October news roundup

Time again for our monthly news and events roundup, links from around the web.

Conferences and Seminars
ASCE International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure, Nov 6-8
http://content.asce.org/conferences/icsi2014/index.html
Note the new focus of this conference: "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."

WoodWorks National Symposium: Toward Taller Wood Buildings in Chicago Nov 6-7.

http://www.woodworks.org/education-event/toward-taller-wood-buildings/

WEBINAR – Bullitt Center: Meeting the Living Building Challenge by Brian Court of Miller Hull. November 19, 12-1pm

http://www.woodworks.org/education-event/webinar-bullitt-center-nov-2014/

Environmental Declarations
Lefarge Canada goes one step beyond an Environmental Product Declaration and creates a Environmental Building Declaration for their new research facility.
http://www.athenasmi.org/news-item/lafarge-canada-publishes-building-declaration-for-new-research-facility/

Concrete EPDs: The NRMCA recently released two important reports on industry averages:
http://www.nrmca.org/sustainability/EPDProgram/Downloads/NRMCA%20EPD%2010.08.2014.pdf
http://www.nrmca.org/sustainability/EPDProgram/Downloads/NRMCA_Benchmark_Report_-_October_14_2014_web.pdf

Architecture 2030's release on the NRMCA study above, including an overview of embodied carbon, LCAs,
http://www.architecture2030.org/enews/news_101614.html  

Last-minute announcement for Cascadia GBC event on LCA

Tonight, April 23, at 6pm, the Cascadia GBC Seattle LEED Users Group (SLUG) is hosting a discussion on the MR credits in LEED v4, with a focus on the life cycle assessment (LCA) requirements.

More information at:
http://living-future.org/events/leed-v4-world-renowned-expert-life-cycle-assessment-expert

USGBC Partners with UL to Improve MR Transparency

US Green Building Council, creator of LEED rating system, issued a press release to talk about teaming up with another big player:

USGBC and UL Environment Announce Exclusive Strategic Partnership on Building Materials & Products Transparency

The first initiative of the partnership is the creation of a joint Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). EPDs are a standardized way of quantifying the environmental impact of a product or system. The joint USGBC-UL EPDs are a solution to increase transparency in building materials and products that are being used in our buildings, homes, schools, hospitals and other structures.

Here's an article that summarizes some of the reasoning. Apparently this came to the ire of some other companies involved in creating Life Cycle Assessments and EPDs, maybe because they see UL as a competitor, or because they have already spent time and resources working to existing standards.

http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2013/12/2/UL-USGBC-Team-Up-to-Standardize-LCA-Rules/

From the article:

there are multiple LCA software tools, which all use the chosen data differently. This can lead to sometimes-disparate results: in a recent analysis of biomass emissions, for example, UL found a 30% difference in outputs between two different software programs. “Those inconsistencies have to be known, and they have to be fixed,” he said.

 

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.

Athena Releases Update to its Impact Estimator for Buildings Software

Athena Sustainable Materials Institute has released an update to it's Impact Estimator software for environmental life cycle assessments.

The Impact Estimator is a free and compliant whole building LCA software for those seeking the LCA credits in Green Globes® and LEED® (v4 and MR pilot credit 63). The update is available for download from Athena's LCA Tools site, calculatelca.com. 

Enhancements and updates captured in this version: 

• New and updated cradle-to-grave North American steel product data;
• New GAF TPO roofing membrane data;
• Supports new user defined concrete mix designs and blended cements;
• Includes latest CORRIM US regional wood product data;
• New Canadian wood products data (LVL, I-joists and CLT);
• Updated end-of-life landfill process data;
• New bio-products carbon accounting scenarios including end-of-life effects;
• Updated metal building systems LCI data and assembly quantity take-offs;
• Full compatibility with US EPA's TRACI v2.1 characterization method; and
• New software "Auto Update" capability.

One interesting development is the end-of-life effects. As we have discussed in our meetings, wood can have varying impacts to the air (greenhouse gas release) if it is burned or decomposes at the end of its life.  More about the treatment of biogenic carbon is discussed here: http://structureandsustainability.blogspot.com/2011/12/q5-lca-tools-and-data-collection.html