Kohta Ueno, senior associate at Building Science Corporation, opened the floodgates of his experience and took us inside the interior renovation of the Moran Square project in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Moran Square is a three-in-one project consisting of two historic buildings flanking a vacant lot that is being filled in with a new bridge building. The three buildings, one of which is an old fire station, will operate and are being modeled as one with shared hallways and some building systems.
Multiple goals have been set for the project, some of which don’t exactly conflict but create complications. PHIUS certification is one of the project targets, and it also has to comply with National Park Service requirements in order to qualify for the Federal historic tax credits that are essential to the project’s financial health. First of all, that means the retrofitting is being done from the interior—not the safest way to retrofit masonry walls, as Ueno was quick to point out. Fortunately, Ueno has a comprehensive knowledge of brick buildings, retrofit dos and don’ts, and how to avoid triggering durability issues. Check it all out, plus the many pointers he gave audience members working on their own masonry projects by watching it here.