The theater had simply outgrown its former home in West Valley. That theater included a seating capacity of 613 in 42,000 square feet. Since 2004, each performance played to 100 percent capacity. Dietlein said the only other option was to increase ticket prices. Even at the new theater, however, Dietlein is intent on providing one of the best enter- tainment values in Utah. Tickets for all shows are $40 for adults and $20 for children.
“It’s been a real team effort to have creative and outward thinking,” Dietlein said. “And with a construction team like Layton, this is one of the most beautiful things they’ve ever done. What they pulled off in a very short time frame is nothing short of amazing.”
STEVE WEYEL is a product manager with The BILCO Company (www.bilco.com), which manufactures roofing and other specialty access products for the construction industry.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is the first Smithsonian museum to aim for the presti- gious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. It is also the first to incorporate structural thermal breaks (STBs) as part of an over-arching conservation strategy. “Although energy efficiency is high on the museum’s priority list, pro- tecting the collection is paramount. The textiles, woods, and other sim- ilar organic materials are very sensitive to temperature changes,” said Marcus Wilkes, SmithGroupJJR principal. “Museum environments, like NMAAHC, often require 50 percent relative humidity, which puts pressure on the envelope that other building types don’t typically face. We therefore pursued thermal break solutions more to combat conden- sation than for energy efficiency, but both were important.” Solving museum mold problems with structural insulation According to Wilkes, the biggest risk to a museum’s “mission critical” function, from a building envelope perspective, is thermal bridging, in which structural concrete or steel penetrations such as at rooftop con- nections, canopies, and balconies conduct cold through the insulated building envelope and dissipate it into the warm interior environment during winter months. In addition to wasting energy, these chilled pen- etrations can form condensation on the warm interior side of the build- ing envelope, especially where humidity is sufficiently high enough for the exposed cold structure to reach the dew point, such as at a museum. As a result, mold can grow on cold surfaces, threatening building oc- cupants and the museum’s collection, years before it becomes visible on interior walls and ceilings. SmithGroupJJR oversaw the building envelope, or façade exterior, which called for “being diligent about the insulation and membrane continuity, and some heroic detailing” to prevent thermal bridging. The Rooftop penetrations on the newest Smithsonian museum use structural thermal breaks to protect artifacts and conserve energy. Building envelope integrity
The three-tiered corona of the National Museum of African American History and Culture symbolizes faith, hope, and resiliency.
firm designed the façade to provide continuous insulation. However, a major design change about three quarters of the way into the documen- tation process introduced new risks and challenges. “At the last minute, we had to swap out a chilled water connection with rooftop cooling towers, so we suddenly had an unprotected piece
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csengineermag.com
february 2018
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