National Air and Space Museum (NASM) on the National Mall

ECS serves as BECx provider for $1.3B building envelope renovation

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) on the National Mall is among the most visited cultural landmarks in the United States. This flagship museum sits directly on the National Mall in Washington, D.C, while it’s much larger companion facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, is located in Chantilly, Virginia.

ECS Group of Companies served as the independent Building Enclosure Commissioning Provider on NASM for the Smithsonian Institution across the 687,000-square-foot, three-story structure while maintaining partial public operations.

Challenge: Potential failure directly undermining mechanical upgrades

The renovation, estimated at $1.3 billion across two sequential phases totaling 69 months, required new envelope and HVAC systems working in close synergy to reduce energy costs and advance high-performance museum design.

With over 45 specification sections, hundreds of submittals and a multi-phase construction schedule, the volume and complexity of the work created substantial risk for installation errors and oversight gaps. The Smithsonian Institution required independent verification, separate from the contractor’s internal quality control, to protect its investment and owner’s project requirements (OPR).

Solution: Building sciences services across design, construction, acceptance and post-occupancy stages

ECS reviewed construction documents across the ~45 specification sections, conducted 186 planned site visits for quality assurance observations, performed hygrothermal reviews to identify potential condensation risks before assemblies were built, witnessed third-party field testing and maintained a master issues log to track deficiencies and resolutions in real time. The result was independent, documented confirmation that the building envelope was installed in accordance with the Smithsonian Institution’s OPR and contract documents, with verified performance results including an acceptable air leakage rate and no confirmed water leakage.