Alcoa Kawneer Products Help Put Innovative Colorado Courthouse on Track for LEED Gold Certification
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NORCROSS, Ga.- Alcoa (NYSE: AA) announced today that its Kawneer business has supplied architectural aluminum products that are integral to the new Lindsay-Flanigan Courthouse in Denver meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) requirements. Kawneer's 1600 SS Unitwall(TM) curtain wall helped the project with maximum daylight goals and several LEED requirements in the Materials & Recourses category. Kawneer also used recycled aluminum billet, which contributed to recycled content requirements. The new, five-story, 317,000-square-foot courthouse is on track for LEED Gold certification and also won the 2010 American Institute of Architects Denver Honor Award for design excellence.
Architectural firm klipp Architecture Planning Interiors selected Kawneer curtainwall for the East side of the building to represent the transparent nature of justice. To maintain the integrity of the design and the concept of transparency and light, the architect did not want to incorporate a steel support behind the wall, but rather have it appear to float. The complex wall design incorporates several setbacks, folds and slopes.
Working with the architect and Kawneer engineers, Denver-based glazer, Trainor Glass, created a 3D model of the wall to ensure that all components could fit together and be supported. "Because the design called for a curtain wall on a tilted plane, and to create the illusion of floating, it had to be top-hung from a secondary steel structure," said Bill Trainor, project manager with Trainor Glass.
In addition to providing daylighting, Kawneer's 1600 SS Unitwall(TM) incorporates GLASSvents® throughout the judges' chambers that integrated seamlessly with the building's design.
To learn more about Kawneer's range of products and systems, visit www.kawneer.com.
About Kawneer
With more than 100 years of innovation and experience, Kawneer North America is headquartered in Norcross, GA, and is the leading manufacturer of architectural aluminum products and systems for the commercial construction industry. Kawneer is part of Alcoa's global Building and Construction Systems (BCS) business unit. Alcoa BCS manufactures and markets architectural systems and products in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Alcoa is the world's leading producer and manager of primary aluminum, and alumina facilities, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. For more information on Kawneer or its products, please visit www.kawneer.com.
