Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132TECH TALK –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– TEC® offers an expanded line of sur- face-preparation products designed to help contractors save time and money. The line includes 10 new surface-preparation products in five general categories: self-leveling underlayments; skimcoats; patches; crack-isolation systems; and spe- cialty products including wear-layer overlayments. The new TEC® Level Set® 300 Self-Leveling Underlayment is formulated for fast-track instal- lations – it is walkable in just two to three hours – and provides a flat, extremely smooth, strong, dura- ble surface. The new TEC® Feather Edge Skim Coat is a cement-based compound designed to skim coat, smooth and level irregularities from featheredge up to 1⁄2”. It sets in just 15-20 minutes for most flooring and is suitable for even the most demand- ing floor coverings. Other new offer- ings include the new TEC® Level Set® Deep Pour 3 surface prep solu- tion, TEC® Level Set® LW-60, a high- quality, ultra-lightweight self-leveling underlayment, and the TEC® Level Set® Wear Topping, a decorative con- crete finish. www.tecspecialty.com CREC Museum Academy Bloomfied, Conn. The case study project is the CREC Museum Academy in Bloomfield, Conn., currently under construc- tion. The Capital Region Education Council (CREC) Museum Academy offers education outside the tra- ditional learning environment for 522 students in grades PreK – 5. By opening up the worlds of history, visual arts, living museums, per- formances and exhibition, students have a forum to develop their own curiosity about the world in which they live. The design concept for the 75,000-sq.-ft. building follows the philosophy about fundamen- tal changes in elementary level education. The exterior façade was designed around the ventilated rainscreen concept not only for functional reasons (ventilated cav- ity for ideal thermal and moisture control, energy efficiency of con- tinuous insulation and air/moisture/ vapor barrier, ease of access for maintenance), but also for concep- tual reasons (expression of embrac- ing new building technologies, curiosity of “how buildings work”). The exterior façade contains approximately 35,000 sq. ft. of por- celain panels in addition to insu- lated glass windows and curtain walls. The porcelain panels are mechanically attached to an alumi- num sub-frame, both of which were precisely engineered by PROCON and prefabricated by manufactur- 68 TileLetter | August 2016