Re-Glazing of All Glass Curtain-Wall Buildings

This presentation continues a presentation given at the 2012 BEST 3 Conference: “Premature Failure and Re-Glazing of an Energy Efficient Structurally Glazed Curtain-wall Building”. The presentation delivered at BEST 3 covered the unique case study of a 48-story residential building whereby all of the proprietary energy efficient triple glazed integrated glass units (IGUs) within the building failed within a few short years of serviceThe presentation covered the various in-situ and laboratory testing procedures, resulting failure mechanisms, and proposed repair strategies. In 2013, the reglazing project was completed at a cost of over $6 million while the building, a mixed use, multiunit residential building over luxury hotel, was fully occupied. This was facilitated by the design and construction of a full ring-stage hung from the top of the building which allowed the new 500 lb glazing units to be replaced from the exterior of the building even during inclement weather. The BEST4 presentation pick up where the BEST 3 presentation left off and covers the selection process of the IGUs, structural design, ring-stage construction and the construction managed re-glazing process.

(This entry contains a conference paper and presentation in PDF. For optimal viewing, open in Adobe Acrobat Reader.)