School of Freshwater Sciences benefits from new materials, planning

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Coordination was essential to the successful renovation and expansion of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences.

“You’re dealing with an active research facility, and you need to maintain all of the necessary systems so you’re not affecting any of the science and research going on,” said Shannon Metoxen, project manager for J.P. Cullen & Sons, the general contractor on the $39 million project. “We definitely had a lot of communication with users and contractors up front to make sure we weren’t putting any research at risk.”

Crews held a series of planning sessions and used Building Information Modeling to make sure that none of the building’s existing water or heating-and-cooling systems were affected by the new construction.

The building’s internal systems also were designed to handle a lot of water, said Bob Barr of Continuum Architects + Planners in Milwaukee, which designed the project.

“The school – because all of its labs – uses as much water as a small city, so we needed to develop the infrastructure to handle all of it,” he said.

Extra planning and preparation were also needed when it came to the building’s exterior. The design called for the use of TAKTL panels, which are made of a concrete material that nearly eliminates the capillary pores that lead to freeze-thaw degradation in pre-cast and other sorts of panels.

Because many of those involved in the project were unfamiliar with the material, Metoxen said, a group traveled to a site in Ohio where the panels were being installed. Teams also constructed two standalone mock models – one with TAKTL panels and one with standard ones – giving everyone involved in the project a chance to work hands-on with the equipment before moving on to the actual building.

“We had a lot of people involved to make sure we installed them safely and correctly,” Metoxen said. “They are a unique system and will last a long time.”

The School of Freshwater Sciences was designed to LEED Silver standards, Metoxen said.

“A big part of sustainability and LEED is how you handle waste and we were able to recycle more than 80 percent of the construction waste that came out of the building, which was great,” he said.

The building was designed to make use of daylight and occupancy sensors to keep energy costs low.

“We wanted to make sure no energy was being wasted,” Metoxen said.

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