operable window, or door is individually drained, as well as the surround of the window.

In total, the designer should be able to answer seven or eight basic questions beyond aesthetics, including the frame material choice, the required AAMA performance grade (PG), and the design pressure (DP), which identifies the wind and snow loads the product can withstand. Newer spec criteria include air leakage, which Nixon says will be required for the federal Energy Star program in 2015, as well as any specialized criteria for acoustics, impact resistance, security, child safety, and protections for wildlife, such as birds and sea turtles.

 

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Originally published in Architectural Record
Originally published in September 2014

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Nuanced Solutions for Greener Façades
Buyer's Guide
Thermal Projected Windows
EFCO is proud to introduce the newest member of their line of XTherm® products—the PX32 Series thermal projected window. With strutted and air pocketed thermal breaks, the PX32 makes significant gains in thermal resistance for vented configurations. The PX32 provides a complete solution for your high-performance fenestration needs.
EFCO Corp.
www.EFCOCorp.com
Hybrid Insulation System
Building designers are faced with maximizing the thermal performance of building envelopes from zero-energy single-family homes to LEED commercial buildings. Fi-Foil's innovative HY-Fi hybrid insulation system enhances the thermal performance of any air space. It is compatible with all types of insulation including foam, fiberglass batts, cellulose, and foam-board.
Fi-Foil® Company, Inc.
www.FiFoil.com
Interlocking Translucent Polycarbonate Wall
This LEED-friendly product offers beauty, durability, and economy. Tongue and groove style panels up to 39 feet long form a continuous wall of daylight unbroken by vertical or horizontal aluminum framing. Your facility will benefit from comfortable, diffused daylighting and all the advantages provided by cellular polycarbonate.
EXTECH/Exterior Technologies Inc.
www.extechinc.com
Pre-Engineered Rainscreen Cladding Panels
FunderMax is a global leader in the manufacturing and engineering of phenolic compact panels for exterior applications. It is known for engineering innovation such as the recently introduced Modulo panel system—an economical pre-engineered closed joint concealed fastening panel system.
FunderMax USA
www.fundermaxusa.com
High-Performance Glass
Guardian SunGuard SNX 51/23 boasts an industry-leading combination of high light transmission, low solar heat gain, and low reflectivity. SNX 51/23 glass meets North America's most stringent energy codes and has a neutral blue color, giving architects a new option to build with light.
Guardian Industries
www.SunGuardGlass.com
Curtain Wall System
Designed to help architects stay ahead of stringent code requirements, Kawneer's 1600UT (Ultra Thermal) Curtain Wall System™ delivers high thermal performance, versatility, reliability, and value. Ideal for low- to mid-rise commercial applications where high thermal performing façades are needed, the 1600UT Curtain Wall System™ raises the standards for pre-engineered performance.
Kawneer Company, Inc.
www.kawneer.com
Bronze Finish Meets Modern Design
Lorin's Medium Bronze Brushed ColorIn® was developed to change the architectural design landscape. Not only does the bronze color hold up to harsh UV exposure, it can be easily fabricated into panels, laser cut, and shaped into an infinite number of architectural designs.
Lorin Industries Inc.
www.lorin.com
Low-Maintenance Window Solution
Designed with a fusion-welded vinyl frame and sash for maximum performance and durability, Brickmould 600 offers a low-maintenance window with a multitude of exclusive features that will enhance the beauty of a home, including: painted exteriors, interior woodgrains, high-quality hardware finishes, and specialty glass for maximum performance and efficiency.
Simonton Windows & Doors
www.simonton.com
Unitized Panel System
Quest's ECOWALL product line is a system of unitized panels that are manufactured and pre-glazed at Quest's Mississauga Canada facility and shipped to site complete with insulated and spandrel glass, insulated panels, integrated operable windows, and ADA-compliant door products.
Quest Window Systems Inc.
www.ecowall.questwindows.com
Hidden-in-Plain-View Point Supports
Pilkington Planar™ Intrafix point-supported fittings are concealed within the structural glass insulating units for a crisp, uninterrupted view from the exterior with no external bolts, caps, or washers. The fixing mechanism captures the tempered or laminated inner leaf of an insulating unit with a stainless steel disk system. Planar Intrafix allows high-performance low-e coated glasses to be used for the external lite of the IG unit. Intrafix carries the standard Pilkington Planar™ 12-year system warranty.
W&W Glass, LLC
www.wwglass.com