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RE_VIEW: Southern Exposure

A fully functional wall system prototype that capitalizes on an opportunity to leverage privileged views and increase thermal performance in residential construction.

Pittsburgh’s current housing situation is ripe with opportunity because of three major factors: vacancy, view, and affordability. A prototype house was developed in collaboration with the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation to exploit these conditions featuring the RE_VIEW wall system. During the spring of 2013, the Heinz Endowments provided financial support for a proof of-concept wall to be installed to retrofit a small Carnegie Mellon University office building occupied by BxA Program staff.

The RE_VIEW wall’s goals of performance, replicability, function, and aesthetics were tested and refined through full scale prototyping. Off-site prefabrication and collaboration with McKamish Metal Fabrication Group were important in creating cost-effective and precise custom features. Since its completion in June 2013, quantitative data collected on RE_VIEW’s thermal performance has indicated that it performs better than a typical Pittsburgh building. Replacing 100 SF of existing wall with this system would cost around $8,523 and have an estimated return on investment of 3 years.

Project Team