The addition of air curtains in the International Green Construction Code (IgCC), the new comprehensive high performance green building code, promises energy and construction cost savings for commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.
Specifying air curtains as energy-saving, cost-cutting alternatives to vestibules in 3,000-square-foot buildings and larger has been a recent trend among consulting engineers and architects. However, many times specifications are blocked by local jurisdictions that have adopted the International Energy Construction Code (IECC), which doesn't yet sight air curtains as vestibule alternatives.
Thus, the newly-enacted IgCC, which is scheduled for March 2012 publishing, now provides an approved overlay of green construction products to the base code IECC, which is overseen by the International Code Council, the Washington-based organization responsible for providing minimum safety, sustainability and affordability building codes and standards.
Recent proposals to the IgCC by the Air Movement and Control Association International (AMCA), Arlington Heights, Ill., helped establish air curtains as a vestibule alternative with the stipulation that they're tested in accordance with ANSI/AMCA Standard 220-05, "Laboratory Methods of Testing Air Curtains for Aerodynamics Performance Ratings."
Also helpful in the code modification effort were recent studies proving air curtains as 10% more energy-efficient than vestibules. The three-month research study “Air Curtains: A Proven Alternative to Vestibule Design” used second-party validation from research/validation consultant, Blue Ridge Numerics, Charlottesville, Va., with certified results from proven computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis.
Besides energy savings, vestibules, especially in retail settings, consume anywhere from 25 to 250 square feet of usable retail space and carry construction costs ranging from $3,750 to $37,500, based on an average of $150/square feet construction costs.
Meanwhile air curtain proponents will continue to present energy efficiency data to code committees, in hopes of instituting the vestibule alternative measure into the IECC. The next meeting on the subject is scheduled in January 2013.
Related Stories
| Jan 21, 2015
Tesla Motors starts construction on $5 billion battery plant in Nevada
Tesla Motors’ “gigafactory,” a $5 billion project on 980 acres in Sparks, Nev., could annually produce enough power for 500,000 electric cars.
| Jan 20, 2015
Daring hotel design scheme takes the shape of cut amethyst stone
The Dutch practice NL Architects designed a proposal for a chain of hotels shaped like a rock cut in half to reveal a gemstone inside.
| Jan 20, 2015
Avery Associates unveils plans for London's second-tallest tower
The 270-meter tower, dubbed the No. 1 Undershaft, will stand next to the city's "Cheesegrater" building.
| Jan 20, 2015
AIA course: Building with brick, stone, and masonry
Earn 1.0 AIA/CES learning units by studying this article and successfully completing the online exam.
| Jan 19, 2015
HAO unveils designs for a 3D movie museum in China
New York-based HAO has released designs for the proposed Bolong 3D Movie Museum & Mediatek in Tianjin.
| Jan 19, 2015
Gaudi’s first work outside Spain will be a chapel in Chile
Nearly 100 years after Antoni Gaudí’s death, Chile will begin constructing a chapel using his designs.
| Jan 19, 2015
Architecture for Humanity closes office, plans to file for bankruptcy
After more than 15 years of work, the nonprofit design group Architecture for Humanity has closed its San Francisco office and plans to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
| Jan 19, 2015
Four Seasons tower will be Boston's tallest
On Jan. 14, 2015, developer Carpenter & Company and executives from the Four Seasons broke ground on the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences, which will become the tallest building in Boston at 699 feet.
| Jan 19, 2015
Mystery buyer pays highest ever price for NYC residence
The 89th and 90th floors of 157 W. 57th Street have just been purchased for more than $100 million.
| Jan 17, 2015
When is a train station not a train station? When it’s a performance venue
You can catch a train at Minneapolis’s new Target Field Station. You can also share in an experience. That’s what ‘Open Transit’ is all about.