Plastbau Case Study Birm Airport

PROJECT PROFILE
Doubling the size of an airport terminal which

served 2.9 million passengers in 2011 is no small
feat. As a top 75-ranking airport in the U.S., the
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport
in Birmingham, AL is undergoing a $201.6 million
expansion and renovation that includes the use
of 106,000 square feet of SYNTHEON ACCEL-E
panels.
The facility is Alabamas largest airport, serving
the Greater Birmingham area and surrounding
Southeastern cities. It offers 130 daily ights
to 48 cities throughout the United States. The
modernization project will add a federal customs
inspection station to facilitate direct international
air trafc.
The projects commitment to achieving a LEED

Silver certication, in addition to its construction
time constraints and unique site considerations,
made high-performance ACCEL-E panels an
appealing option for the building envelope
speciers.
Our desire was to give the owner (the Birmingham
Airport Authority) a very low-maintenance and
high-efciency building envelope, says Dale
Schexnayder, AIA, CSI, CCS, LEED AP, Architect
and Director of Specications for KPS Group,
an architectural rm with broad experience in
specialized buildings.
SYNTHEON SOLUTION
ACCEL-E panels deliver three crucial benets to
the project: impressive and consistent thermal
efciency, easy and fast installation, and sound
attenuation to mitigate the inherently loud
atmosphere of an airport.
During the design process there were several
things we did not want to do, Schexnayder says.
We did not want to start with steel studs and
batt insulation. We have learned over the years
that this conventional wall system is very inefcient
because of gaps in the insulation and thermal
short circuits through the steel studs.
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport
Birmingham, Alabama
PROJECT FACTS
SIZE: 106,000 square feet
PURPOSE: Airport terminal
MAXIMUM WALL HEIGHT: 35 feet
PANEL DEPTH: 8 inches
WALL TYPE: Non-load bearing
exterior inll and bypass walls
OWNER: The Birmingham Airport
Authority
ARCHITECT: KPS Group
CONTRACTOR: Braseld & Gorrie
Our desire was to give
the owner a very
low-maintenance and
high-efciency building
envelope.
Dale Schexnayder, AIA, CSI, CCS, LEED, AP
Architect and Director of Specications,
KPS Group
We Value Engineered Sustainability
www.SYNTHEONInc.com
LEED Silver
Certied Project
THERMAL PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Utilizing a highly energy-efcient wall panel gave us the opportunity to optimize
energy performance, while assuring a high percentage of LEED credits.
To overcome these common performance issues,
the project team selected highly thermally-
efcient ACCEL-E wall panels. ACCEL-E utilizes
the time-tested insulative capabilities of EPS,
which is factory formed and mechanically fused
to specially-designed cold-formed steel studs,
slotted to virtually eliminate thermal bridging.
No other wall system combines framing, cavity
insulation and continuous rigid foam insulation
in such an easy, one-step installation process.
In addition to providing superior thermal
performance, ACCEL-E panels span any height,
limited only by mode of panel transport.
As a result, multiple oors can be completed
by installing a single panel. And unlike batt
insulation, the ACCEL-E systems EPS is unaffected
by moisture and provides an effective air barrier
in any climate zone.
CUSTOM DESIGN AND EASE OF
INSTALLATION
All ACCEL-E panels arrive at the job site
prefabricated for each project with pre-cuts
for windows and doors.
In response to the exterior wall cladding
manufacturers requirements for 16 gauge
stud backup, SYNTHEON manufactured special
16 gauge panels specically for this project,
Schexnayder says. We were very impressed
that these specially-designed panels were
delivered to the site on schedule, as promised.
As a result, SYNTHEON has earned our
condence.
Accordingly, to achieve the 16 gauge requirement,
SYNTHEON developed 8-thick panels with steel
studs made from stronger .054-thick steel. This
product is now a standard offering.
Further, the speed of installation of ACCEL-E
panels enables buildings to get dried-in in a third
of the time, allowing interior trades to commence
work sooner. This was a critical factor for the
tight time constraints of the airport project.
The inll has gone quickly, says Shane Swords,
Project Manager for Braseld & Gorrie, and
general contractor for the project. Were saving
time because we dont have to come back and
insulate the panels. It makes it a lot quicker, a
lot easier.
PRODUCT PROFILE
The SYNTHEON ACCEL-E Steel Thermal Efcient
Panel is a lightweight, easy-to-install, high
performance wall system that shortens
construction time, optimizes crew use, greatly
improves energy efciency and does it all in
just one step. The secret behind the exceptional
construction efciency of ACCEL-E is an exclusive
manufacturing process that combines the strength
and performance of cold-formed steel framing
with the superior insulation properties of
expanded polystyrene (EPS). This unique fusion
process provides each panel with the highest
levels of engineered performance, yet delivers
thermal efciency so exceptional it exceeds new
ASHRAE 2007 90.1 and IECC 2009 requirements
for the building envelope. Plus, the materials used
in the panels resist mold and mildew. No other
wall system combines framing, cavity insulation
and continuous rigid foam insulation in such an
easy, one-step installation process.
The ACCEL-E panels are produced in thicknesses
of 5-1/2, 6 and 8 inches, and can be manufactured
in virtually any height, limited only by the mode
of transport.
SYNTHEON Inc.
25 Avenue A
Leetsdale, PA 15056-4076 USA
888-922-2353
ACCEL-E
is a registered trademark of SYNTHEON Inc.

SYNTHEON logo is a trademark of SYNTHEON Inc.

2012 SYNTHEON Inc.
We Value Engineered Sustainability
www.SYNTHEONInc.com

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PROJECT PROFILE

Doubling the size of an airport terminal which

is a registered trademark of SYNTHEON Inc.

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