Case Study: HAECO America’s New Hangar at PTI

HAECO Americas’ new hangar at Piedmont Triad International (PTI) Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, utilized EXTECH/Exterior Technologies, Inc. (EXTECH) to engineer, fabricate, and install energy-efficient, translucent, daylighting system.

To ensure the commitment to efficiency and sustainability, the hangar pursued certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system.
And to bring the project to life, the architects on the project began working with EXTECH on the daylighting solution.

HAECO wanted to break the traditional precedent of plain metal buildings. The owner of HAECO wanted to make daylighting systems the priority to bring in natural light into the building.

EXTECH’s LIGHTWALL 3440 interlocking polycarbonate translucent wall system was selected and incorporated into the building envelope’s upper portion as clerestory sections, as well as its corners and on the three massive doors.

The durable and flexible LIGHTWALL system provides high amount of light transmission, thermal efficiency, fast installation, reliable operation, along with an attractive, modern appearance maintained with minimal effort, making it the perfect choice for hangars. The LIGHTWALL system also reduces light pollution that emanates from the building.

EXTECH’s highly insulating LIGHTWALL 3440 system provide diffuse daylighting, while reducing solar heat gain, resulting in comfort for people within the building. The system’s material has a layer that resists nearly 99% of harmful UV and eliminates yellowing of the panels. LIGHTWALL 3440 also does not require framing members within the field, allowing for a clean, modern architectural aesthetic.

The LIGHTWALL 3440 system meets demanding performance specifications, including high wind loads, impact resistance, fire rating, air infiltration, water penetration, thermal and structural performance while reducing VOC emissions, resulting to conforming to LEED requirements of energy efficiency and sustainability.

The LIGHTWALL system will help the building owners to save on energy and maintenance costs over time, and when the HAECO hangar needs renovated or replaced, the aluminum and cellular polycarbonate glazing of EXTECH’s system is 100% recyclable.

EXTECH pre-fabricates all corner miters and sloped head/sill/jamb conditions to exact angles and measurements to prevent the unnecessary measuring and cutting on the job site to ensure precise fit.

Due to the vast amount of LIGHTWALL product that needed to be installed, it was important that the construction of the system be easy. Compared to a glass system, EXTECH’s light weight but durable product reduced structural load, hardware mechanism needed to support and operate doors, and was easy to assemble. EXTECH’s team was able to complete installation on the HAECO hangar in five weeks as well as completed on budget.

Now, the hangar is expected to employ 500 aircraft technicians and support staff, totaling HAECO’s workforce at the airport to over 2,000 people.

If you would like to learn more about this project or the LIGHTWALL 3440, we're more than happy to chat! Please contact us for more information.