Facility managers at universities, colleges, specialty training centers and other higher education institutions are faced with multiple challenges to balance fast-track construction schedules with enduring value. High-performance, finished architectural aluminum products help meet these needs and contribute to attractive, efficient and easy-to-maintain buildings.
Competitive advantage
Students have more options than ever to pursue their learning goals. There are more than 20 million people enrolled in 11,800+ post-secondary educational institutions in the U.S. While online education offers a convenient opportunity, many students learn better with in-person instruction and live discussion.
The largest higher-ed organizations are campuses with hundreds of individual structures that compose entire towns. Others are small, specialized programs contained within single buildings. In total, the U.S. dedicates approximately 5 billion square feet of floorspace to colleges, universities and other post-secondary facilities.
In addition to differentiation through academic programs, an educational institution’s beautiful, well-maintained facilities can offer a competitive advantage when recruiting and retaining both students and faculty.
Colorfully finished exterior wall cladding, entrances and window systems present a warm welcome for a diverse student population. Anodized finishes, and mica and metallic coatings emphasize an eye-catching, high-tech, modern look. Architectural paints and coatings can be selected in bright hues or customized to a school’s unique color palette. Linetec’s in-house blending lab can match colors for continuity or contrast across a campus, for historic renovations, for multi-phased expansions or to blend with the natural setting.
For the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst’s John W. Olver Design Building, Linetec’s Copper Anodize finishes showcase a luxurious, rich, metallic appearance on Dri-Design’s aluminum panel rainscreen system. Leers Weinzapfel Associates (LWA) selected the colors and materials for their distinguished appearance, their integration with the architectural palette of the campus, and their biophilic connection with the timber and metal of the area’s natural, rural environment.
The UMass project’s environmental and sustainable attributes earned the Design Building LEED® Gold certification through the U.S. Green Building Council and numerous awards. Among its honors, the building was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment with a Top Ten Award and by AIA New England with a Merit Award for Design Excellence.
Photo courtesy of Dri-Design
Photo by Integrated Design Solutions, Kevin S. Marshall, courtesy of The Sherwin-Williams Company (Valspar)
The Bio Engineering Facility at Michigan State University (MSU) features a palette of gray, white and black to distinguish the new facility from both the traditional red brick of the campus standard and beige of the cast concrete of the more recent structures. To ensure a consistent appearance and uniform white color across the exterior aluminum building products, Integrated Design Solutions (IDS) relied on Linetec to finish Tubelite’s curtainwall and entrance systems in high-performance architectural coatings. Utilizing the latest technologies to analyze and formulate thousands of color variations ensures creation of the exact color specified.
Lessons in energy savings
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), post-secondary institutions are spending more than $6 billion on energy costs each year. Facility managers typically focus first on lighting and HVAC upgrades to incrementally increase energy savings. Significant savings can be gained by improving building envelope thermal performance with high-performance curtainwall, storefront, entrance, window and other fenestration systems.
Fenestration product manufacturers also save time and headaches when they partner with a single-source solution for architectural finishing and energy improvement. At Linetec, we conveniently coordinate everything in one location. We offer a choice of poured-and-debridged or polyamide insulating strips to improve aluminum-framed products’ thermal performance. We provide thermal improvement services for arched and circular shaped framing, and offer stretch forming to bend and curve your aluminum extrusions prior to finishing. Our finished flat sheet also is stocked and available for quick shipping.
In addition to improving fenestration products’ thermal performance, low- and no-VOC finishes may assist higher education projects in meeting LEED criteria and sustainability goals. Anodized finishes contain no VOCs. Linetec’s anodize process by-products are recyclable and anodized aluminum is 100% recyclable. To safely remove the VOCs in the liquid paints’ solvents, Linetec uses a 100% air capture system and regenerative thermal oxidizer. By managing this in its quality-controlled facility, there is no adverse environmental impact either at Linetec or on the jobsite.
As the new home of the Washington University’s (WashU’s) Department of Computer Science & Engineering, James M. McKelvey, Sr. McKelvey Hall was designed to be 30% more efficient than a standard building and is certified LEED v4 Gold. Perkins Eastman and the project team followed an integrated design process incorporating the principles of sustainable design with attention to energy efficiency, low-impact materials, reuse and recycling, quality and durability, and health and wellness.
As a single-source solution, Linetec provided both the high-performance finishing and thermal improvement services for the aluminum-framed fenestration products from Tubelite and Wausau Window and Wall Systems. The window wall, curtainwall, entrance and shading systems were finished in “Amazing Gray” and “Noble Gray” colors.
Linetec applied the high-performance 70% PVDF resin-based architectural coatings, including safely capturing and destroying the solvent VOCs before the finished materials exited the paint line. Every material selected for McKelvey Hall was screened against a multitude of variables, including LEED v4 requirements, Red List chemicals, healthcare-level standards outlined in the Healthier Hospitals Initiative and the WELL Building Standard™.
Photos by Paúl Rivera
Valuable investment
Post-secondary institutions seek to instill a sense of credibility and permanence through their facilities. To see an aging structure in disrepair subconsciously erodes our trust in the value of the education offered within its walls.
High-performance finished aluminum products support a lasting, positive impression. Anodized finishes provide exceptional durability to withstand daily use. To ensure the highest level of performance, specify AAMA 611 for Class I anodize coatings.
Photo by Charles LeRette Photography, courtesy of Tubelite
Designed by PQH Group, Florida’s Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s 650-bed student residence hall incorporates an ultra-modern look, natural light, campus views, and comfortable living and learning environment. To meet the project’s required aesthetic, sustainability and performance specifications, Tubelite manufactured the window, curtainwall, storefront and entrance systems, and an airfoil fin.
In compliance with AAMA 611 specifications, Linetec anodized all Tubelite systems to enhance the building’s high-tech aesthetic and to provide high-performance protection from Florida’s extreme coastal conditions and the students’ daily use. The anodized aluminum resists the ravages of time, temperature, corrosion, humidity and warping, with minimal maintenance.
For painted finishes, specify AAMA 2605 for 70% PVDF resin-based coatings. These top-class finishes require very little maintenance and are easy to clean, which minimizes the associated costs for labor, repairs and replacement.
The Elmer Buchta Technology Center supports the immediate and future educational and employment needs of Pike County, Indiana. The cheerful multi-colored building creates a welcoming presence in the community. Designed by Hafer, the exterior features a metal rainscreen wall panel system manufactured by John W. McDougall Company Inc.
To maintain its inviting appearance, Linetec finished the 629 panels using 70% PVDF-resin based architectural coating systems in four different colors: Bone White, Cityscape Gray, a dark Regal Blue and a light Siam Blue.
Linetec applied the finishes under quality-controlled conditions to meet the industry’s most stringent performance specification, AAMA 2605. Protecting and enhancing the aluminum panels, these coatings’ strengths include resistance to color change, gloss loss, chemicals, UV, chalking, erosion, humidity and salt spray.
Photos by Richard Chisum, Chisum Multimedia; courtesy of John W. McDougall Company, Inc.
High-quality, high-performance, finished architectural aluminum products enrich the institutional investment in higher education facilities and their long-lasting, energy-efficient, cost-effective operation.