Presenter :

Matthew Pavelchak, PE

Overview of common areas regarding structural stability during construction often overlooked or missed, creating unsafe conditions leading to partial or complete structural collapse.

Presenter :

Dirk M. Kestner, PE, SE, LEED AP BD+C, ENV SP

With the inclusion of life cycle analysis (LCA) into LEED BD+C V4.1 Materials credit: Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction, whole building LCA has grown from a fringe practice to a key aspect of building performance. Firms are now adopting LCA methods to bring about substantial reductions in lifecycle environmental impacts of their designs. This panel will share a wide range of emergent methodologies that advance the current practice of whole building LCA, and discuss how they can be used to realize environmental impact reductions in practice.

Panel moderator Efrie Escott (KieranTimberlake) will introduce the current state of LCA in the AEC industry and significant initiatives that are set to change the practice in the coming years. This introduction will be followed by four 10-minute panlist presentations that demonstrate four next-generation LCA concepts. Kate Sector (Lake|Flato Architects) will set the stage by describing how Lake|Flato successfully integrates LCA throughout their project design process. Alex Ianchenko (Miller Hull Partnership) will discuss firm-level whole building LCA benchmarking, and the use of data visualization tools to improve communication and quality assurance processes. Jacob Dunn (ZGF) will share a newly-launched, publicly-available tool that appends factors to embodied carbon data describing wood products to reflect and quantify the implications of different sourcing scenarios. Dirk Kestner (Walter P Moore) will share the Revit-based “blob” model approach, which enables the rapid assessment of structural systems and concrete mix designs through the lens of structural performance and carbon. These presentations will be followed with a discussion of how the panelists envision other firms applying their emergent LCA methodologies when analyzing critical design choices. The session will conclude with the panelists offering their thoughts on what they see as the next LCA challenge, before opening up the session to audience questions.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply the next generation of life cycle analysis (LCA) strategies that can be achieved with currently available LCA tools to LEED BD+C V4.1 Materials credit: Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction.
• Identify whole building LCA data visualization strategies to improve the communication of LCA results, facilitate quality assurance, and transfer of lessons learned.
• Understand why sourcing matters when calculating the LCA impact of wood products and how to reflect wood sourcing in your LCA.
• Describe approaches for the LCA optimizations of structural systems and materials at every phase of design.

Presenter :

Yuan Tian, PE, PEng, LEED AP BD+C, BECxP, CxA+BE

While commissioning of many building systems has existed for many years, Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) is relatively new to the design and construction industries. This presentation will provide an overview of the practice of BECx and its benefits and then dive further into the various approaches as defined by industry standards and codes.

Presenter :

Jaime Vasquez, PE

Church Street Plaza is a high-rise mixed used development that combines one level of retail space at the ground floor, 8 levels of parking, 8 levels of class A office space and hotel rooms on the upper floors. Built in the heart of downtown Orlando, it sits at the front porch adorning the skylight and providing spectacular views for guests to enjoy.

Designing and building high-rise structures is a challenge but the challenge is amplified when we stack different spaces that require different structural needs to optimize their space layout. In this presentation we will explore the passion behind designing challenging high-rise structures. If you are a curious individual that likes to solves puzzles and think out-of-the box, you will enjoy this presentation.

Presenter :

Kelly Roberts PE, SE, LEED AP BD+C

Buildings alone account for 40% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Two thirds of that total impact is from operational emissions while the remainder is from embodied emissions. Embodied emissions include all the emissions required to produce everything that goes into our buildings – the structure, enclosure and all the materials inside. Between now and 2050, half of the new construction emissions between now and then will be from embodied carbon. Therefore, the industry has begun to take action and groups like AIA 2030, Architecture 2030, SE2050, and USGBC have shifted their focus to include embodied carbon. In order to address this issue, we need to take steps to quantify and then reduce our impact. We can do this using a process called Whole Building Lifecycle Assessment (WBLCA). More and more project teams are using WBLCA as a design tool and are discussing decarbonizations strategies. As such, design professionals are actively and looking for low carbon material alternatives. Since cement is such a ubiquitous and carbon-intensive material, it is definitely at the center of these discussions. It’s important that the concrete industry be aware of what is being discussed in the market and how this will affect our industry in the future as this trend grows. This presentation will also look at examples of how this translates to the design documents, the specifications and ultimately the concrete mix designs.

* This event will take place in-person and will be broadcasted virtually.

Presenter :

Scott D. Martin PE, LEED AP

Building projects continue to get larger and more complex, yet pressure to open these projects sooner results in tighter schedules and less time to figure a project out prior to building it. Often changes in building designs due to late decision making, deferred designs, or means and methods necessities lead to cost increases, schedule delays and finger pointing. IPD multi-party contractual agreements can set the stage for a more collaborative team environment, but what about Design-Build or CM-at-Risk projects when the financial success or failure has been shifted mostly to the builder? It is more imperative than ever to figure the complete project out virtually prior to building it. In this presentation we will look – through project examples – at how project risks can be reduced, schedules can be improved, and structures can be more comprehensively solved by a transdisciplinary team focused on all systems of the building working together to get the structure out of the ground quickly with the risks greatly reduced for the project team.

Presenter :

Scott D. Martin PE, LEED AP

This panel will follow the highly acclaimed closing general session from the 2020 DBIA National Conference that featured a discussion among design professionals about their perspectives and recommendations for the design-build process. This panel will provide a more balanced set of perspectives in the same candid conversational style. Each panelist represents and brings perspective from a different place in the project organization chart, including a private-sector owner, lead design-builder, prime AE, key design consultant and key Trade Contractor. A skilled facilitator will moderate, posing provocative questions to each panelist that will provide the basis for them to share their perspective and opinion about key issues. A point-counterpoint discussion dynamic is anticipated to spur discussion and thought about how differing perspectives can be harmonized to achieve true collaborative effort.