Past Meetings

We live in a dynamic environment, but until now our building enclosures have been static in nature – unable to effectively control the flow of the sun’s light and heat into buildings from hour to hour and from season to season. Electronically tintable glass provides the means to develop a dynamic façade with variable visible light transmission and solar heat gain coefficient, which saves cooling and lighting energy, and solves problems of excessive solar heat gain, glare, fading and the need for unsightly blinds. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) states that their goal of a zero energy building in 2030 cannot be achieved without the use of dynamic glazing. Electronically tintable glass is now commercially available and is being actively specified and installed in building envelopes.

This session will briefly review dynamic electrochromic glass performance characteristics and the benefits to glazing contractors. The presentation will then focus on a number of diverse case studies to demonstrate the application of electrochromic glass in different building types and glazing applications to achieve different objectives such as glare control, heat control, daylighting, occupant comfort and to facilitate sustainable design. A discussion of installation will also be included.

Del Bankston has 35 years experience in the fenestration industry, beginning in 1976 as a glazier for 8 years, an owner and operator of AGA and AGC for 10 years, then taking on sales and management assignments across the nation including strategic cities: Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Denver, CO; and New York, NY. Bankston is Regional Sales Manager for SAGE Electrochromics and is responsible for the development and management of sales in the western region of the United States.

Prior to SAGE, Bankston worked as strategic partner and business developer for Serious Energy, formerly Serious Materials - a clean tech, energy Efficiency Company. He was responsible for establishing a presence in new markets nationwide and participated in strategic planning and forecasting.

A survey of sealant types and chemistry with a focus on selection basics, failure modes, and differences between sealant choices.

Dave Kimball began his 32-year career at Dow Corning Corporation in Midland, Michigan and has spent the last 26 of those years in the World of Sealants. Dave spent eight years in Dow Corning’s Elizabethtown, Kentucky Sealants Manufacturing Plant primarily in Quality and Technology Development roles. Then Dave moved to Northern California in a Technical Service Specialist position for Construction Products in the Western Region. In 2003, Dave returned to Midland, Michigan in a Senior Technical Service Specialist Role. In March 2007, Dave moved again … this time to the Houston, Texas area as a Field Application Technical Specialist including Technical Service Responsibility for the Western U.S. and Canada.

As the trend toward re-using buildings grows, re-skinning buildings will become ever more prevalent.  Presenters from SERA, Howard S. Wright, and Benson will give a very brief presentation and then a tour of the building emphasizing the story of the envelope.  The tour and presentation will tell the story of the project and the envelope.  Please bring a hard had and construction appropriate footwear.

Traditionally precast panel wall assemblies have been designed as face seal systems. In these systems weather tightness relies on water repellence treatment of the panels and on the detailing of the panel joints, such as binary sealant joints. More recent designs have attempted to incorporate rainscreen principles in the design of precast panel wall assemblies. In a typical rainscreen construction, the backup wall is installed first and then weatherproofed prior to the cladding installation. Such sequence happens to be challenging or impractical when the precast panels are designed as curtain wall to be hung on the building structure. The presenter has been involved in projects which address the need to install the precast panels first while incorporating a drainage path in the wall assembly. This presentation will discuss case studies and lessons learned from three projects recently completed in Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR.

Discussion of challenges with continuous exterior insulation

December’s presentation will outline two technologies related to high performance glazing. Speaker Michael Gainey, from Azon USA in MI, will discuss structural thermal barriers for aluminum window framing, and warm-edge spacer technology for insulating glass.

Michael Gainey is a 25-year veteran in the architectural and structural glazing industry working on both large and small projects across North America. He is a member of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and serves on committees of the Glass Association of North America (GANA), as well as the Insulating Glass Manufacturer's Association (IGMA). Mike is a frequent speaker at building enclosure councils and provides informative technical seminars regarding structural thermal barrier technology for high performance architectural aluminum fenestration and glazing. His project involvement includes several sustainable buildings in North America such as Vancouver’s Living Shangri-La, Toronto’s 18 York Street, and New York’s MoMA.

Mac Sheldon will present information on the use of spray foam insulation. He will focus on design considerations pertinent to thermal performance and evolving energy codes.

Spray foam insulation provides the opportunity to contribute to the thermal barrier, air barrier, and moisture barrier of envelope assemblies. However, it also presents challenges for proper design and installation. Topics will be examined relating the use of open and closed cell spray foam and methods for installation and common applications for wall and roof assemblies.

Mac Sheldon sits on the Board of Directors for the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA) and the Codes and Standards committee for the Center for the Polyurethane Industry (CPI). He is currently on the Technical Oversight Committee for SPFA and the Industry Advisory Council for the Cold Climate Housing Research Center in Fairbanks. He is certified in WUFI, WUFI 2-D, and WUFI-Plus, as well as HERS (RESNET).

The second of two BEC presentations for this year focusing on what project specific conditions warrant using an enclosure consultant and what conditions do not warrant inclusion of an enclosure consultant. The first panel discussion focused on the working relationship setup and strategies, and the second panel discussion (October 2011) focuses on working management and roles.

The subject matter of both panel discussions is decided on every project, even if it's by default in replicating past similar project decisions. Thus, hearing from various industry partners on this topic is pertinent.

The panel is balanced on this topic and audience participation via questions and comments is encouraged throughout. Please arrive with questions for the panel. The learning objectives below will form the initial questions for the panel members to start the discussion. The intent of this discussion is not to change viewpoints or debate. Instead, the intent is to have a discussion on a topic that numerous Architecture firms are currently discussing on most projects.

Alternative tools and strategies when enclosure consultants are not engaged will be explored as well as tools to maximize project value if enclosure consultants are engaged.