Structure & Site Fall 2019

KHH at Historic Ithaca In May, four KHH employees attended this year’s Historic Ithaca Preservation Awards held at La Tourelle. KHH was honored to receive an Award of Merit in Historic Preservation for our work on Cornell University’s Rockefeller Hall. The intent of the project was to rehabilitate the building’s weathered and deteriorated northwest exterior entry stair. Rehabilitation efforts included the steps, landing platform, door threshold, and stair cheek wall. Existing historic materials were preserved wherever possible, and unsalvageable materials were replaced in kind.  Several other interesting projects received Awards of Merit as well. It was great to learn about these projects and meet some of the inspiring minds on the project teams. It was our privilege to be honored alongside these talented individuals.

Seventeen Years of Special Inspections: Where Are We Now?

When special inspections became part of the Building Code of New York State in 2002, I thought it would take a few years for the design and construction industry to adjust to the new requirement. Today many industry professionals still lack an understanding of some of the basic concepts. Because of this, special inspections have not achieved the promise of across-the-board increase in construction project quality. Let's discuss some misconceptions and what we can do to improve the special inspections process. Learn More

KHH in the Summer

This summer has certainly kept us busy at KHH, but we still found the time to take a sunny afternoon away from the office to enjoy the lovely weather and each other’s company at this year’s annual KHH Summer Picnic. Employees and their families converged under the pavilion at Ryder Park in Dewitt and enjoyed good conversation, walks, and Limp Lizard’s BBQ catering. This year we had a new activity for the kids: toothpick STEM structures held together with marshmallows and jellybeans. Could we have some future design professionals on our hands? We think so!

Reducing Icicle Build-Up

In recent years, KHH has been engaged several times to assess the cause of and develop solutions to severe icicle formation on the eaves of sloping roofs of buildings. Most of the time, the identification of the cause is relatively straightforward, but designing remedial work to reduce the volume and size of the icicles to a level that satisfies the client is much more difficult. Here is what we have learned: Lack of an effective air barrier, or a completely missing air barrier, is frequently the primary cause of icicles, even though continuous air barriers have been required by the Energy Code since 2010. Warm interior air exfiltrates into the attic or the insulation between rafters and melts rooftop snow. The melted snow then drains down the slope of the roof and refreezes at its cold edge. Heating ducts in the attic that are not well sealed or insulated are also a frequent cause of, or contributor to, icicle formation. Even if the ducts are insulated to Energy Code compliant levels, they can still deliver enough heat into the attic to cause snow on the roof to melt. Realistic expectations should be established before the work is performed to avoid client dissatisfaction with the results. If the client expects complete elimination, a 75% reduction in icicles can be considered unacceptable or disappointing. A thorough construction review program is critical, since success hinges on careful execution of installation-sensitive details. Icicle reduction projects would benefit greatly from an appropriately scoped Building Envelope Commissioning (BECx) program.  Rooftop snow can act as thermal insulation and may raise the roof’s surface temperature enough to cause snowmelt. This can occur even when only a small amount of the building’s interior heat escapes. The entire assembly (including the snow) can be modeled to determine the exterior temperature at which snowmelt initiates. In addition to minimizing icicle buildup, assessing and reducing a building’s thermal losses can also lower heating costs, increase indoor comfort, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, it is simpler, more effective, and less expensive to design and build the building’s thermal envelope to perform correctly in the first place.  - Jim D’Aloisio

Who's New at KHH

We are happy to welcome Richard Grzesik III to the KHH team as a landscape architectural designer. Richard has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He has over 12 years of experience in civil site design, and he excels in site design and stormwater management. He enjoys spending time outdoors in all seasons with his family.

What's New and What's Next

Jim D’Aloisio gave several presentations over the last few months. Among them were, “Carbon Counts! Calculating the Carbon Content of Commercial Construction” at the BuildingEnergy NYC Conference and Trade Show this September and “Structural Thermal Bridging 2019" along with "Energy Code Basics for Structural Engineers" at the SEI Mohawk-Hudson Chapter's Structures Day in Albany this October. Jim Palumbo and his wife, Liz, attended this year’s Crouse Health Tribute Evening Gala honoring Mary and Jerry Mathews. We were happy to support Crouse as well as the Mathewses. KHH staff members attended several golf events this summer. Two of note were hosted by Jowonio School and King + King Architects respectively. Gordon P. Hyatt and Julia Zimmer attended Jowonio School’s Golf event this May, while Kelly Covert and Jeff Packard attended King + King’s this September. Joseph Ward was a panelist for SEAoNY’s roundtable workshop on the CNY steel industry. Jim D’Aloisio has been appointed to ACI’s 318 N Committee. KHH is one of this year’s sponsors for the CNY Engineering Expo. The Expo will be on 4 November. Come by our booth and say hi!

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