By IIBEC Foundation Development Officer Rick Gardner
How did you get involved in IIBEC?
The first company I worked for out of college was in Houston, Texas. My work there involved building sciences and roofing. The company sent several employees to the 2002 RCI Convention and Trade Show in Galveston, Texas. There, I was able to spend a long weekend being exposed to IIBEC, taking advantage of educational opportunities, and networking with industry members at the trade show. It really opened my eyes to the professional organization that IIBEC is. I was truly impressed. I realized then that this is an organization that would benefit me in my career. I signed up to become a member within a week after the convention and have been a member ever since.
I have served on the board of directors for IIBEC as region director and then on the Executive Committee (EC) and am a past president.
What do you do during your typical day-to-day?
There really is never a typical day. My company works with all types of buildings, clients, and situations. Some of our clients are national, and others are international. We work on everything from healthcare to education, building failure assessment to report writing, design details for a building restoration to a bid process, to construction, to project close-outs. We offer a wide range of consulting services in any particular day.
Today, I’m in the office doing proposals and completing reports. I’m working on designs that will be going out to bidders. Tomorrow, I’m on a plane to do a project assessment in the Boston area. Later this week, I have a trip down to Aruba to perform some quality assurance on an ongoing roof restoration project. There are many aspects of our consulting services.
What is one of your favorite projects that you have worked on professionally?
The American Heritage Center (AHC) at the University of Wyoming was a favorite. The AHC is the university’s library, built in 1991, and designed by architect Antoine Predock. It is a seven-story-tall building with a giant, conical shape. There were problems with air infiltration, water infiltration, and moisture issues with the skylights and exterior façade (which consisted of copper panels). We performed unique building thermal analysis and leak testing to investigate all of the ongoing issues. Ultimately, we had to remove the copper panels on the exterior, add insulation—which changed the entire wall thickness and assembly—redesign the skylights to accommodate the new wall thickness, and install a new prefinished aluminum panel system that was copper colored. It was a great project because it was a challenge for both roof and exterior wall expertise.