Schwartz Looks at Installation Problems in the Field

Thomas Schwartz, president of Building Technology Group and senior principal for Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, offered attendees of the Building Envelope Contractors (BEC) Conference insight into some common performance problems and how to avoid these. The session was part of a two-part series held yesterday afternoon.

Schwartz began by mentioning a variety of common curtainwall problems, such as water leakage, excessive air leakage, condensation, brittle fracture, insulating glass (IG) seal failure, and more. "The underlying causes of performance problems comes from trends--not trends, but nearsightedness," he said.

With regard to water leakage, Schwartz advised that "we over-rely on sealants to prevent [this]." "The solution is to trust gravity and not chemistry," he said. "Getting beyond the glass-metal interface ... proper perimeter flashing is required, not just the use of sealants." When it comes to avoiding glass-metal contact in an installation, Schwartz gave some easy-to-follow advice. "It's pretty simple--you follow the directions and they're all in [the Glass Association of North America Glazing Manual]," he said.

Schwartz looked at a number of causes of glass breakage and provided some specific advice about "street walls." "Don't use tempered glass on street walls," he warned. "But if you must, heat-soak it or apply anchored film to it."

During a question-and-answer period, one attendee suggested that many of these problems are problems of the past. Schwartz disagreed, however. "If we really had solved all of these problems, I wouldn't be putting my kids through college right now," he joked.

The BEC Conference concludes today. It is being held at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas.