Ask the Expert: Mastering Building Façades with Michael Signorile
In the latest episode of Ask the Expert, Michael Signorile, Exterior Envelope Supervisor at Pavarini McGovern, dives into the world of building façades. From design considerations and constructability reviews to cutting-edge technologies like BIPV and electrochromic glass, Signorile shares strategies for delivering high-performance, energy-efficient, and visually striking façades on complex projects.
HOST
Michael Signorile
Exterior Envelope SupervisorPavarini McGovern
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Ask The Expert:
Mastering Building Façades with Michael Signorile
Hello and welcome to Ask the Expert, a series on the Building Conversations podcast, where STO Building Group experts answer questions from our listeners.
I’m your host, Michael Signorile, exterior envelope supervisor at Pavarini McGovern, and today we’re diving into the world of building façades: why they matter, how they’re evolving, and what it takes to get them right on complex construction projects. Let’s get started.
Question one. Why are building façades such an important part of construction today, especially in cities like New York? Building façades, especially in cities like New York, they’re critical to the urban fabric and the overall aesthetic of the city. Architects typically will design based on the regional context of the city, and that starts by informing the building envelope, factors such as climate building use. They all play a role into the actual façade. In New York, where we have high density, building tall is critical. So for us trying to optimize, be as efficient as possible, unitizing a building envelope, it’s critical to make sure that our buildings and our projects stay on track in terms of cost, budget, and overall efficiency.~
Question two. What can general contractors do early on in a project to ensure the façade meets energy and budget goals? So for us at Pavarini McGovern, we typically start all of our projects doing constructability reviews of the projects trying to ensure that what’s being proposed by the design team is buildable and also cost effective. At that point, that really leads us to trying to gain as much subcontractor input as possible. Obviously, the specialists are key for us manufacturers and the installers typically install and logistics could be 50 to 60% of the cost of the actual project just based off of the complexity. New York, where we have tight lot lines, logistics are critical for us, so making sure we’re working hand in hand early on with the contractors it’s very important, especially when we’re trying to maintain the design intent of the client and the architect.
Question three. You’ve worked on design assist projects on complex façades with design teams. How does this process help the project go more smoothly? So for us, a design assist project or process is a phase typically 12-to-16-week period where we take initial design development drawings, they’re essentially half-baked in terms of the design process. Bring a specialty subcontractor onboard to help us hash out all the critical components, details, and transition the project from schematics to a built item. This usually takes place during the first four to eight weeks. We’re developing system design components, establishing sight lines, glass types, material samples, trying to ensure that we are maintaining and meeting the design intent in terms of the building aesthetic. At that point, we transition the system drawings into visual mockup drawings, develop a scope for the visual mockups, performance mockups, and by the end of the 12-to-16-week period, we have a comprehensive set of drawings system design drawings, which we then transition into the constructability mockup and also shop drawings for the project.
Question four. How can a well-designed façade help reduce a building’s carbon footprint? So what we’re seeing a lot right now in New York with local law ninety-seven, there’s a big push to try and reduce a building’s carbon footprint. Local law ninety-seven really impacts existing buildings. For existing buildings, we’re looking at ways to retrofit curtain wall façade items, façade elements to actually inform the building’s performance. So what that means for the façade, trying to make the building as airtight as possible, swapping out glass, whether or not we’re utilizing a high performing coating, argon filled glass, and then also increasing the building’s insulation. For us, maintaining and creating an airtight façade helps then on the other end with energy efficiency where we’re balancing our mechanical systems, whatever we’re doing on the outside, it’s a balance of losses and gains. Whatever we can gain and keep within the building minimizes the overall heat loss and helps us be able to reduce and downsize our mechanical systems.
Question five. What are some of the biggest challenges you face in the field when it comes to installing building envelopes? For us, we try to avoid and mitigate any sort of challenges or issues, but obviously once we hit the field, challenges and issues always come up. So for us, when we start installing unitized curtain wall, the first thing is to make sure we don’t have any sort of dimensional busts, whether that’s in steel, concrete, any sort of stud framing but you know, areas, you know, everyone is human and there are constructability issues where things may not be coordinated properly. So for us at that point, it’s identifying what we can do in terms of field fixes, how we could remediate the issues whether or not it be post-install solutions or just actually modifying steel to fit the projects. We try to work hand in hand with the subcontractors early on in the process to avoid any sort of conflicts. One item, for example, we’re installing 55-foot glass for the atrium space utilizing a street crane for this scope of the project. For this, there was a lot of coordination that went on early with the sawtooth pattern of the facade, making sure that all of the steel bracket layouts and beds, et cetera are all coordinated accordingly.
Question six. Are there any new façade technologies or trends you’re excited about right now? There are two that I think are quite innovative that are taking place in New York. The first we’re seeing is BIPV: building integrated photo VoLTE panels. There’s a lot of projects we’re seeing currently where they’re integrating PV, whether or not into a unitized current wall, metal panel system or even, you know, just over cladding facade elements with BIPV to maintain energy efficient solutions. If it’s done in the factory, we obviously feel this is a better approach. So any sort of unitized curtain wall that integrates the PV, it’s a more cost effective and optimized solution for us to look at. Additionally electrochromic glass, that’s another item that we see that’s been developing more and more within the recent years. There are also tax incentives throughout New York City to utilize whether or not it’s a sage glass or any sort of equivalent where an electric current is actually being charged through the glass to change the transparency and visibility of the glass itself. So there’s, you know, a lot of features and innovation taking place in the glass market right now, as well as the BIPV that we’re excited about.
That’s all for today. Thank you for the great questions and keep them coming. Thanks for listening.