Greenbuild: The Building Envelope as a System – A Balanced Approach

We’re excited to be presenting at this year’s Greenbuild Expo! Greenbuild is one of the largest international conference and expos specifically dedicated to sustainability in the built environment. The conference brings together professionals in the architecture, construction, engineering and planning community for four days of education sessions, workshops and networking. This year’s conference will take place on November 14-16, 2018 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

More information on the conference and registration can be found here.

Presentation Overview: The Building Envelope as a System – A Balanced Approach

One fundamental method to achieve deep green buildings is to optimize the envelope’s mechanical and electrical systems. The envelope should be considered as a system where heat, light and air flow in both directions, not viewed simply as a barrier between the interior and exterior. The envelope can be designed to reduce energy loads and impact health and productivity through natural light and control of indoor environment. This can help achieve credits across multiple LEED categories.

This presentation will review the impacts and opportunities associated with the building envelope when pursuing a deep green building. The presentation is based on our experience with multiple large Canadian commercial buildings, each targeting net zero carbon. We will present a methodology to use parametric analysis with whole building energy modelling to explore and understand the energy and carbon impacts of envelope options. The methodology and tools are straightforward and easily understood by architects and owners, and can enable designers to invest more wisely in their envelope. Our presenters are two senior Building Envelope Specialists and LEED Fellows who will provide attendees with a better understanding of how the envelope can contribute to energy reductions.

This session will take place on Friday, November 16 at 8 a.m.

About our Presenters:

Mark Lucuik, Director of Sustainability
Mark is a practicing engineer who has been involved in the field of sustainability since the early 1990’s. Mark is a past long serving member of the Board of Directors of the Canada Green Building Council (past Vice-Chair), sits on the Board of the Athena Institute, and was a founding board member of the Ottawa Chapter of the CaGBC. Mark was past co-chair of the LEED Canada Steering Committee for the Canada Green Building Council, and was a past member of several CaGBC committees and task groups. Mark’s expertise in LEED, Building Envelopes, and the embodied material effects of building materials have allowed him to work on over one hundred green buildings in Canada and the United States. Mark helps design and construction teams achieve their green goals, including LEED, efficiently. Mark is a firm believer in the benefits of green construction, and the necessity of change to reflect our changing climate. Mark demonstrates these beliefs by considering environmental effects in all professional and personal decisions. Mark lives in a LEED Platinum house.

Jamie McKay, Sustainability and Building Envelope Commissioning Specialist
Jamie is a Building Science and Sustainability Consultant at Morrison Hershfield, specializing in high performance Building Envelope design and Commissioning. He has worked for MH for over 18 years, starting in Vancouver, BC and then moving to Ottawa, ON in 2009. Jamie has acquired a wide range of knowledge in sustainable design and building science through his project experience at Morrison Hershfield, lecturing (US / Canada) and teaching (Carleton University, British Columbia Institute of Technology). His specialties include sustainable design, high performance building envelopes, Owner’s Advocacy, LEED Building Durability Planning and LEED V4 Building Envelope Commissioning. Jamie received his LEED Fellow designation in 2014 and was the Chair of the CAGBC Materials Technical Advisory Group (2017-2018 and member 2009-2018), and a member of the CAGBC Steering Committee of the Canadian Green Building Council (2017-2018). Jamie received his BECxProvider and CxA+BE accreditation from the University of Wisconsin in June of 2017.