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ASHRAE 2019 Annual Conference: BECx – Modern Unitized Curtain Wall and Fenestration Systems
June 22, 2019 - June 26, 2019
The ASHRAE Annual Conference brings together engineering professionals for five days of education sessions and technical presentations, aimed at addressing challenges of adapting design to constantly changing criteria, offer best practices, lessons learned, and innovative strategies. This year’s conference will be held in Kansas City, Missouri on June 22 to 26, 2016.
Session Overview: BECx – Modern Unitized Curtain Wall and Fenestration Systems
Building Envelope (or Enclosure) Commissioning (BECx) is a quality focus process gaining popularity in the North American construction industry. It borrows considerably from the more traditional electrical and mechanical commissioning, but with a few distinct differences. Much of the activities required for a successful Building Envelope Commissioning are directly tied to aspects of envelope construction such as pre-construction activities & decisions such as system selection, certified and experience teams of contractors and workers, design review & shop drawing review, performance mock-up construction and laboratory testing, execution in the field, and compliance testing to confirm project requirements are met.
Panelized or prefabricated construction offers some unique benefits and challenges to building construction. To many people, the idea of prefabricated or panelized construction sparks visions of “cookie cutter” buildings that lack architectural interest or sophistication. This no longer defines prefabricated or panelized construction. Unitized fenestration, such as curtain wall systems, are a type of panelized construction that have been used for many years, and are often not looked upon as being prefabricated. In reality unitized curtain wall systems and other panelized fenestration can form the entire building envelope system and share many of the same challenges and benefits as any panelized wall system.
A properly executed Quality Assurance program, including review by third party consultants during production of the unitized curtain wall panels, can be an important tool to provide transparency and traceability of many of the requirements necessary for a successful BECx outcome. This presentation will demonstrate how the process for design, production and installation of unitized curtain wall systems falls within the scope of the BECx process and will include examples of shop drawing review, lab and field mock-ups with testing, and plant review.
This session will be presented by Peter Adams, Senior Building Science Consultant.