WJE PROJECTS
James B. Hunt Jr. Library
CLIENT |
North Carolina State University |
LOCATION |
Raleigh, NC |
Building Enclosure Commissioning
The owner retained WJE to provide building enclosure commissioning services to assist in delivering a quality new building that manages and prevents air and water penetration into the building. Building enclosure commissioning is a quality-oriented process for achieving, verifying, and documenting that the performance of facilities, systems, and assemblies meets defined owner objectives and criteria.
BACKGROUND
The Hunt Library consists of a four-story, curved facade building designed by Snohetta, located centrally on the university campus. The exterior of the building features a unitized curtain wall and small areas of fiber cement panel cladding over a comprehensive air barrier and green roof assemblies. The new library serves as the center of technology-based learning and stores over 1.5 million volumes in a five-story automatic retrieval system housed partially below grade.
SOLUTION
On behalf of the owner, WJE services began with establishing the owner's project requirements in conjunction with the prime commissioning authority, Facility Dynamics Engineering (FDE). The project progressed with design phase peer reviews, and WJE assisted the predesign phase contractor, advising on curtain wall system selection and subcontractor qualification criteria in preparation for bidding. Prior to construction, a preconstruction laboratory mock-up and testing were performed. WJE undertook a comprehensive commissioning approach to the building enclosure. This consisted of the development of a building enclosure commissioning specification; laboratory mock-ups and performance testing; routine review of unitized curtain wall shop plant visits to verify quality control procedures; submittal reviews; building enclosure checklists; on-site construction observations and documentation; and building enclosure commissioning meetings and follow-ups. Field testing to validate the performance of the various building enclosure systems and components was undertaken by WJE staff with assistance from an independent testing facility. The project achieved LEED Silver status and has received numerous design awards.
The project highlights WJE's leadership within the building enclosure commissioning industry and is an excellent example of WJE's curtain wall and glazing expertise.
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