US Ironworkers Headquarters in Ohio - US Ironworkers Benefits Center
Project Type: Office Building
General Contractor: Doug Corcoran
Replaced two large translucent panel systems that were failing badly. You can see from some of the pics the different two-tone colored panels that have failed and were replaced over the past years. The system looked to be about 20 years old.
VELUX Products Utilized
There are 2 VELUX VMS modular structural Ridgelights on site totaling 94 units. The first Ridgelight (the largest one that runs through the building from front entrance all the way to the back of the building) consists of 64 fixed modules and 2 narrower width fixed modules that are in alignment with the building’s exterior wall to help provide a weather-tight seal to the building’s outer fascade. The entire system is nearly 108 feet long and 11 feet across.
The second Ridgelight, a smaller one, provided top lighting to the interior offices. It consists of 30 fixed skylight modules and spans an area = 50’ L x 9’ W.
VELUX dual-slope Ridgelights were installed at a 33 degree pitch.
Due to the flexibility of VELUX standard module sizing, we were able to replace the old system and re-use the steel curbs and framing AND NOT have to manufacture custom size modules. This saved the customer a lot of money.
High efficiency TYPE 11 glazing was used. The exterior pane is tempered, the interior is laminated (and meets the OSHA 1200lb fall protection test), Argon gas infill is between the panes and LowE coastings all help to provide a very energy-efficient .24 solar heat gain coefficient glazing system.
This was a retrofit project to remove 2 old (translucent panel) systems that were leaking and deteriorating. As with all translucent panel systems, the manufacturer either requires or highly recommends a clear coating annually/regularly be applied to the exterior surface to keep the panels from deteriorating. No one really does it and this is a result. All the panels needed to be replaced with more permanent VELUX glass skylights.
Project took three men two weeks to complete. No added sealants or caulking was used to ensure water-tightness.
About The VMS System
The VELUX line of modular commercial skylights marks a shift in the evolution of traditional commercial skylights in this country. Designed in cooperation with architects from London-based Foster+Partners, ventilation and sunscreening components are subtly integrated within the skylight design. This fully prefabricated skylight concept offers the same benefits to commercial buildings that VELUX residential skylights offer to homeowners.
Ross Vandermark, national product manager for VELUX America, says that the company has partnered with Foster+Partners in the installation of various models of the skylights in a number of locations. “Nearly 400 of the units were specified for the new international airport in Panama City, Panama and another installation has been completed at Cornell University, the home of the first four-year architectural school in this country,” he says.
According to Mike Rhoden, commercial sales representative with VELUX, the skylight system is unique to VELUX and to the skylight world where commercial daylighting is concerned. “There is no structural framing between the skylights,” he says, “where typically with commercial skylights the opening is filled with a costly metal framework and then individual sections of glass are wet-glazed into place. The overall process can be quite time-consuming and heavily reliant upon little human error as well as ideal weather conditions to apply the sealants. The VMS modular skylight system is a complete unitized system that is fitted over the opening on a site-built curb.” Rhoden says that the system offers installation speed with a pre-designed, pre-engineered system with no value engineering necessary in the field. “There is no caulking, no putty, no welding, no boring, no soldering required – it’s a complete package solution,” he says, “and all dealers have access to the product now.”
The skylights are available in fixed and venting configurations and shades are custom-built for each unit. Custom sizing, colors and glazings are also available and VELUX pre-installs everything in a quality-controlled manufacturing environment where all electronics are bench-tested before leaving the factory.
Commenting on energy efficiency considerations, Vandermark points out that the VELUX-supplied control system allows for integration of the shades and skylight window motors into a building energy management system. “This not only provides daylight and fresh air,” he says, “but also enables automated climate control to help offset HVAC energy loads.”
“Foster+Partners was instrumental in not only choosing materials for the product but in the design and in making sure that aesthetically we took commercial skylights to a different level,” Rhoden says. Details at www.modularskylights.veluxusa.com.