Precast Solutions - September/October 2008 - (Page 7) makes it easier for contractors,” Krueger said. The panels serve as the structural core, the support system for the roof, the exterior finish and provide the insulation. “If you can put the structure up quicker, you’ve got less labor cost,” he added. The 12-inch exterior panels exceeded the local Building Energy Code Performance requirements, not only enhancing the comfort of moviegoers but also increasing the structure’s energy efficiency due to the insulation that is essentially sandwiched between the concrete. The insulated exterior panels have an R-value of 23. “It’s a one-step process,” Vander Pol said. “You get the R-rating plus exterior walls.” Because the structural panels filled multiple roles as a building material, this also cut down on costs. Vander Pol said the exterior panels cost his client $14 per square foot to install, while steel framing would have cost $20 per square foot. consisting of 60-foot-tall spire towers of steel frame. Precast also offers the opportunity for retailers to engage in sustainable building and design by using fewer building materials, particularly those that create a large carbon footprint, like steel. Krueger found structural precast to be entirely acceptable for movie theater construction and plans to use precast again in other movie theater projects his firm has on the board. “If you use precast instead of masonry, the on-paper cost looks similar,” said Smith. “But the big advantage is speed.” Smith added that if the theater had been built using traditional masonry, it would have added at least two months to the construction period. “With a movie theater, you want to get that cash register running as soon as possible.” Deborah Huso is a freelance writer who covers home design and restoration, sustainable building and MEETING THE NEEDS OF SOUND design, and home construction. The 8-inch interior precast panels offer sound control without the need for layers of expensive gypsum board and the labor involved in erecting it. “As digital sound systems and technology improve, the standards for theater demising wall designs become more important,” Krueger said. “Our interior auditorium demising walls are constructed of 8-inch-thick structural precast concrete, which achieves a Sound Transmission Coefficient (STC) greater than 65.” This is directly comparable with the STC ratings for traditional gypsum walls, which would have taken more materials and labor to install. Vander Pol said that in traditional construction, the builder would have had an exposed structural beam at the top of the interior wall, which would have allowed a conduit for sound to transfer from one auditorium to another. The interior precast panels were flush with the top of the bar joist, so there was no way for sound to get above the walls. The cost was a major benefit as well. According to Vander Pol, the cost for the precast interior walls was $12.50 per square foot. Had his company used the layers of gypsum board necessary under more conventional construction methods, the cost would have been $13 per square foot. Fabcon developed panels with an exposed aggregate and articulated scoring to provide some architectural style to the structure in conjunction with the front entrance (the only part of the building’s exterior that is not precast) SPIN-N-LOK™ XT BOOTH 1429 THE PRECAST SHOW • 10,000 lbs CAPACITY • GREATER RANGE OF MOTION • ONE-POINT PICK CAPABILITY CONCRETE PIPE AND MANHOLE LIFTER 1-800-423-4425 • americandrillbushing.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 | PRECAST SOLUTIONS 7 http://americandrillbushing.com http://americandrillbushing.com
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