Watch the Windows

When designing a building for energy efficiency, watch the windows. Windows can contribute significantly to both winter heat loss and summer heat gain.

The technologies for preventing winter heat loss are well established. Windows on the Science Center consist of two pieces of glass filled with a layer of argon gas, transforming the otherwise conductive glass into a fairly good insulator. A low-emissivity coating on one of the two interior surfaces of the double paned window reflects interior heat, further decreasing heat flow through the unit.

More innovative is the engineering and design that prevents science center's glass atrium from heating up in summer. A slight tint and a screened-on frit pattern on the large atrium windows will block about 80% of the sun's heat from entering the space. The frit pattern covers about 23% of the surface in a translucent series of small ellipses. While the fritting will also decrease desired solar gain in the winter, winter heat gain is tiny in comparison to the energy saved by keeping the summer atrium cooler.

In addition to its entire energy savings, the overall effect of the fritted pattern is beautiful.  The ellipse design is echoed in the atrium’s ceiling. Additionally, the frit pattern was designed with a spacing that is thought to decrease bird strikes onto the large glass surface.  Biology professor Ken Yasukawa plans to work with students in the new building to explore this further.

The special fritted glass window that will flank the east and west sides of the atrium are being installed on the building's west end. Operable windows that can open and allow in fresh air are being installed in faculty offices. Ventilation safety requirements do not allow operable windows on the labs.

Carpeting is starting to be installed on the first floor. The special Noraplan rubber flooring for the labs has arrived from Georgia, and installation is starting. This material, made from a rapidly renewable resource, is remarkably resistant to corrosives; it takes 30 minutes of exposure to concentrated nitric acid, before it begins to discolor!

The installation of the air handling units, smoke exhaust fans, ductwork, and emergency power generator is well underway, as is the installation of the curved metal supports that are obvious from a distance. The curved metal roof will be installed on the supports in the next two weeks, providing cover for the mechanical systems.

Two of the three spectacular external stairs have been installed, and the final one is underway. The exterior glass panels come next, starting with the southeast stairwell, possibly just visible on the far right of the web cam image.

One of the first construction tasks for the new Center for the Sciences was taking up over 275 tons of concrete and asphalt that had been Emerson Street. Frank Brothers of Janesville crushed the material so that it could be used for new roadbeds and as clean fill. And with that step, the College started an ambitious campaign to reuse or recycle most of the waste generated by the construction of the new building.

In addition to the concrete and asphalt of Emerson Street, over 25 tons of metal and 31 tons of wood, as well as drywall, plastics, paper, bottles, and cardboard, including even the trash from the workers' lunches, are being recycled! The soil, dug from the site, has been stored until it can be used again in landscaping around the building and for filling in after the Chamberlin deconstruction. Drywall scraps are ground up and used as soil amendments and animal bedding. To date, 424 tons of material or 93 percent of all waste generated on site has been reused or recycled.

With construction recycling well in hand, we are now looking toward our biggest recycling challenge yet - the deconstruction of Chamberlin Hall. As complicated as that task will be, our goal is to salvage, reuse, or recycle 90 percent of Chamberlin Hall. Stay tuned as we start to dig into that project.