Sustainability

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Building Enclosure was joined by Ryan Colker, Vice President of Innovation for the International Code Council. Ryan is here to talk about how the ICC and ASHRAE have joined in the development of a standard to assess carbon emissions across the entire building life cycle.

The analysis documents the energy performance of the 68-story KOI Tower in Monterrey, Mexico, the country’s second tallest building, which features a facade composed primarily of double-pane insulating glass units fabricated with Solarban R100 Optiblue glass by Vitro Glass.

We learned about it in middle school science class: the earth is comprised of carbon-based lifeforms. However, there is a name for the carbon that all living things embody: biogenic carbon.

Companies have several options for decarbonizing cement. About 20 percent of the reduction will come from improved operational measures such as energy efficiency. The rest of the reductions will come from technological innovation.

We have a carbon equivalent of an EUI. Now, we need to be more aware, explicit, and consistent regarding the units we are using for operational and embodied carbon.

In the fight against the impacts of climate change, evolving building codes, performance standards and building practices are being utilized to improve sustainability, resiliency and efficiency—all key components in trying to meet the goals of the Paris Accord and achieve net-zero carbon by 2050. 

What makes a sustainable structure, and how do people create buildings that stand the test of time? They plan for the future today. Create interiors that feel like home rather than sterile to keep companies or residents from moving on.

Designing a building such that its interiors may allow for passive survivability and the ability for occupants to shelter in place during an extreme temperature event can be assessed using the standard effective temperature (SET) metric.

Land is a limited resource, but demand for construction keeps rising. That situation, paired with the push for greater sustainability, presents a challenge. With adaptive reuse, construction firms can create new spaces without building an entirely new structure.

Over 1,100 firms have joined the AIA 2030 Commitment to date. According to AIA's latest annual report AIA, 417 firms submitted data on 20,652 projects, accounting for a 50 percent decrease in predicted energy use intensity.