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.

City of Seattle Building Desconstruction Intern

The City of Seattle is looking for a college intern (graduate or undergraduate) to study building deconstruction incentives in the permitting process. More information and a link to the application at: http://buildingconnections.seattle.gov/2014/08/11/sustainability-intern-building-deconstruction/

Should disaster resiliency become part of national design standards?

Here's an editorial in July 2013 Structure magazine about the potential impacts of increased storm intensity. 

Is a Storm Brewing and What Should We Do About It?

Should tornado resistant design have the same level of importance as seismic design?

2012 Seattle Energy Code vs ASHRAE 90.1

How does the 2012 Seattle Energy Code stack up to ASHRAE? That's the subject of a report commissioned by the city and available from DPD:
http://buildingconnections.seattle.gov/2014/06/30/seattle-energy-code-bests-national-standard/

Appendix B includes a line-item comparison of differences, including the continuous insulation provision that is an ongoing area of interest for our committee.

June meeting rescheduled to July 9

The next committee meeting has been rescheduled to:

July 9, 2014

Noon-1pm

CPL -- 801 Second Avenue Suite 900

Seattle 98104

The topic of this month’s meeting will be a recap of the Washington Energy Code thermal bridging requirements, including information from DPD on how they are enforcing the requirements. We will also be discussing future committee activities.

Please contact me (ksteuck [at] degenkolb.com) if you would like to attend via GoToMeeting.

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.

City Council to Review Proposed Changes to the Living Building and Seattle Deep Green Pilot Program

Major changes have been proposed to Seattle's Living Building and Deep Green program -- briefing and public meeting scheduled for July 1.

Mayor Ed Murray delivered proposed changes for the Living Building and Seattle Deep Green Pilot Program to the City Council for consideration. At this time, the proposed changes eliminate the Deep Green option to focus the pilot program on Living Buildings. Meanwhile, DPD will continue to develop recommendations for updated new Seattle Deep Green option.

See more at: http://buildingconnections.seattle.gov/2014/05/30/city-council-to-review-proposed-changes-to-the-living-building-and-seattle-deep-green-pilot-program/#sthash.UNYjCpYK.dpuf