Window and Wall System Assists in LEED Platinum Design

SALT LAKE CITY — In its strive to attain LEED Platinum certification, the design of the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building uses state-of-the-art sustainable features to meet the project’s high green goals.

The $125 million project was designed by GSBS Architects and constructed by Okland Construction. Both firms are based in Salt Lake City. The building, which is also designed to achieve net-zero energy, used Wausau, Wis.-based Wausau Window and Wall Systems’ unitized curtain wall, windows, light and sunshades as a way to gain LEED points and create a unique appearance. The design of the public safety places focus on the building’s glass façade, which is a serpentine glass curtain wall that slopes from one wing to the other. A functional and energy-efficient feature, the curtain wall also creates a dynamic, modern aesthetic. Locally based LCG Façades was the glazing contractor on the project.

“LCG Façades was brought in early in the design phase to answer GSBS Architect’s number one question: ‘Can a curtain wall system segment and cant backward at 15 degrees and then change angle, while maintaining the cant through a reverse S curve?’” said Ted Derby, business development manager at LCG Façades, in a statement. “We thought with Wausau’s help, we could make it happen. As soon as we received a wire frame 3D model, we sent it to Wausau, and they came back with a conditional, but affirmative statement that they could make the design a reality. Shortly afterwards, Wausau and LCG Facades entered into a agreement to work together on the project.”

The project team worked together to make certain the curtain wall and window system design fit the architectural vision of the public safety building. LCG installed more than 32,000 square feet of Wasau’s Invision Thermal Unitized Curtain Wall to combine natural light and outside views with sustainable design.

“The care and precision needed to make this complex design a reality was incredible,” said Gene Pagel, Wausau’s vice president of engineering, in a statement. “Every piece, dimension and angle of the 135 unique curtain wall units located at the center of this building is different. That meant each component of each trapezoidal unit required design engineering and 3D layout, along with precise and unique machining, fabrication, glazing and even shipping provisions.”