Trends in Maintenance + Restoration A Conversation with Joshua Freedland, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. From D+D, Winter 2017

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Joshua Freedland is an associate principal with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc., where his work has included materials analysis, building documentation, facade investigations, preservation recommendations and construction observations. His experience covers a wide variety of materials such as coatings, masonry, terra cotta, stucco, plaster and architectural metals.”

Freedland has provided preservation recommendations for hundreds of buildings, monuments and sculptures, including many listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He was part of the WJE project team that designed repairs to the Washington Monument after the 2011 earthquake, as well as assessing the exterior stainless steel cladding at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Multiple local and national organizations have recognized his preservation work for excellence.

Current coating projects for Freedland include the Toronto Dominion Centre and the Martin Luther King Library in Washington D.C., as well as the restoration of the facade at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and the preservation of several state capitols.

An SSPC member, Freedland served on the Society’s Committee C.1.7 on Fluoropolymer Coatings. He is also a member of the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, where he served as chair of the Architectural Specialty Group, and the Association of Preservation Technology International. Freedland is the associate editor of the Journal of the American Institute of Conservation and previously served on the Illinois Landmarks Council Board of Directors.

Freedland holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brandeis University, as well as a master’s degree in historic preservation and an advanced certificate in architectural conservation from the University of Pennsylvania. When he’s not at work in WJE’s

Joshua Freedland Photos: Courtesy of Joshua Freedland / Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc., unless otherwise noted Away from Chicago’s constant hustle, Freedland and his two daughters enjoy a number of outdoor activities.

Chicago office or on a job site, he enjoys riding bicycles, hiking, woodworking and spending time with his two daughters.

D+D: What do you see as the most significant change (for better or for worse) in your field over the past five years?

Increasing concerns about health and environmental hazards have added to the complexity of projects for product selection and preparation. In addition, project schedules have become shorter, allowing for less investigation and preparation and increasing uncertainty about concealed conditions.

D+D: How would you assess the training and education available for people working in maintenance and restoration?

I would say the current state of training and education is very good. New technology has significantly improved the availability of training and education through online publications and webinars, but with the increased availability of information and improved knowledge-sharing capabilities, there is a greater need to evaluate the source of the information and the potential bias of the authors. In my experience, the best education and training comes from mentor relationships and project-related experience.

Freedland’s current coating projects include maintenance for Mies van der Rohe’s Toronto Dominion Centre building on the far right of this photo.

D+D: How do you see the state of your profession in terms of the level of capability demonstrated in design, specifying, constructing or installing?

The designer or specifier and manufacturer should have clearly understood roles on a project from the start. Often, the manufacturer is looking at constructability and cost issues in an attempt to minimize contractor risk. The designer or specifier is working directly for the owner and has only the owner’s interest in mind when making recommendations. For example, a manufacturer’s product data sheet typically indicates the minimum necessary surface preparation required for a specific coating, but a higher level of surface preparation may provide a more durable finish, which may be cost-effective for an owner when considering access and general conditions.

D+D: How effective are industry associations and standards in terms of improving your profession?

The various industry standards from organizations such as SSPC and ASTM are typically thorough documents and are included in most project specifications. The designers, specifiers and craftspeople often have less intimate knowledge about what the standards actually state, and this may cause challenges when project-specific concerns arise. So, it is important that everyone — including the contractors, manufacturers and specifiers — be involved in the development of these standards.

D+D: Within your professional ecosystem, is everyone “on the same page” and able to communicate well?

I believe there is fairly good communication of the design intent between all parties. With that said, installing trials before finalizing the design is the best way to communicate project goals to the bidding contractors, building owners and managers. Frequently, trials are omitted due to scheduling constraints for projects, or a feeling that the “means and methods” should not be defined so explicitly by the designer.

Detail showing coatings maintenance and restoration in progress at the Toronto Dominion Centre.

D+D: How well do suppliers meet the industry’s needs in terms of quality of products and quality of service?

The quality of manufactured products continues to improve. A persistent challenge is that manufacturers are frequently using different test procedures for their products, which limits the ability of the specifier to compare products both within the same manufacturer and especially between manufacturers. Often, as the products improve, the testing tolerances are reduced, resulting in increased installation errors. Designers’ and manufacturers’ roles during construction are critical to minimize these errors.

D+D: What would you say is a surprisingly persistent problem in your field? Why do you think it continues to be an issue?

One persistent problem I see is that buildings and structures are being designed with certain conditions or geometric features that are difficult and costly to maintain and repair. Many of those people responsible for the design of new structures have limited familiarity with repair projects, so the designs may not accommodate maintenance or future repairs easily. Peer reviews rarely include a coating specialist’s opinion about the maintainability of coating systems. There

should be more opportunities to improve communication between professionals who design new buildings and those who design repairs to existing buildings.

Environmental constraints for coating application and curing also continue to be a source of arguments between specifiers, manufacturers and contractors. Product data sheets typically state necessary application parameters, but rarely indicate environmental parameters during curing. New standards for hazardous materials continue to change, and there always seems to be a lag before the industry develops practical solutions to comply with the new mandates.

Even a Picasso needs restoration from time to time. Pablo Picasso’s untitled 1967 Cubist sculpture is made of steel and located in Chicago’s Daley Plaza. Photo: Courtesy of Leslie Schwarz

D+D: What recent innovations in materials do you find most interesting?

Innovation offers the opportunity to improve the buildings, but also comes with challenges. More products are now pre-bagged, or mixed and supplied to the site. While factory-mixed products add a level of reliability to construction, they also reduce the knowledge of the craftspeople in understanding the construction materials. For example, pre-bagged mortars improve batching consistency, but the masons may not understand the need for pre-hydrating mortar without knowledge of the specific materials that make up the mortar.

D+D: What sort of development is needed at present to further improve the technology?

For the maintenance of steel facades, surface preparation techniques that include containment of hazardous materials in difficult access conditions like high-rise facades will be important to allow for recoating of many modernist buildings that may not be candidates for overcoating. Application techniques with some high-performance coatings could also be simplified for difficult access projects. Also, coatings that could be applied in a greater range of temperature and humidity environments without sacrificing performance would significantly help extend the construction season and project scheduling. D+D