
More Than a Facade
In 2014, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) as an accredited ANSI Standards D…
In 2014, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) as an accredited ANSI Standards D…
ASTM published the first version of ASTM E2461-05: Standard Practice for Determining the Thickness of Glass in Airport Traffic Control Tower Cabs in …
Glass is an essential component for any type of building. Its transparency enhances daylighting and provides occupants a view to the outside. Whether…
Flat cable-net facades are form-active structures which provide maximum transparency by means of point fixing components, tensioned cables, and struc…
Buildings account for over 40% of global emissions (GlobalABC, 2018). Growing populations and higher standards of living are increasing pressure on t…
With net zero and carbon neutral mandates on the near horizon, New York City has pushed the green building envelope by leveraging incentive-based pro…
The testing of aluminum/glass curtainwalls for seismic capability, mainly inter-story drift, has been carried out on many curtainwalls over the last …
ASTM E 1300 “Standard Practice for Determining Load Resistance of Glass in Buildings” defines the load resistance of a glass construction as being th…
What was once an accepted reality in heat-treated exterior glass, optical disturbances in glass are under increasing scrutiny by developers, designer…
With the desire for more sustainable construction and reduced embodied energy, mass timber is being explored for building structures. For medium and …
It is commonly thought that fenestration U-factor is not a key determinant in the performance of facades in hot climates, and generally the focus of …
Healthcare projects in northern California require specialized knowledge to navigate regulation, technological advancements, and project execution du…
The tragic fire of June 14, 2017 at the Grenfell Tower in London, England has brought to a very public global forum issues related to the impact of f…
Current glass industry standards provide clear tolerances for readily quantifiable physical properties to assist with the evaluation of visual qualit…
Many factors will influence coating selection, but to achieve the desired performance level for a given situation, coatings must be specified based u…
Curtain wall design commonly uses insulating glass units for vision and spandrel glazing to provide better visual harmonization of building facade gl…
Over the years, the industry has relied heavily on the increasing performance of low-e coatings to drive window U-factors (thermal transmittance) low…
One of the most complex yet least understood areas where fire can spread is at the perimeter of a building. Fire can not only spread from floor-to-fl…
Large master planned developments such as Battery Park City in Manhattan, Mission Bay in San Francisco, and Playa Vista in Los Angeles were built ove…
A building’s envelope mitigates the effects of meteorological phenomena – including lightning – upon the structure and its occupants and contents. Th…