Award

March 2021

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12 | M A R C H 2 0 2 1 Restoration Products & Services Salazar is referring to the Flatstick Pub in Spokane, whose 50-year old floor was renovated with Level Top PC AGG. After only two days of prep, work crews were able to pour a 7,000-square-foot new floor in five hours. About 850 50-pound bags of material were used for the pour, and within 16 hours the grinding and pol- ishing processes commenced. Other Euclid products used for the project were VersaSpeed 100 for repairs, EucoFloor Epoxy Primer Sealer, and Ultraguard. Nick Trovato, RJC Engineers practice director for building science and res- toration, says the uncertainty that prevailed during the lockdowns of 2020 is slowly being replaced by confidence, "And our clients are moving ahead with restoration and maintenance work." Other projects have carried on, in spite of the pandemic. One project of note that has been several years under design and now under construction is the $149-million restoration of the University of Alberta's Dentistry & Pharmacy Building, a 1922 building that is undergoing extensive restoration and renova- tion. In addition to the restoration work, the utilitarian 1950s additions have been demolished to make way for a new seven-storey glass facil- ity designed by GEC Architecture, with RJC providing structural and building envelope consulting services. RJC's commercial cli- ents are also moving ahead with work that COVID has uniquely made especially salient: adaptive re-purposing of buildings. "Conversion of offices to residential or hotels is nothing new to us, but the increasing shift of so many people from office settings to work-at-home settings means that more commercial inventory is becoming available for other purposes and can poten- tially cater to underserved markets, such as apartment rentals. These restoration projects often will incorporate improvements in energy performance, reducing operating costs. There are also tax breaks and other incentives from government to make this work economically attractive," says Trovato. Of these types of projects, Trovato says, "They can be challenging. To take just one example, developing residential suites in spaces that were originally used as offices means that heating and ventilation systems have to change to accom- modate kitchens, laundries, bathrooms, and so forth. Building envelopes also would be retrofitted or replaced to improve energy efficiency and to provide operable windows for residents. But if the building has good bones, conversions can be much more feasible than building new, and there's a strong environmen- tal advantage to repurposing older structures instead of tearing them down." Finally, in addressing the topic of emerging trends, Trovato believes that changes to Energy Codes and the direction towards Net Zero/Carbon Neutrality for buildings will continue to change the construction of buildings. Also the WELL Building Standard (the first performance-based rating system to focus exclusively on measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and wellness) and others like it will increasingly play an important role in restoration, conversion, and other types of construction projects. He concludes, "COVID has made these types of stan- dards especially desirable, and I think light, indoor air quality, and other elements that affect well-being will be a prominent consideration throughout the construction sector from here on in." A Floor renovation, Flatstick Pub, Spokane, WA. Dentistry & Pharmacy Building restoration, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E SY EU C L I D A D M I X T U R E C A N A DA ; R J C EN G I N EER S June 2021 ANNUAL INDUSTRY FEATURE: Precast Concrete Book your ad space now: | Dan Chapman 604.473.0316

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