ASCE International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure 2014

For those of you who do engineering for infrastructure, the International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure is in Long Beach, California, November 6-8, 2014. It is hosted by ASCE. www.asce.org/icsi2014
This is the first international conference of its kind. The call for papers has closed.

Buzzwords from the program include: climate change, extreme events, risk, resiliency, adaptation, envision rating system. More from the program

This conference is not about how to be sustainable. If it were, we would tell you not to
waste your time. Instead, and more appropriately, this conference is about how to deal
with the consequences of non-sustainability, that is, how to plan, design and construct
infrastructure for a new and increasingly harsh operating environment.
Today, engineers, academicians and other practitioners are facing difficult and
unprecedented challenges in addressing a new reality for infrastructure design.
Decade after decade of non-sustainable economic development is changing the
environmental conditions under which infrastructure is supposed to operate. It is also
changing the cost and availability of critical resources such as fresh water and energy.
How we as engineers and scientists deal effectively with these changes is the most
important challenge of the 21st century.
This international conference is the first of its kind. We have brought together people
from across the world; people who are building the knowledge base and developing
the requisite policies and practices to handle the challenge of a changing operating
environment. We designed the conference for practitioners, enabling them to engage
with others, exchange ideas, and see the full spectrum of activities in infrastructure
design for this new reality.

You can also meet members of the Sustainability Committee of the Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute (COPRI) of ASCE. Contact Angie Lander at ASCE for more information on the committee.

If you are a member of the SEAW Sustainability Committee and are interested in attending and sharing what you've learned, we want to hear from you.  We can help defer the cost of attending.

May Committee Meeting Minutes and Next Meeting

The minutes for last month's meeting are here.

One thing not mentioned at the last meeting is that Michael Green and Eric Karsh were keynote speakers at the PSU Symposium.   It was the same talk featuring their mass timber projects presented at the SEFW last fall, but there is a recording for those who want to watch: http://vimeo.com/92475801

Our next meeting will be at Coughlin Porter Lundeen again.  We will follow up on the energy code and talk about other potential projects.  Participate in the Doodle poll to select a meeting date.

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.