The SSE PREFoam Stadium Seating System &     Sustainable Building Practices

SSE is one of the leading companies in the design and construction industry that has taken a fresh approach to protecting the build environment and employing sustainable building practices. Over the past few years, the design and construction professions have turned their focus to the "Greening of America." Designers, Architects, Contractors and Material Suppliers have taken on the challenge of determining how to build and furnish building’s interiors with materials that are:

• Resource Efficient
• Made with Recyclable Material
• Environmentally Friendly
• Energy Efficient
• And Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The U.S. Green Building Council has developed a nationally accepted system to rate the design, construction and operations of buildings. The USGBC’s leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a standard that recognizes the life-cycle cost of construction and helps guide the performance of projects. The LEED rating system allows owners to acquire credits by meeting certain conditions pertaining to the use of sustainable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly products and systems.

The use of SSE PREFoam EPS in design and construction of stadium seating for theatres, auditoriums, lecture halls, live entertainment venues, and sanctuary seating addresses each of these criteria and provides a product that is both environmentally responsible and a cost efficient solution to installation of tiered stadium seating riser systems.

Resource Efficient

• EPS manufacturing uses minimal energy and creates nominal pollution. Steam is the primary component in the manufacturing process of EPS and the water from this process is collected and reused numerous times.
• With hundreds of manufacturing facilities throughout North America, EPS is manufactured in close proximity to most building projects minimizing the distribution radius.
• Because EPS is very light-weight, transportation costs are minimized.

Made with Recycled Material

• EPS building products can be made with recycled material content. In 2004 more than 57 million pounds of EPS was recycled.
• Tiered stadium seating systems are typically made with approximately 10% recycled content.
• At the end of a building’s useful life, tiered stadium seating systems constructed with SSE PREFoam EPS fill material can easily be removed and recycled. More than 90% of the material in an EPS tiered stadium seating system is comprised of recyclable EPS block material.

Environmentally Friendly

• EPS does not contain harmful formaldehydes, CFC’s or HCFC’s. The American Lung Association’s Health House guideline acknowledges that EPS is a safe material for insulation and structural support in construction.
• EPS has a high degree of resistance to moisture absorption controlling humidity and air infiltration thus reducing the development of mold.
• The use of SSE PREFoam EPS in tiered stadium seating design reduces vibration, reverberation and virtually eliminates "drumming" associated with deep base in musical performances. By minimizing audio interference and feedback, speakers are more easily heard and understood in large sanctuary spaces.

Energy Efficient

• According to the U.S. Green Building Council, using EPS in building construction helps reduce energy consumption.
• SSE PREFoam EPS blocks for tiered stadium seating systems can be placed directly on compacted fill, thus eliminating the need for a concrete slab under the stadium seating risers. Because of the characteristics of EPS, it minimizes thermal transfer, inhibits mold growth, and is resistant to insects.

Reduces Green House Gas Emissions

• EPS unlike Extruded Polystyrene (XEPS) has never utilized any greenhouse gases in the manufacturing process and the manufacturing process itself does not result in emissions of greenhouse gases.

In addition to the energy and environmental benefits inherent in the use of EPS there are a large number of efficiencies that can be realized using the PREFoam EPS System as a construction solution for tiered stadium seating.

One of the distinct advantages of a PREFoam tiered seating riser system is the fact that it is pre-engineered, custom prefabricated and delivered to the site ready to be installed late in the construction sequence; following the stud and drywall completion of the auditorium’s demising, back and side rake walls. Because the general contractor can work on a floor unencumbered by scaffolding, the ability to get the auditorium "tiered seating ready" proceeds much more efficiently than was previously realized using traditional methods of constructing tiered stadium seating platforms.

In a typical installation, ninety percent of the PREFoam EPS block is delivered to the project site precut to the dimensions of the seating risers including any necessary ramps and landings. Consistent with the supplier’s shop drawings, blocks are pre-marked for direct placement on the auditorium floor. Each of the PREFoam EPS blocks is marked by area designation, platform level, row and block location in each row of the tiered stadium riser system.

By the afternoon of the first or second day of installation, typically the work crew is busy installing the gauge metal steel riser plates and connecting strap hardware. The riser plates not only serve to finish the face of the PREFoam platform riser, but also serve as a form for pouring the 4" horizontal concrete platform deck. They are held securely in place with connecting straps placed every 30" on-center.

Once the gauge metal steel risers and the connecting hardware are in place, the intermediate step forms are attached to the face of the risers to complete the platform assembly. At that point, the platform is ready for the one continuous concrete pour of the horizontal platform surface. This approach will typically save weeks off the installation schedule and reduce overall costs by as much as 15-20% compared to traditional methods.

The incorporation of a PREFoam System is not only more cost efficient, but also an environmentally responsible, sustainable, "green" approach to design and construction of tiered stadium seating risers.

Resources:

EPS Molders Association
"EPS Recycling," "Improved Indoor Environmental Quality," "EPS Green Building Credits"
Insulfoam LLC
"The Green Choice" and "Insulfoam and LEED."