Sustainability Presentation by WoodWorks

WoodWorks, the education cooperative of the Wood Products Council, is holding a lunch and learn about the sustainability of wood construction.  From their announcement:

Building for the Future: How Wood Contributes to Sustainable Construction

This course will examine how the use of wood as a structural material in buildings contributes to their environmental performance.  Attendees will learn how to quantify the sustainability of their building designs through life cycle assessment (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).  Discussion will include the impact of wood on a building's carbon footprint, and the effects of timber harvesting practices on North American forests over the past 100 years.  Wood-based framing systems and details will be presented to demonstrate material and energy-efficient options available, including alternate systems and techniques such as cross laminated timber (CLT) and advanced framing.

 The seminar is from 11am to 2pm on October 24 at the Morton Steakhouse in Seattle.  It costs $20 which includes lunch.  Register here.

Update: The slides from the presentation are available here among other Woodworks presentations.

Free Webinar on How To Do Whole Building LCA

On Wednesday, October 9th and Thursday October 24th at 10am, Athena Institute will be providing a free webinar on Whole Building LCA:

In this webinar we will show you how to measure embodied impacts, examine design alternatives and explore trade-offs for a holistic and life cycle approach to sustainable design.

In this 1-hour free webinar we will cover: 

* Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

* LCA in LEED®, Green Globes®, CalGreen and the IgCC

* Demonstration of the Impact Estimator for Buildings, a free LCA software package for construction professionals.

A Whole Building LCA that generates environmental improvements will be worth 3 points in the new LEED version 4.  Athena creates the simplest (and free) software that will satisfy this credit.

Update: A video of the webinar is saved on their announcement page.

Structures Congress Workshop on Thermal Bridging

This year's ASCE/SEI Structures Congress is in Boston, Massachusetts, April 3-5, 2014, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel and Hynes Convention Center.  On the afternoon before the conference starts, there will be a workshop on Thermal Bridging at the venue.  From the Structures Congress website:

Wednesday, April 2

Design of Sustainable Thermal Breaks

1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
3.5 PDHs
A structural engineer’s common tasks are designing exposed projections of the superstructure or foundation, supporting enveloping facades, and attaching exterior equipment - all conduits for thermal bridges from or to the outside, detrimental to the building’s life time energy efficiency and environmental performance. This workshop will focus on providing practitioners with state of the-art strategies and methods for undertaking and implementing thermal break connections. Although not commonly addressed in structural guides,
strategies for participating in these design elements will be discussed. Design and construction examples that will be shown are part of the SEI Sustainability Committee’s Thermal Bridging subcommittee design guide, in development. In addition, an architect and a mechanical engineer will present on why thermal break connections are important building science, as well as how to respond to overall energy modeling effects and ASHRAE’s recent reporting on building envelope details. New design developments will also be covered.
MODERATOR: Mark Webster, P.E., LEED AP BD+C, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.
SPEAKERS:

• James A. D’Aloisio, P.E., SECB, LEED AP BD+C, Klepper Hahn & Hyatt
• Dave DeLong, S.E., LEED AP, Halvorson & Partners
• Andrea Love, Building Scientist, Payette
• Russ Miller-Johnson, P.E., Engineering Ventures
• Raquel Ranieri, S.E., LEED AP, Walter P Moore & Associates
• Chris Schaffner, P.E., LEED Fellow, The Green Engineer

PLEASE NOTE: Application for AIA Educational Credits has been submitted, but is not yet confirmed.
Additional Registration Fee: EB: $99 / ADV: $175 / ONS: $250

 If anyone in the SEAW committee will be going to the conference and can attend the workshop, the committee can support the cost if you share what you learned with us.  Contact Adam.