Building Enclosure was recently joined by Blake Johnson, Commercial Director for Knife River's Prestress Division, and Melissa Verwest, Regional Sustainability Engineer for Knife River Northwest. Blake and Melissa are here to discuss reducing the embedded and operational carbon in precast.

Enclosure materials influence embodied carbon goals. This means that selecting and designing for low-carbon enclosure materials is important for reducing the overall embodied carbon impact of the building. It is important to note that using heavier enclosure assemblies may require additional structural support, increasing the embodied carbon associated with the building structure.

Carbon sequestration by trees helps to mitigate atmospheric carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas (GHG). Tree-rich ecosystems serve as "carbon sinks" by absorbing more carbon than they release, which could potentially help offset the carbon emissions from human activities such as using fossil fuel-based energy resources for building construction and operation. 

Although both wet-bulb globe temperature and Heat Index take into consideration dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity, Heat Index is calculated specifically for outdoor shaded areas and does not consider conductive heat transfer from wind speed or the heat stress added by direct sun exposure.  

IMPs consist of an outer skin that serves as either metal wall siding or metal roofing, and an inner face that serves as a metal interior finish or liner, with insulation sandwiched between these metal skins.

Driven by rising energy costs, government mandates, long-term cost savings, and simply doing the right thing for future generations, schools are increasingly turning to engineers and architects to move towards net zero energy consumption.

Building Enclosure was recently joined by Brian Pallasch, EVP/CEO, IBBEC. Brian sat down with us to talk about the Moving Forward report. Each year, The National Institute of Building Sciences Consultative Council publishes the Moving Forward Report to investigate critical challenges facing the building industry.

Pressure is mounting for the building and construction industry to become more sustainable. Designing more energy-efficient buildings is part of that, but reducing embodied carbon is a more pressing — and often challenging — issue.

According to the latest determinations issued by the U.S. Department of Energy, ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019 would achieve greater energy efficiency in commercial buildings compared to the previous edition (2016) of the standard.

Browse our articles to read about topics such as reducing carbon in precast wall systems, achieving the proper airtightness of buildings, and how metal roofs are leading the way toward energy efficiency.