ASCENT ®
DESIGNING WITH PRECAST
Envelopes, Energy, Health, and Supply Ascent discussed the precast concrete industry's role in building envelopes and building healthy structures with Robert Ivy, who has led the American Institute of Architects in one role or another for more than a decade and a half. Excerpts from that conversation: Ascent: What issues or trends are architects seeing in the area of building envelopes and façades? Ivy: Compatibility of sealants, degradation of insulation over time, and long-term performance of the envelope are all important to architects and designers. Ascent: How important is energy performance for your members, and how can the precast concrete industry help architects in this area? Ivy: Energy performance is critical to our members’ businesses, their clients’ building performance, and the Institute’s goals for the built environment’s contribution to climate change mitigation, such as the 2030 Commitment. Operational building performance is relevant at all levels, from highly efficient, affordable housing units that free more household income for ROBERT IVY, FAIA CEO AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS PHOTO: WILLIAM STEWART
residents, to city districts that share distributed energy. Our energy and carbon solutions start with passive strategies, including a tight, well-insulated building envelope. Ascent: How can precast concrete producers help in designing and building healthy structures? Ivy: The most impactful step precast concrete producers can do is measure and disclose the impact of the supply chain and manufacturing process through life-cycle analysis (LCA). LCA will calculate carbon emissions from their manufacturing and distribution processes. Climate change has an enormous impact on public health by increasing rates of asthma and cardio vascular disease, increasing insect-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease and Zika, among other human impacts. Cement accounts for 5% of global CO2 emissions, with production growing by 2.5% annually. Once impact is measured, manufacturers can work to optimize manufacturing for cleaner production and often reap financial savings by gaining efficiency in the process. Where precast concrete suppliers are adding insulation in insulating concrete forms and structural insulated panels, they can review the ingredients in the materials to identify hazards and begin to remove toxic materials. This affects people across the entire supply chain, from extraction to recycling to disposal, by removing hazards and improving health outcomes of everyone who comes in contact with the materials. Robert Ivy, FAIA, has been the CEO and executive vice president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), with more than 250 chapters and over 90,000 member architects and design professionals, since 2011.
Follow us on
4
ASCENT, FALL 2018
as.fa18.insight.indd 4
insight 10/15/18 12:44 PM