Aire Renaissance Journal: June Edition
Feature Profile:
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!!
As of April 6th , Aire Renaissance is now New York City WBE Certified!!
By customer demand, this monumental achievement will provide our clients with another value add when working with us.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT:
BILCO Acoustical Smoke Vent
When Rock Island High School upgraded its aging smoke vent to a modern BILCO acoustical smoke vent, it proved that life safety and occupant comfort don't have to be competing priorities.
BILCO's vents automatically exhaust smoke in a fire while also reducing noise transmission through the roof daily. Paired with Aire Renaissance Acoustical Equipment Screens — which block HVAC and mechanical noise at the rooftop perimeter — the two systems create a complete acoustical and life safety envelope that neither product achieves alone.
For architects and engineers, this combination delivers code-compliant smoke exhaust, perimeter noise attenuation, and architectural cohesion in a single rooftop specification.
INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHT:
ENR Names 2025 Best of the Best Construction Projects
Engineering News-Record has selected 20 national winners in its annual Best of the Best Projects competition, honoring top design and construction achievements across the U.S. from May 2024 to May 2025.
Chosen from more than 800 submissions by a panel of 21 industry judges, winners span categories from infrastructure and healthcare to sports and sustainability. Standouts include the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., the Klamath River Renewal Project in California, and the Hurricane Ian Sanibel Access Project in Florida.
Full project profiles and the Project of the Year announcement will be featured in the March 16 issue of ENR. Winners will be celebrated at ENR's Award of Excellence Gala on March 26 in New York City.
INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHT:
Rethinking Sand Rejection: A Smarter Approach to Intake Louver Design
Most engineers designing intake louvers for sandy environments focus on keeping out large, wind-driven sand. But the real hidden threat is fine airborne particles — suspended in the atmosphere for days and continuously drawn into louver systems. Traditional Sand Rejection louvers simply aren't up to the task.
The Aire Renaissance solution is an advanced filtration system built to exceed industry standards (AMCA-500-L, EN 13181:2001, ASHRAE 52.2-2026, and F-1062), Better yet, it all comes in a horizontal blade louver that keeps the clean look and easy installation profile your projects demand.
When the environment works against you, your louver system should work harder.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
Aire Renaissance — 50 and 55 Hudson Street
50 Hudson Street and 55 Hudson Street in Jersey City has been designed in collaboration between Handel Architects, Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects, and landscape architect Melillo Bauer Carman, is situated on the Hudson River waterfront and plans to yield approximately 2,000 apartments.
Aire Renaissance was selected for several reasons, but most importantly was their ability to customize a jamb to a 45 degree angle which allows the unitized louvers to appear as if they are flowing around the corner of the curtainwall. No, this is not a mitered corner. That would be easier actually. This is gave the curtainwall installer an easier detail to integrate into their system.
Before we say “ the louver needs to be retested because you are changing the design”, we evaluate all the air and water characteristics to save our clients money and time.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
Aire Renaissance — The Helix Project
HDR and JB&B required high-performance louvers for various mechanical rooms throughout this project. The AMCA-550 requirement was needed as a precautionary measure for sensitive equipment while proving a sleek vertical louver blade approach. The reduced static pressure drop and high wind-driven rain rejection were deciding factors.
Using our vertical louvers also gave the appearance of a solid panel. When vertical louvers have a tight blade spacing, it will appear as a monolithic opening rather than a series of shadows.
PARTNER NEWS:
What Do Partners and Shop Drawings Have to Do with Each Other?
Architects are furious over a sudden price hike for MasterFormat, the industry's essential specification system, basically a Dewey Decimal system for construction materials that's required for most government building contracts. For decades, firms paid under $200 every few years for an updated copy. Now, after the nonprofit that runs it quietly sold a majority stake to a software company called CIN, it's switching to an annual subscription that could cost firms anywhere from $699 to thousands of dollars a year.
What's really stoking the anger is that MasterFormat is built entirely by industry volunteers. and those same volunteers are now being asked to pay a private company to access the work they created. Critics note that CIN's CEO pulled a similar move when AIA Contract Documents was sold to private equity and converted to a subscription. CSI, the nonprofit behind MasterFormat, has been backpedaling on its website language amid the backlash but hasn't publicly explained the decision.
Some in the industry are now talking about building an entirely new open alternative from scratch.