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CURTAINWALL DESIGN: Products, Performance and Practicality
by Steve Gille, architectural services manager, Wausau Window and Wall Systems

In strictest architectural parlance, a "curtainwall" is any non-load-bearing exterior wall that hangs (like a curtain) from the face of floor slabs, regardless of construction or cladding material. However, in common usage, the term curtainwall usually refers to aluminum-framed systems carrying glass, panels, louvers, or occasionally, granite or marble. The distinctions between the system types discussed below are blurred, and it’s often difficult to clearly differentiate between one system and another.
 

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Questions 1:
 Place these beam support schemes in order of structural efficiency:

 

a) Simple span          b. Most efficient

b) Continuous span   c. Moderately efficient

c) Twin span            a. Least efficient

 

Questions 2:
Curtainwall systems typically support the weight of other materials such as roof deck and floor slabs.
 

a) True

b) False

 

Questions 3:
 A typical curtainwall glazed with 1" insulating glass exhibits a Sound Transmission Class (STC) of:

a) 30 to 34

b) 20 dB

c) Class B

d) It depends on the noise source
 

Questions 4:
 Building envelope design has little impact on a building’s LEED® scorecard.
 

a) True

b) False

Questions 5:
The most important seismic design criterion for curtainwalls is:

 

a) Make sure curtainwall and surrounding materials move
         at the same locations

b) Make sure the curtainwall and surrounding materials
         move at separate locations

c) Make sure the curtainwall’s glass and frame are in constant
         contact

d) Make sure the curtainwall’s surrounding materials are rigid
 

Questions 6:
Unitized curtainwall systems accommodate movement by:

 

a) Bending the glass or infill material

b) Sliding the glass in the glazing pocket

c) Inter-locking weather-stripped frame members

d) All of the above
 

Question 7:
Inter-story lateral movement induced by a seismic event is commonly referred to as:

a) Droop

b) Drift

c) Foreshortening

d) Creep
 

Question 8:
The acronym "NFRC" standards for:

a) National Fire Rating Council

b) National Fire Rated Certification

c) National Fenestration Rating Council

d) National Fenestration Ranked Contractors

 

Questions 9:
True or False: "Stick" curtainwalls are shipped in pieces for field-fabrication and/or –assembly.
 

a) True

b) False

Questions 10:
 Unitized curtainwalls are usually installed in what sequence:

a. Floor-by-floor from the bottom to the top of the building

b. From the top of the building downward

c. In random order, starting anywhere on the building

d. Any of the above


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