Up-to-Date in Kansas City

Photo courtesy of Alistair Tutton Photography and Hollis + Miller Architects.

North Kansas City Staley High School is the first United States Green Building Council (U.S.G.B.C.) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified school in Missouri and in the Kansas City area. Hollis + Miller Architects, together with North Kansas City School District and J.E. Dunn, designed the $80-million dollar facility.

Its glazing system consists of tinted insulating glass in an aluminum framing system. The components were chosen both for their aesthetic as well as their energy efficiency capabilities.

The insulating glass system from Insulite consists of two lites of glass separated by a ½-inch sealed air space. The exterior lite has a blue tint to reduce solar heat transmission into the building. Deciding on an appropriate tint level was a careful choice between solar shading and allowing sunlight into the building.

The aluminum window system is a thermally-broken assembly. This means that the exterior components are connected to the interior portion with non-metallic materials that stop thermal transmission. This thermal break is aligned with the air space in the glass to provide a continuous thermal barrier between the building interior and exterior. Even on the coldest days, there is no condensation on the glass or the aluminum.

On most of the exterior windows, sunshading devices have been employed. On the south-facing windows, overhangs are used to shade the glass and to provide aesthetic articulation of the windows. On the large west-facing glass areas, aluminum mullion extensions are used to shade the glass. Here again these extensions articulate depth and form to these areas for a pleasing aesthetic effect.

The aluminum used in these framing systems is composed of approximately 30 per cent recycled material.

Not receiving your own FREE copy of the Architects' Guide to Glass and Metal e-newsletter?
CLICK HERE to subscribe today.

Not receiving your own FREE copy of the Architects' Guide to Glass and Metal magazine?
CLICK HERE to subscribe to Architects' Guide to Glass & Metal magazine.