Thursday / June 12, 2014 / 7:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Existing High-Rise Buildings – Refurbish, Repurpose or Replace?
Harris Bank Auditorium, 115 South LaSalle Street, 3rd Floor, Chicago
Millions of square feet of high rise residential and commercial office buildings were built in Chicago during the post war boom. Most of these buildings were built with single-glazed curtain walls and provided with building services systems that were sized to compensate for their inefficient thermal envelopes. Designed in an era when energy resources were cheap and plentiful, these first-generation glass buildings were optimized to the standards and ideals of their day, however that day is now long gone.
We are now more sensitive to the demands buildings place on energy infrastructure, as well as their impacts on the environment. Additionally, many of these early curtain-walled commercial buildings in Chicago are no longer desirable as modern Class A office space. They tend to have lower floor-to-floor heights, tighter column spacing and shorter lease spans. Many still have their original, highly inefficient mechanical systems that provide sub-par regulation of temperature and outside air. Even basic code requirements for handicap accessibility, life safety measures and wind loads are difficult to rectify. This segment of Chicago’s building stock needs to be overhauled. The question is how best to approach the task, and at what cost and speed.
The strategy of retrofitting existing buildings with more efficient lighting, mechanical systems, and even façade upgrades will play a critical role in meeting the sustainability challenges facing the 21st century American city. For their fourth annual spring seminar, the Chicago Committee on High Rise Buildings is organizing a half day of presentations to help focus attention on the issue.
Speakers:
-Jamie Ponce, Chicago City Director, C40 – Clinton Climate Initiative
-Gordon Gill, FAIA, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
-Craig Burton, PE, PositivEnergy Practice
-Matthew Herman, Buro Happold
-Panav Seth, AIA, Gensler
-Leah B. Guzowski, Argonne National Laboratory
-Scott Mellema, PE, SE, Permasteelisa North America
Check-in and continental breakfast begins at 7:15am; the program begins at 8am. Please bring a photo I.D. and allow adequate time to pass through building security. Members of sponsoring organizations receive a discount on registration. Firm discount of five tickets for the price of four is available.
Click here for registration and information about the CCHRB.
