Redefining the Workplace

by Jonathan McGaha | August 31, 2016 12:00 am

New headquarters creates “living laboratory” that focuses on occupant comfort and well-being

When Saint-Gobain Corp.[1] and its subsidiary CertainTeed Corp.[2] began looking for a site for their new shared North American corporate headquarters, one of the first decisions was whether to build from the ground up or renovate an existing structure. When they visited a vacant campus in Malvern, Pa.-about nine miles from their existing headquarters-that could provide integrated, mixed-use space with significant room for expansion and still be within close proximity to its existing employee base, they were intrigued.

The 65-acre suburban project site, contained two existing four-story buildings joined by a four-story connecting link. The existing building was originally designed for National Liberty Life Insurance in the early 1960s, however, after many years the campus sat vacant while the developer waited to find the right company that would be up to the task of transforming the property into its full potential.

 

Stretching the Limits of Performance

As one of the world’s largest manufacturers of building materials, Saint-Gobain realized that the location presented an unusual opportunity to build a dynamic headquarters that maximizes the comfort and health of employees through a wide range of building materials from its family of companies, including its largest construction brand CertainTeed, that have the power to improve air quality, moisture management, acoustics, energy efficiency, thermal management and ergonomics. Better yet, they saw that the building could be much more than a workplace. It could be a “living laboratory” where the company’s research team could measure the benefits that its products provide the real workplace.

The Malvern facility’s combination of more than 50 products from the Saint-Gobain portfolio and thoughtful design earned the headquarters complex LEED v3 Platinum certification for both commercial interiors and core and shell from the U.S. Green Building Council[3] (USGBC).

Programs such as LEED certification-with so-called “stretch performance” standards that far exceed requirements of typical building codes-place heavy emphasis on indoor environmental issues, particularly thermal comfort, air quality and acoustics. Insulation products manufactured by CertainTeed helped the new buildings meet these rigorous standards.

 

A Tighter Envelope

One of the first steps in the renovation process was stripping the existing building down to its core skeletal structures. From this framework, a sleek new office space, encased in walls of glass, was created. Employees enjoy an abundance of natural light and sweeping views of nature from nearly anywhere in the building.

As beautiful as the new glass-centric design is, it presented challenges from a thermal management standpoint. To address these issues, CertainTeed’s Sustainable Insulation[4]–made of fiberglass with a high percentage of recycled glass and a plant-based binder with no added formaldehyde, harsh acrylics, dyes or unnecessary fire retardants-was maxed out in spandrel sections at floor lines. Existing brick masonry wall sections housing elevator, stair and mechanical columns, which previously were only insulated with block fill, were incorporated into the new building design and covered with several inches of continuous insulation over the entire surface.

Using Sustainable Insulation as a thermal break between the new curtainwall frame and the existing building structure, as well as maximizing the thermal resistance of opaque wall areas, allows the building to resist heat flow to the greatest extent possible. A total of 32,000 square feet of fiberglass insulation was used in the renovation.

Thanks to extremely low emissions, Sustainable Insulation does not contribute either particulates or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the interior environment, which helped the project reach its air quality as well as thermal performance goals.

 

Dealing with Ductwork

Question: What is one of the best ways to communicate with someone on the other side of a building?Answer: Speak into the duct work.

A key benefit of insulating a duct on the inside is that the insulation provides noise reduction in addition to maintaining the temperature of conditioned air that passes through it. As part of the company’s commitment to minimize the environmental impact of the renovation, the project team was able to reuse much of the buildings’ existing ductwork, which was already lined, supplemented by over 3,000 square feet of CertainTeed ToughGard TGR rotary duct liner.

To further improve the overall thermal performance of the air-handling system, over 172,000 square feet of CertainTeed SoftTouch duct wrap was used to reduce heat loss/gain and condensation.

In keeping with the facility’s status as a “living laboratory,” where CertainTeed and Saint-Gobain can test and evaluate the performance of their products in an actual commercial office environment, thermal comfort and energy use have been closely monitored since employees moved in October 2015. Preliminary data collected by the CertainTeed building science team proves that the insulation systems are performing as expected, however, a deeper analysis the company is doing with Associate Professor Ihebab Elzeyadi of The University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts, to measure the impact of headquarters’ design on employees will reveal even more insights. Saint-Gobain plans to have complete results by early 2017.

PROJECT TEAM The E. Kahn Development Corp., Downingtown, Pa., and J. Loew & Associates Inc., Downingtown, in collaboration with Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based AEGON USA Realty Advisors LLC, led the headquarters redesign project. The design team included Kennett Square, Pa.-based Bernardon (exterior and lobby architect); Philadelphia-based Jacobs (interior designer); and Downingtown-based D. Fickler Construction LLC (general contractor). Additional support was provided by local sustainability consulting firms including Philadelphia-based The Sheward Partnership, Jacobs, and Royersford, Pa.-based Sustainable Solutions Corp.

 

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Lucas Hamilton is manager, building science applications for CertainTeed Corp., Malvern, Pa. To learn more, visit www.certainteed.com[5].

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/redefining-the-workplace/

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