Aluminum in Arkansas:
An Environmentally Friendly Environmental Headquarters
Stefan Schumacher,
Posted
06/01/2008
"All the panels,
composite and curtainwall were aluminum. Curtainwall historically
is always aluminum. The aluminum panels are very versatile on
fabrication. I have not found the other alloys are as forgiving and
easy to work with. I like the aluminum; it's easily recyclable,
plus you never have any rusting. Long-term maintenance issues are
much less."
That's how Rob Young, project manager with Ace Glass, Little Rock,
Ark., explained the benefits of using aluminum as a major part of
the new Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality headquarters
in North Little Rock. The building was dedicated in September
2007.
ADEQ is a state agency whose goal is to protect Arkansas' natural
resources-its air, water and land-from pollution. It does this
through regulatory, proactive and educational programs and has
offices and area inspectors throughout the state. Some of ADEQ's
regulatory functions include administering environmental protection
programs, issuing permits to facilities, carrying out inspections
and taking enforcement actions against violators.
ADEQ built a six-story, $17 million sustainable headquarters. There
are 14 departments within the new headquarters, utilizing both
general office space and laboratory facilities. There is also a
commission room for large group meetings.
Green Points
Fitting for a headquarters of environmental quality, the ADEQ
project had a variety of elements aimed at protecting the
environment. Daylighting and reducing solar heat gain were
addressed by combining sunshades with the building's curved shape
and narrow depth to track the sun and provide maximum penetration
of daylight (90 percent daylight views) into the workspace. Other
sustainability features include a highly reflective roof system
that reduces the heat island effect; landscaping that gives the
site a proper irrigation system; dual flush valves on WCs and
waterless urinals that reduce water usage; and site lighting that
does not have any off-site light pollution. In addition,
low-emission wood, paint and carpet were used, and an indoor air
quality plan was enacted throughout the building. Fifty percent of
the on-site generated construction waste was diverted from
landfills, and 20 percent of the project materials were
manufactured locally. The interior finishes and furnishings were
chosen to minimize off gassing and protect the air quality and
subsequently the health of its inhabitants.
These initiatives, along with the the use of the aluminum, helped
earn the project a three out of four Green Globe rating and LEED
Gold certification. Green Globes is licensed by the Green Building
Initiative, Portland, Ore., and LEED is a program of the U.S. Green
Building Council, Washington, D.C. It was the first state office
building in Arkansas to receive such certification, and Young said
aluminum's recyclability was a key factor.
Metal
Aspects
Using product from Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga., ACE
Glass fabricated and installed 14,000 square feet (1,301 m2) of
Reynobond ACM 0.16-inch (4-mm) panels with PE core in a Bright
Silver Metallic Duranar finish for the exterior of the stair
towers, column covers and the main entrance canopy. In addition,
5,000 square feet (465 m2) of Reynolux Profile 7.2-inch (183-mm)
rib panel in Bright Silver Metallic run vertically on the
penthouses; 9,000 square feet (836 m2) of 4-inch (102-mm) rib panel
in Bright Silver Metallic run horizontally at the second floor
level; and 1,500 square feet (139 m2) of 0.040 Flat Sheet in Bright
Silver Metallic were used for the flashing and trim.
ACE Glass attached the ribbed panels directly to the metal
substrate, and the ACM panels were installed in a route and return
wet seal system with caulked joints. ACE Glass also installed
products from Norcross, Ga.-based Kawneer, which is part of Alcoa's
global Building and Construction Systems: 1600 Wall System 2
curtainwall, 350 Medium Stile Entrances, 1600 SunShade, Trifab VG
(VersaGlaze) 451T (Thermal) Framing and Trifab 400 Framing. Nabholz
Construction of Conway, Ark., served as the project's general
contractor. The architects were Taggart Foster Currence Gray
Architects, North Little Rock, and Williams & Dean Associated
Architects, Little Rock.
Project Details
Young said the job was competitively bid, and Alcoa won the work
because of its ability to deliver all three product lines:
curtainwall, composite and profile.
One of the biggest challenges of the installation was time. "We
were on a relatively tight timeframe, but it seems that all our
construction projects are now. We had an excellent general
contractor and a good architect who was able to achieve what he
wanted to achieve," Young said. "The biggest thing was the
timeframe. That's just the way it is. It's getting worse. It may be
as bad as it can get right now. Everyone is trying to shrink
construction schedules as tight as they can. They're trying to
[start earning] revenue from the property."
Using metal aided in completing the project quickly, according to
Young. "Certainly the metal, the way we applied it, covered a lot
of space in a short timeframe," he said. "The profile sheets were
20-feet [6-m] long and 3-feet [0.9- m] tall. You can cover a lot of
square footage in a very short time."
Jerry Currence of Taggart Foster Currence Gray Architects chose
aluminum cladding cladding and glass materials for the exterior of
the 125,000-square-foot (11,613-m2) building because of their
sustainability and recycled content, as well as their design
qualities.
"I design with aluminum because I enjoy the way it interacts with
light, particularly when it is used on curving surfaces," Currence
said. "Its personality changes through the day and through the
seasons. Sometimes a brilliant amber in the morning; it can shift
to ruby and orange hues at sunset. It can be as blue as a summer
sky or as cold and gray as a winter storm.
Aluminum doesn't simply exist within its environment, it engages
it. "Aluminum's timeless aesthetic, durability, maintainability and
its light weight all made it a smart choice for ADEQ's new
headquarters. Its sustainability made it a natural choice." The
metal used also provided some versatility in installation,
particularly with the corner trims. Currence elected to have all
enclosed rather than open reveals at corners so fl at sheet was
used to cover edges where profi le panels joined.
"The [Reynolux] profile panels are just a single-ply sheet that are
meant to cover up, and you basically put them up on a wall and
screw them off," Young added. "You can do a lot more fabrication on
the [Reynobond] composite where you have cleaner, crisper corners.
You can fold it. The profiles were horizontal installation with
corrugation so it gives a lot of texture.
"The composite was used as the bottom of the curtainwall in
conjunction with the corrugated on the stairwells. We did composite
on the stairwells and profile on the penthouses. It's a design
intent. You could use either one in either place."
Young said the composite, which has a skin of aluminum (10,000ths
of an inch) on each side, is a very flat sheet.
"You don't get any oil canning, it doesn't ripple, so it looks very
good in a big expanse," he said.
Environmental Tilt
All in all, there was a kind of symmetry to the ADEQ project. The
environmental tilt to just about every part of the building, inside
and out, feels like a physical expression of the agency's mission.
And if your mission is to protect the environment around you, what
better place to start than at home.