M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal — Owners, Developers & Managers — Multifamily Development — May 20 - June 16, 2022 — 7C Multifamily Development
www.marej.com
A Case Study of the Health and Wellness Building at Anne Arundel Community College How Building Envelope Commissioning Plays a Role in Building Longevity and Sustainability
T he introduction of LEED v4.0 changed how Building Enve-
identified that the brick relieving angle above the windows posed challenges
of these potential impacts to the building envelope prior to building construction, al- lowed for the project team to work through them without causing delays to the con- struction schedule. Through periodic Qual - ity Assurance Observations (QAO) during the construc - tion phase, it was identified that the designed metal angles intended to support window heads were installed across areas where bump outs would be constructed. The original design intent was for these angles to stop
at the bump out locations, however, for ease of con- struction the contractor continued the angle across the top of the bump out requiring modifications to the architectural detail. Through ECS’ quality assur- ance process, a revised detail was developed to mitigate the risk of water and air intrusion in these systems. Using these testing and verification techniques, the project achieved two points for BECx in the Enhanced Commissioning credit, which helped the project
achieve LEED Gold status overall. Water and air in- filtration issues were not reported at the 10-month warranty site visit. Through active involvement of the BECx team throughout the project lifecycle, the outcome was a high-value and long performing build- ing that will serve Anne Arundel Community Col- lege students and faculty for years to come. Lisa Russell is Facilities Associate III and Evan Landis is Senior Project Engineer at ECS. MAREJ
lope Com- mi ss i on- ing (BECx) p l a y e d a role in a c h i e v - ing certi- fication in the LEED framework.
to accessing seals and the perim- eter window condition for detail- ing based on the ar- chitectural drawings.
Evan Landis
Lisa Russell
BECx implementation is most often driven by an owner focused on long- term quality performance. However, it is becoming more common for model code, local jurisdictions, governmental agencies, and third-party sustainability programs to require BECx, or portions of it for compli- ance. By introducing the enhanced commissioning credit in LEED v4.0 it in- troduced BECx to achieve a more sustainable building. BECx has the potential to provide short- and long- term value from project conception to building oc- cupancy by mitigating risk relative to the building envelope including but not limited to: occupant com- fort; indoor environmental quality (IEQ); heat, air and moisture control; moisture accumulation and conden- sation resistance; and code compliance in the design and construction phases. ECS applied the BECx process to the construction of the Health and Wellness Building at Anne Arun- del Community College Campus (AACC), a three- story,175,000 square-foot building that includes an auditorium, a gymnasium and classroom space. Our team provided services throughout the design and construction phases on this project to work through items such as complex de- tailing, mock-up testing, and construction challeng- es. This article examines two instances where the BECx process was able to provide value to the project. To verify the intended performance of the building envelope, an off-building mock-up was used to per- form testing of the systems prior to on-building as- sembly. During construc- tion of the mock-up, it was
This challenge was con- firmed through testing and showed discontinuities in the systems behind the re- lieving angle. Identification
™
SOME OF THE MANY WAYS WE SERVE OUR CLIENTS. STRUCTURAL FORENSICS
EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. From start to finish, our facilities consultants are experienced in due diligence, design, construction and operations to help you protect and maximize your investment.
BUILDING ENVELOPE CONSULTING THIRD PARTY INSPECTION PROGRAM PROPERTY CONDITION ASSESSMENTS
ECSFACILITIES@ECSLIMITED.COM
ECS MID-ATLANTIC ecslimited.com
GEOTECHNICAL | CONSTRUTION MATERIALS | ENVIRONMENTAL | FACILITIES
Made with FlippingBook Converter PDF to HTML5