By Ray Birch
MILWAUKEE—There are the headline natural disasters—tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and floods—that affect credit unions everywhere, but there are also the “silent” disasters that may not make the news but that credit unions very much need to be giving attention, according to one expert.
Tom Kennedy, president of the design/build firm La Macchia Group, told CUToday.info these quiet building-killers creep in through poorly designed building “envelopes” and wear away at the structure.
When it comes to what can be costly threats to credit union facilities, “There's those that destroy your building, take it completely out of the picture, and then there are those that create a substantial amount of damage or decay over time,” Kennedy said.
In fact, said Kennedy, these silent disasters have actually been growing in number as they work their way in through exterior surfaces—“which is the walls, windows, doors, all those elements that comprise a building’s envelope,” he said. “And then, eventually, fully decay your building, particularly from water and wind penetration.”
Can Be Expensive
Kennedy said such disasters can be some of the most expensive disasters.
“They're not typically cataclysmic, but they're very damaging, and often create conditions such as mold and unsafe interior building environments,” he said.
These scenarios are best dealt with two ways, Kennedy said.
“One is obviously through design, making sure that the building is designed in a manner so that it’s going to last a long time and have a building envelope that's very survivable under the conditions where that building exists,” he said. “And that's not as simple as it looks, because a lot of architectural firms address building details differently.”
The cost of a silent disaster can often compare to the expense from a single, major disaster, like a tornado, according to Kennedy.
“The cost can be pretty substantial,” he said. “Anybody who's ever experienced a mold condition, where mold is forming sometimes behind the wall vinyl or within the wall cavity and the exterior of the building…That can lead to lawsuits from your employees and from your customers, as well.”
The ’Scariest Part’
Tom Kennedy
While not a cataclysmic event, a silent disaster is more commonplace than a major disaster like a wildfire.
“We do a lot of renovation work in existing CUs, and the scariest part of that is always the condition assessment of the existing facility,” Kennedy said. “We regularly find deficient maintenance or poorly designed conditions that are leaving us with relatively expensive repairs that have to be done before you can even execute any actual renovation work.”
Kennedy said it is common for a credit union to spend $100,000 to $500,000 just bringing a building to a reasonable level of health so La Macchia can move forward with renovation.
“This is an expense you face even before you even invest in the improvement of the facility,” Kennedy said.
What can be done now today to help protect a building from a silent disaster?
What to Consider
What should a credit union be considering when building a new facility to ensure it withstands the persistent onslaught of the local environment?
“First, very carefully interview the architectural or design and build firm, related to their experience in building envelopes, whether they bring into the picture any third-party analysis to assess those building envelopes,” Kennedy said. “And then, equally important, do they test the constructed product—the building—to make sure that it's water and wind tight? We actually go out and water-test a certain percentage of everything that we install to make sure it is watertight and functional.”
Additional Steps
There are also additional steps a credit union can take, according to Kennedy.
“The biggest thing is in the detailing of things, like flashings and roofs,” Kennedy told CUToday.info. “There's been a great deal of information learned through these failures over recent years. Many of the building products that have been installed today—the windows, for example—the way they're put in--they are attached and flashed significantly differently than they were 15 to 20 years ago.”
Kennedy stated not all builders are “on the same page” in terms of the quality of how those details are performed.
“That's why I think it's so important that whoever you hire to do that work, and design work in particular, that the design work is something you have a very high level of confidence that those people are experts in doing that building detailing, so you are getting the most modern and most effective ways to execute the construction,” he advised.
Under the Skin
For instance, Kennedy noted there are different kinds of building materials can go under or on top of walls.
“But under the bridge, or under the skin, these different materials have very different performance criteria,” Kennedy said. “That would be an item that very few credit union owners would have any idea about which is better. They’re just buying the building. It's important that they understand the performance criteria of the materials that they're purchasing, and that they're getting it done the right way. Because, this one of the biggest capital investments they make. It needs to last.”