Past Meetings

In this course we will present a basic guideline for identifying and understanding water ingress in new and existing buildings. We will review the different modes of water-related building enclosure failures, discussing how to identify and approach repair of both unique and systemic issues, in the context of multiple different building typologies, materials, and typical assemblies. The course will present a number of case studies, highlighting issues that may arise both during and after construction, as well as after many years of operation and occupancy. Using these case studies in hand with the understanding gained on modes of failure, attendees will learn how to avoid common mistakes in design and construction that may compromise durability and performance of the building enclosure in the long run.

Caroline has over 15 years of experience in the building design and construction industry. She joined Morrison Hershfield in 2014, relocating to our Portland, Oregon office in 2016. Caroline has worked in the fields of architecture and building envelope consulting throughout the Pacific Northwest. She brings a multidisciplinary approach to building science and endeavors to incorporate new technologies and innovative problem solving into building design, construction, and rehabilitation.

The building enclosure design is an important element in all project construction types but is elevated more when considering the use of Mass Timber. In the Southern US region, the learning curve is high androject examples are low for Mass Timber. Two projects in the Houston area have experienced high rain levels and even a rare snow storm event during construction. These weather events have brought to the forefront the many challenges that exist in building a project constructed of wood in this wet weather climate. The typical construction with steel and concrete does not take into account the need to allow for rain water to be alleviated during construction. These lessons learned have created new responses that allow for water to be quickly removed off the CLT deck and all the pow for quick, noncombustible envelope installation. Therefore, the building dries out faster, providing a better working environment for the remaining installation trades.

Darrell Whatley, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, is a Vice President with Kirksey Architecture and serves as a project manager on the Collegiate team. He has 24 years of experience focusing on higher education buildings that have ranged from 1,000 bed student housing, dining halls, classroom buildings to workforce training facilities. Currently he is managing the design of two mass timber collegiate projects. The first is the nation’s largest collegiate instructional building for San Jacinto Community College at 122,000 square feet. The second is a 5 story, 166 bed New Hanszen College for Rice University at 56,000 square feet. He has developed new detailed design approaches with the use of mass timber in these facilities with a thoughtful approach to sustainability. Recently he has presented and actively promoted mass timber at the San Jacinto College’s Gulf Coast Mass Timber Conference, Woodworks Texas Wood Design Symposium, ULI Tulsa Conference and the Gulf Coast Green Conference.

Adapting to Changing Conditions, Innovations in the Building Envelope: Technical Innovations, Adapting to Changing Weather, and Disclosure Requirements Related to Climate Change Performance

Building materials enable architecture, and innovation can test the strength of historical materials selection processes. For example, architectural innovation may require that plastics and polymer composites be subjected to operational requirements that were not as relevant to prior designs. As a result, traditionally successful materials may be subjected to not fully anticipated conditions during their development and testing. This presentation will explore instances where architectural innovation has resulted in materials functioning beyond the tested requirements. The examples include cold warping of insulated glass units (IGU), incidents of sealant failure in IGUs, and finally, how testing methods and models can be adapted from these examples to match the pace of innovation in architectural design.

Dr. White, a senior managing scientist for Exponent, assists clients by solving technical problems related to the specification, reliability and sustainability of polymeric materials used in a variety of industries including construction, infrastructure, transportation, chemicals and utilities. One of Dr. White's core competencies is characterizing weather-related changes to the chemical and physical properties of polymers and how those degradative changes may affect end-use performance. This expertise enables him to provide solutions to complex issues related to assessing durability, failure, sustainability, and climate change effects on materials and assets exposed to weathering. He is skilled in developing and utilizing test methods and standards to analyze plastics, rubbers, textiles, metals, glass, and ceramic composite materials. Dr. White is skilled in offering technical guidance throughout all phases of product development including formulation, scale-up, end-use testing and field performance assessments.

1.25 AIA LU/HSW

The evolution of outcome-based performance criteria in the building & construction industry is placing more emphasis on the traditional ways of addressing air and water tightness. There is such a strong correlation between energy performance of commercial buildings and the management of uncontrolled air infiltration that we have seen Energy Codes (e.g. ASHRAE 90.1) and select jurisdictions adopt requirements to show a continuous air barrier systems in the construction documents and to demonstrate compliance of the construction through testing. As a way of measuring this performance criteria, the industry has seen a rise in whole-building air leakage testing.

The design of the building, the selection of the appropriate material, the awareness and means of addressing key interface details are pivotal in a successful whole-building air leakage test. With enhanced air-tightness requirements in the State of Washington Energy Code, this course will explore the paths that two recently completed projects took to achieve its air-tightness performance goals through a method paralleling that of the Building Enclosure Commission (BECx) process.

Focus will be on the on aspects of building enclosure detailing, installation, and material selection and their specific performance capabilities that enabled the building enclosure system to ultimately demonstrate how they positively impact the whole building air-tightness performance and verified through whole building air tightness testing. The financial implications of the BECx–inspired process, and its associated testing, will be discussed in the context of the overall benefit the process brought to the project.

A LEED® Accredited Professional, Stanley is a facade design and construction scientist for Dow. He has over 25 years experience in the global building enclosure industry working in curtain wall and exterior cladding contracting, as well as providing construction industry stakeholders with independent façade consulting expertise. Stanley’s specialties include: building enclosure design and construction practices, and performance consulting for air-water-vapor-thermal resistant design concepts and practices. He holds a Building Engineering degree from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Stanley has previously served on the Board of Directors of the National Glass Association and currently also serves as a technical advisor and delegate on various ASTM and ISO technical committees.

This presentation is an overview of the environmental and economic benefits of a properly designed, installed, and maintained vegetated roof. We will review the generic components that comprise typical green roof systems, and we will address concerns in-depth including wind uplift considerations and how to treat drains to avoid flooding. We will also review local case studies ranging from thriving systems to outright failures, and how the design and maintenance of the systems affects the outcomes.

Liz Morris is the president of Green Up LLC, the firm she founded to work with architects, building owners, contractors and municipalities to develop and restore on-structure vegetation and amenity spaces. Liz has been working with green roofs across North America for nearly 15 years, with the majority of her project experience on commercial roofs in Portland, Washington and California. She is experienced in all phases of green roofing, from conceptual development and specification, through procurement and installation, as well as maintenance and restorations. She has presented hundreds of continuing education sessions to architects, and has trained dozens of installers in green roofing. Liz is the co-founder and past president of the Green Roof info Think-tank (GRiT) and is the Green Roof Professional Education Chair on the Board of Directors of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC).

1 AIA LU/HSW

Oversized and super-sized glass for construction is offered in various formats across the North American and international markets. Suppliers have scaled up most glass production processes and can offer high performing glass with impressive dimensions. Scaling up glass production comes with cost and technical implications. This lecture provides an overview about the development and status of oversized glass production and the various production and processing stages involved. Critical aspects for design and specification will be explained as well as watch-it for the review of the final product.  

As a Façade Specialist, Felix advances complex façade and glass design at RDH. He is a highly creative engineer and experienced team leader with over 15 years of experience in façade consulting and structural engineering. He enjoys designing structures and façades influenced by individual materials or products. He has worked with many cladding types and specializes in structural façades, structural glass, complex geometry structures, and uncommon building materials such as ETFE and fiber-reinforced polymers.

This presentation will explore how the details of iconic historic houses, both traditional and modernist, have contributed to their durability or lack thereof, and what we can learn from their successes and failures for both preservation and new design. Case studies will include the speaker’s assessment or restoration work on these six details from six iconic houses:

1. Gropius House, designed by Walter Gropius, 1938, Lincoln MA, (window head and sill details)
2. Johnson Thesis House, designed by Philip Johnson, 1942, Cambridge MA (wall to foundation detail)
3. Zimmerman House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1951, Manchester, NH (clay tile roofing details)
4. Palazzetto degli Anguillara (aka Casa di Dante), c. 1450, Rome Italy (roof to wall transition detail)
5. Paul Revere House, 1680, Boston MA (enclosure form-finding)
6. Palazzo Braschi, designed by Cosimo Morelli, 1790, Rome Italy (window surround details)

Matthew Bronski, P.E., is a Principal, and the Preservation Technology Practice Leader at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH), where he has practiced for the past 26 years. Matthew has led SGH’s projects on many iconic buildings, including many National Historic Landmarks. He has published over a dozen technical papers, and has served as a guest lecturer or critic at numerous universities, including Harvard, MIT, and Yale. He also serves as an instructor in the Getty Conservation Institute’s annual international course on conserving modern architecture. He holds a Bachelor's in engineering from Tulane, and Master's degrees in both architecture and historic preservation from Penn. In 2009, he became only the second engineer in 113 years to receive the prestigious Rome Prize, which he received in the field of Historic Preservation and Conservation.

A failure of an installed curtain wall on a commercial project can be costly and time consuming. A failure can do more that physical property damage. It can have an impact on all parties involved in the project and repercussions could last years. Most failures can be tracked to simple mistakes that were preventable. Mistakes come from people rushing to complete a project; not understanding specific project conditions and how these impact the system; not understanding completely how a system performs or failing to follow the fabrication or installation guidelines provided by the manufacturer. This presentation takes a high-level look at common causes of failures that occur repeatedly. This is not intended to make all field experts but to illustrate conditions that if identified early could prevent a failure. All stakeholders in a commercial project want to see it completed successfully and last years. Identifications of potential problems early will assist in the health and welfare of the commercial building and those who utilize the facility.

Henry Taylor is a native of Atlanta, Georgia where he earned his undergraduate degree at Georgia State University and Masters at Kennesaw State University. He has been in glass & glazing for over 30 years and has experience with a commercial glass shop and national glass fabricator, and has spent the majority of his career with the Kawneer Company. Henry started with Kawneer in Field Sales working with commercial glass companies and architects designing commercial projects then moved to the corporate headquarters to start up and manage the Architectural Services Team. During this time he was on the board of the Glass Association of North America and chairman of the BEC (Building Envelope Contractors) leading three of their annual meetings. Currently Henry manages the Training Department for Kawneer where he spends time working with their customer network training field crews, project managers and estimators. He continues to work with architects through Kawneer’s support of the AIA CES program preparing and presenting AIA CES presentations and manages issuing AIA Learning Units and certificates to attendees.

1 AIA LU/HSW