121st Edition – Zak World of Façades USA

This will be the 121st edition globally and the 1st edition in San Francisco which will showcase sustainable innovations and challenges in the construction industry pertaining to the building envelope and will also display latest technological solutions.

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Speakers and Panelists
Jeanette Walton
Principal | Design Leader, DLR Group
Jeanette Walton has broad experience working on residential and education projects at DLR Group. As a versatile designer, she has contributed to the progression of multiple projects through the design, documentation, construction, and closeout phases. Jeanette is always working on...
Edlyn Garcia La Torre
Principal | Façade Consultant, Morrison Hershfield
Edlyn Garcia La Torre enjoys working design challenges with a bioclimatic lense. With an architecture background and a specialty in environmental analysis and facades, her design approach is based on form follows data to achieve high performance. Edlyn is a...
Ashley Welton
Project Manager | Development, IQHQ
Allison McCue
Senior Vice President of Project Planning, Webcor
As Sr. Vice President, Project Planning, Allison oversees Webcor’s estimating and preconstruction activities, along with design management, project support, Virtual Design Construction (VDC) planning, and contract compliance. Previously, she was a director within Webcor Drywall, one of the four self-perform...
Prateek Jain
Senior Environmental Designer, Atelier Ten
Prateek Jain is a Senior Environmental Designer with Atelier Ten. As a core member of Atelier Ten’s carbon practice, he specializes in carbon reduction strategies for building and landscape projects. He helped create the Pathfinder tool, a landscape carbon calculator,...
Diana Esquer
Regional Façade Manager – Western US, Cosentino
Ronald Klemencic
Chairman and CEO, Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Ron Klemencic is Magnusson Klemencic Associates Chairman and CEO. An industry innovator and one of the preeminent high-rise structural engineers practicing today, he is sought by developers, architects, and contractors worldwide for his creativity, “big picture” approach, and unique ability...
Vince Polhemus
Vice President of Preconstruction, Walters & Wolf Glass
Vince Polhemus has been the Vice President of Preconstruction for Walters & Wolf Glass since 2021, overseeing the preconstruction efforts throughout California and Nevada. As a leading façade subcontractor, Walters & Wolf Glass specializes in the design & construction of...
Dr. Roy Denoon
Senior Principal | Vice President, CPP Wind Engineering Consultants
Dr. Roy Denoon has been working in the field of wind engineering for 30 years, and is based at CPP Wind Engineering’s headquarters in Windsor, Colorado. He has been conducting wind tunnel testing and analyses for building envelopes for over...
Kerenza Harris
Associate Principal | Director of Design Technology, Morphosis Architects
Kerenza Harris is an associate principal at Morphosis where she oversees advanced computational design and simulation for all projects. Her team focuses on the research, development, and integration of advanced technologies into the design and construction process, using diverse software...
Jeffrey Heller
Founding Principal, Heller Manus
Jeffrey Heller, FAIA is president and founder of Heller Manus Architects. Since its beginning in 1984, the firm has established a reputation for influencing architecture and urban design in the Bay Area, nationally and internationally. Jeffrey’s experience covers a broad...
Pedram Farashbandi
Principal, David Baker Architects
Pedram Farashbandi is a Principal at David Baker Architects, a collaborative architecture and urban design firm based in San Francisco and Birmingham, Alabama. Pedram grew up in Shiraz, Iran, a city known for its gardens, poets, literature, and wine—all of...
John Picard
Sustainability Expert, HALIO
John Picard is a visionary and design innovator who understood the “internet of things” long before connectvity became the driver that it is today. Celebrated for his keen understanding of the innovatve principles of natural systems designs, John connects visionary...
Joseph King
Associate Principal, SCB
With over 23 years of experience in the practice of architecture, Joseph King specializes in residential, mixed-use, and project planning design. Joseph is responsible for the development of projects from concept design through construction administration phases. He supports the team...
Isabelle Paparo
Senior Engineer, Arup
Isabelle is a Senior Façade Engineer in Arup’s Los Angeles office with a background in structural engineering and materials. Isabelle holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. Her research focused on GFRP Sandwich panels in façade applications. After transitioning...
Trent Tesch
Principal, KPF
Mark Schwettmann
Design Principal | Residential Practice Leader, SOM
Mark Schwettmann is a Director based in SOM’s San Francisco office. With a diverse range of international experience in major mixed-use, residential, corporate, hospitality, and academic projects, he is also deeply involved in improving the built environment of San Francisco,...
Eduardo Rosa
International Business Manager, AGC Interpane
With a background as an architect, have been in the Glass Industry for the last 30 years. Started at Cricursa, a highly specialized company on curved and difficult dimensional shapes. Opened the world market and have participated on a long...
John Krouse
Chairman of the Board, Boston Valley Terra Cotta
John Krouse, Chairman of the Board, Boston Valley Terra Cotta, Founder – Architectural Ceramic Assemblies Workshop John Krouse is the COB of Boston Valley Terra Cotta in Orchard Park, NY, as well as a Ceramic Engineer by trade. Boston Valley...
Felix Weber
Principal | Façade Structural Specialist, RDH
Felix Weber advances complex façade and glass design at RDH out of our Oakland office. He is a highly creative engineer and experienced team leader with over 15 years of experience in façade consulting and structural engineering. Trained as both...
Christopher Payne
Senior Associate, Gensler
Chris Payne is a Senior Associate and Senior Project Architect at Gensler’s San Francisco-based practice, leading diverse teams through the holistic process of design and delivery of projects. He has particular expertise in realizing innovative building enclosures, marrying aesthetic goals...
Brian R. White
Technical Section Manager – Americas Insulating Glass, H.B. Fuller
Dr. Brian White is the Technical Manager for the Americas Glass team at H.B. Fuller Company, where he manages R&D and technical service. Brian has been with H.B. Fuller since 2010, starting as a scientist developing insulating glass sealants and...
Lisa Rammig
Director, Eckersley O'Callaghan
Lisa Rammig leads the teams in Eckersley O’Callaghan’s California offices. She has played a significant role in its expansion, establishing a West Coast presence, and leading many of the group’s most challenging projects, while she remains involved in academia and...
Karen Brandt
Senior Principal, Heintges
Karen Brandt, AIA, leads the West Coast office of Heintges, an award-winning curtain wall consulting firm offering the highest level of expertise in the design and implementation of the building envelope.Since joining Heintges in 2001, she has managed numerous projects...
Conference Agenda
  • Exterior shading devices result in a significant reduction in heat gain and also decrease discomfort glare
  • Development of a design tool to optimize exterior shades in an intuitive way; a sharp contrast to most analytic tools which demand an iterative process or a suite of pre-set geometries
  • Case studies on AIA HQ in Washington DC, and the new hospital at UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights demonstrating the use of shading as an energy efficiency strategy
Speakers:
  • Window wall areas utilize standard systems in an asymmetric, tapering form
  • Efficient use of resources, reducing steel usage and carbon footprint overall
  • Locally sourced aggregate and precast concrete is enriched through variations in color and finish without adding thickness
Speakers:
  • How inherent qualities of architectural terra cotta, combined with advancements in fabrication processes, make it equally suited for both historic building restoration and modern new-build construction which can be applied to a variety of façade attachment systems and construction methods
  • Using architectural terra cotta as a preferred choice for technologically complex, functional designs providing a cost-effective, thermally capable solution that lowers the overall global warming potential
  • Addressing material limitations early in the design process improves the probability for successful manufacture and installation of a terra cotta façade system
Speakers:
  • Is the current moment an inflection point for many aspects of enclosure performance criteria (upending long standing assumptions about what is better) or an additive layer on top of conventional practice?
  • If the most sustainable building is one that already exists and endures, what are rational options when the technologies underpinning some of our most durable and lifespan-extending products and processes have significant challenges?
  • Thoughts on paradoxes and new questions emerging out of an expanded assessment of responsible resource and energy use in facade design
Speakers:
  • How façade design reinforces the 5M master plan
  • The diverse façade texture and pattern enhance building form
  • Large glass modules help mitigate scale issues
Speakers:
  • Unlocking the power of façades for building sustainability and climate solution efficiency
  • Digitizing, decarbonizing, and increasing a building’s value with high performing façades
  • Emphasizing the importance of façades as a climate solution technology, while creating a whole new market segment
Speakers:
  • Development of a design methodology supported by digital technologies and digital evolutionary models
  • Architecture as systems: Creation of integrated digital network for the conception and construction of architectural assemblies
  • Research and development of architectural assemblies and material are directly implemented in the digital models to provide realtime feedback
Speakers:
  • Carving solar canyons into the building mass allows natural daylight to penetrate deeper into the floor plate while also providing terraces directly off scaled interior workplace neighborhoods
  • Optimizing window-wall ratios per building elevation minimizes the impacts of solar heat gain
  • An extensive prototyping and mock-up phase resulted in enhanced quality and performance of the custom building enclosure
Speakers:
  • Sustainable façade design with a carbon neutral solution
  • Attachment methods for ventilated rainscreens and curtainwall integration
  • Design considerations related to meeting the performance, budget criteria and the design intent for a project
Speakers:
  • What’s new with embodied carbon in the world of façades?
  • How should we compare embodied carbon of façade materials and assemblies?
  • How can we evaluate the payback of embodied carbon invested in building façades?
Speakers:
  • How façades can contribute to a sustainable future by using novel and proven technology, less material and new ideas for their interaction with the building
  • Which industries can we borrow from to transform the building industry towards carbon neutrality and cycling of resources?
Speakers:
  • Meeting the challenge to develop products with a positive environmental impact during their lifetime, without loss of quality
  • Reducing the environmental impact of the operational processes, including making rational use of energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions
  • Promoting the recycling of materials for the production of glass, and designing products that facilitate end-of-life recycling
Speakers:
  • Embodied/operational carbon savings and insulating glass
  • Edge seal influence on IG service life
  • Case studies and efficiency analysis
Speakers:
  • Designing for a mixed use urban tower in the heart of San Francisco
  • Pairing facade systems for aesthetics and constructability
  • Integrating design considerations for occupant health and wellness
Speakers:
  • Creative use of materials to elevate the design imprint and improve the urban landscape
  • Accelerated methods of construction to quickly house people
  • Advantages to the owner/operator in energy-saving façades

Allison McCue

Speakers:
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