Thursday, April 14th
8:00 AM
Session Title: Seven Components to Transform your Science Building
Co - Presenters: Steven Watson and Michael McDonnell, IKM, Inc.
Session Description: Institutions today are faced with having reduced building site availability, and have to revitalize existing buildings. Recognizing the architectural components needed to take an existing facility and transform it into a place where both new and traditional pedagogy models can thrive is key. This presentation highlights the architectural planning process and some of the decisions faced in creating a long range plan for Carnegie Mellon University’s Mellon Institute. The plan solves existing problems in a way that allows for flexibility of implementation and incremental monetary expenditure.
Track 1 - Session 2
9:20 AM
Session Title: Western PA Construction Best Practices GuidePresenter: Jon O'Brien, Master Builders' Association
Session Description: Chartered in 1965, the AIA-MBA Joint Committee provides a unique forum for architects, contractors, and owners to meet monthly and discuss the construction industry. As a result of this forum, a set of guidelines was created to reflect the best practices for procedures involving drawings and specifications, bidding, contract documents, and administrative procedures during construction. This presentation will briefly touch on the Joint Committee, its history, and the Construction Best Practices Guide, and then discuss the Joint Committee's recent and current initiatives, such as: Collaboration Best Practices Guide, Recommendations on Value Engineering, BIM, and Contingencies.
Track 1 - Session 3
10:40 AM
Session Title: Recruitment, Retention and the Student Success CenterCo - Presenters: Kevin Wagstaff, Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel and Brian Gillette, Allegheny College
Session Description: Colleges face unprecedented challenges: the increasing need to compete for students; problems with retention; competition from for-profits who play by different rules; and even questions about the core values of higher education. Simultaneously, schools are expected to provide up-to-date facilities, embrace new teaching methods, and deliver services unimagined a generation ago. The "student success center" has emerged as a facility that can help meet these challenges. This presentation will examine several such centers, all created in repurposed existing space, in particular highlighting the “Allegheny Gateway and Learning Commons.”
Track 2 - Session 1
8:00 AM
Session Title: Campus Planning for the Forgotten Season: Winter
Co - Presenters: Kathryn Jolly, Principal; and Paul Cali, DRS Architects and Jim MIller, Director of Campus Operations & Planning, Washington & Jefferson College
Session Description: Well over half of the traditional school year occurs when our climate forbids the comfortable use of outdoor campus amenities. The majority of our students spend most of their school year on a campus drastically different from the typical illustrations included in most master plans. From November through March, the reality of campus life includes leafless trees, snow-covered lawns/walks and overcast skies – winter conditions that shrink the extent of usable public space. During these times, students are often forced to hunker-down in an ad hoc collection of loosely-connected, sometimes awkwardly-defined interior spaces made habitable by engineered building systems. Designing for the winter environment has tremendous potential as an over-looked and under-appreciated design approach. This presentation will discuss various techniques and design principles focused on achieving an enhanced, comprehensive and integrated planning process for our cold weather campuses.
Track 2 - Session 2
9:20 AM
Session Title: Retro-Commissioning: On the Road to Better Building PerformanceCo - Presenters: Joe Hofstetter and Darlene Diehl, Karpinski Engineering
Session Description: This presentation will map out major landmarks of a retro-commissioning project. The starting point: What are your current goals and requirements for your facility? The destination: What specific deliverables do you want out of a retro-commissioning project? Is retro-commissioning really what you’re looking for? The vehicle: What methods can you use to reach your goals? The pit crew: To reach your destination, who do you need on your team? Roadblocks: What keeps a retro-commissioning project from reaching its destination? How can you get around them?
Track 2 - Session 3
10:40 AM
Session Title: Transferring Data from Construction to OperationsPresenter: Ralph Krieder, MBP
Session Description: Our facilities are getting more complex. Building Information Modeling (and most importantly the data within the model) has the promise of simplifying these complex facilities into intelligent databases. The presentation will cover: how utilization of data captured within the model can be used to optimize owner’s processes and reduce building lifecycle costs; how leveraging the use of existing technology can lead to better use of a facility during operations; how data captured from multiple sources can enhance the knowledge transfer of owner’s best practices; and how to develop standards and requirements for data collection and transfer.
Track 3 - Session 1
8:00 AM
Session Title: Legionella Control: The Game Changer in Cooling Water Treatment
Co - Presenters: Jim Lorditch, Patrick Guccione and Dwight Lee, Chem- Aqua, Inc.
Session Description: Previous to the summer of 2015, there was very little government regulation pertaining to the maintenance of cooling towers. With the approval of ASHRAE Standard 188-2015 and the outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease in New York City, this is changing. Both New York City and New York State enacted emergency, and now permanent, regulations pertaining to the operation of cooling towers. In Pennsylvania and other states, facility managers need to be aware of what regulations and requirements might affect them. Minimizing the risk associated with Legionellosis in your plant requires attention to all of the water systems on your property, not just cooling towers and HVAC systems.
Track 3 - Session 2
9:20 AM
Session Title: Elements of a Successful Proactive Roof Management Program - Test Case Study with Tremco and CCACCo - Presenters: J.B. Messer, Community College of Allegheny County and Rich Kosuda, Tremco
Session Description: The presentation will highlight key elements, and real-life challenges, that are crucial in setting up a proactive roof management plan. Items addressed will be: 1. How to conduct a realistic survey to get you the information you need to form the plan. 2. How to tie that data into a proactive maintenance plan and how to incentivize crews to take the extra steps to care for roofs. 3. How to utilize new technologies to restore and upgrade existing roof systems. 4. How to extrapolate data to plan accurate capital budgets and level cash flows. 5. How to measure the success of the program with definable metrics.
Track 3 - Session 3
10:40 AM
Session Title: Infrared Roof ScansCo - Presenters: David Meyer and Betsy Stubna, PerFOREMANce Roofing
Session Description: The presentation will cover five basic areas: 1. What is infrared (IR) thermography. 2. How does an IR roof scan work. 3. Why have an IR roof scan. 4. What can trapped moisture do to your roof and building. 5. Interpreting results and subsequent steps. In doing so, the presentation will highlight factors of trapped roof moisture, such as energy loss, added weight, bacteria and mold, drainage, and degradation of roof system performance. Lastly, the presentation will cover some of the next steps after a scan, such as: 1. Do I have to remove wet insulation? 2) If the roof has wet insulation do I need a new roof or can I just repair it?
