84th Edition – Zak World of Façades USA

• Where do we see this going in the industry? What is the industry doing?
• How is SOM trying to decarbonize our buildings? Examples include analysis reuse vs new construction, strategies and tools
• How can we accomplish step change? Do we need to shift away from steel and concrete, reconsider aluminum as the prime enclosure material besides glass?
• What is happening in Europe may be happening in the US soon?

• Carbon Impact: Façade materials & buildings
• Carbon Navigator: Low carbon materials & façade systems
• Case Studies: Carbon footprint reduced façade designs

• Examining an existing building’s structure to understand constraints and challenges posed by an outmoded structural system
• Creating unique design opportunities for a façade through the optimization of the constraints of an existing building’s structure
• Exploring sustainable attributes of a façade across multiple disciplines, from maximizing the efficiency of building systems to reduction of waste during panel production

• Most of a building’s GHG emissions are leaked through the building envelope, upgrading the façade is the most effective way to meet LL 97’s mandates
• What's the best strategy for upgrading façades and where do you start? Who do you bring on board?
• Optimizing connections between responsive façades and building systems

Erik Verboon

• New architecture for everchanging neighborhoods
• Progressive techniques for optimal performance
• Advanced programming for modern tenancy

• Documenting design intent
• EARL buy documentation
• Design assist
• Lump sum bidding practices (past and present)

• Rainscreen design & it’s impact on energy and maintenance
• The importance of sustainable manufacturing
• Dekton by Cosentino: A carbon neutral product

• The three methods of heat transfer and how insulation addresses each one
• Types of rigid insulation board technologies and their “fitness for use” in different applications
• Discuss strategies for designing thinner walls while maintaining or increasing thermal performance
• Identifying the fire performance characteristics of different rigid insulation board technologies

• Design experimentation: Complex to buildable
• In search of: Material limitations, geometry optimization, streamlined process and methodology
• Making architecture in the 21st century

• Choosing materials that go beyond green, becoming part of the circular economy
• Do low-carbon materials change how you design?
• Are there short-term cost benefits?
• Evaluating the best LCA apps

Sameer Kumar

• Native ecosystems in the urban environment
• Importance of environmentally responsive façades, and design that engages native ecosystems
• Designing a habitable façade

• Façade solutions for a geometrically complex residential development set to be the tallest tower in Newark, NJ
• How the complex façade geometries were achieved through unique attachments back to the primary structure, giving the appearance that spaces slice through the curtain wall at steep angles
• Exploration of the challenges and solutions for the design and procurement of curving glass elements

• Laminated glass applications and requirements
• Decision Tree: Making the selection of the correct interlayer
• Solution Finder App: A new tool for mobile users

• Life Cycle Assessment: What matters when
• Durability and sustainability with powder coatings
• Switching to powder

• Lower carbon footprint
• Contains no solvents
• >90% application efficiency

• How to best comply with New York City LL 15 requiring that all new construction and major alterations use bird-safe glass to mitigate avian fatalities
• What are the options in glass, either integrated within or in applied coatings, to protect birds? Are there different levels of effectiveness?
• Are there adverse effects of this specialized glass in terms of human optics both interior and exterior?
• How can bird-safe glass comply with needs for heat mitigation?

Christoph Timm

• How were contemporary fabrication technologies and handcrafted techniques combined to achieve traditional building façade details?
• Prefabricating complex repeated components, such as chimneys, passageway vaults, and window surrounds offsite
• Devising a just-in-time delivery system using a nearby warehouse to receive, store, and ready building components according to location and sequence of installation

• Testing custom curtain wall for E119 compliance
• Glass composition and options
• Seamless glass joint framing solutions
• Glass quality: Things to look out for and the value of visual mock-up vs non-rated panels

• Silicones: Closer to a carbon neutral façade
• Structural Silicone Glazing: Simplified data-driven approach
• Leveraging a broader technology platform for innovation

• How financing and the available capital stack is the driving force behind the design of the building envelope
• Demonstrating the limitations of laser scanning and how leveraging a digital process is paramount to panelized façades
• Learn how manufacturers and collaboration between envelope and mechanical are driving design decisions

• Advantages of a reactive thermoplastic spacer
• Energy efficiency through superior gas retention
• A flexible warm-edge system for boundless design opportunities

• Creating new business models for all stakeholders by finding efficiencies and taking advantage of new technologies
• Collaborating at the beginning of the project with the fabricator leads to a seamless flow through to construction
• How integrating design and process can deliver the project on schedule, with a good profit margin and environmental benefits
• Looking at new technologies and manufacturing methods such as off-site modular and robotics which don’t constrain creativity but facilitate it

Julie Janiski

• Insight on a fully glazed, blind based exhaust cavity façade system with measured results and future research
• Textile screen optimization to enhance quality views and energy efficiency
• A “Solar air collector” generating renewable energy
• Integration with bird friendly glass to mitigate bird collisions

• Evolution of architectural precast
• Different approaches to optimizing design geometries for precast façades
• Importance of visual and performance mockups when designing with precast
• Advantages of architectural precast concrete over other construction methods

Silverio Patrizi