April 21, 2010
Innovative approaches to facade design are increasingly common in European buildings where air conditioning is used selectively. As we push for higher performance in sustainable buildings, there is much value to be gained by exchanging conceptual and technical knowledge between European and North American design professionals and researchers.
The symposium included a panel session to encourage interaction between design professionals with considerable facade-related professional experience and our audience. Brief presentations by the panelists were followed by a discussion focusing on strategies for adopting advanced facade technologies within U.S. design practice.
The PG&E Pacific Energy Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), and CBE organized a full-day symposium on April 21, 2010, to generate such a dialogue. These experts discussed case studies, performance, and research related to integrated facade design.
Speakers and Presentations
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Andrew Kiel
Associate, Sauerbruch Hutton Architects
Presentation: Integrated Design & Detail for Sustainable Buildings
Andrew Kiel, an associate at Sauerbruch Hutton Architects in Berlin, discussed a number of the firm’s projects employing high-performance facade strategies, including the Photonic Center and GSW Headquarters in Berlin, Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt) in Dessau, and ADAC Headquarters in Munich.
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Thomas Auer
Managing Director, Transsolar
Presentation: Green Building Design
Thomas Auer is managing director at Transsolar. He presented several case studies including the Westarkade in Frankfurt am Main, Deutsche Post Tower in Bonn, and the Manitoba Hydro Place office building in Winnipeg. Transsolar has collaborated with Sauerbruch Hutton and other leading architectural firms in developing cutting-edge design and energy concepts.c
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Mikkel Kragh
Associate, ARUP & Chairman, Society of Facade Engineering
Presentation: Facade Engineering and Building Physics
Mikkel Kragh is an associate and facade engineer at the Arup office in Milan, Italy. He presented facade design with respect to energy, comfort, and structural performance. The projects presented, Plantation Place and Ropemaker Place, both in London, illustrate how architectural design concepts and various environmental factors can drive the detailing of the facade.
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Stephen Selkowitz
Head, Building Technologies Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Presentation: Defining and Measuring Performance For High Performance Buildings
Stephen Selkowitz is head of the Building Technologies Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), where he provides management and technical oversight for five major R&D activities. He provided an overview of energy targets in the U.S. and strategies for achieving these targets in commercial buildings.
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Eleanor Lee
Principal Investigator, LBNL
Presentation: High Performance Building Facade Solutions
Eleanor Lee, Principal Investigator at LBNL’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, discussed ongoing windows and daylighting research at LBNL, including the testing of new glazing products, and LBNL’s testing and commissioning of the daylighting systems at the New York Times building.
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Susan Ubbelohde
Faculty, UC Berkeley Department of Architecture & Principal, Loisos + Ubbelohde Associates
Presentation: Panelist Intro Presentation
Susan Ubbelohde is a tenured faculty member of the architecture department at the University of California, Berkeley, and Principal at Loisos + Ubbelohde Associates. She has more than 25 years of professional experience in building energy use, daylighting design and climate-responsive building design and performance.
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John Breshears
Principal, ZGF Architects
Presentation: Panelist Intro Presentation
John Breshears is a Principal at ZGF Architects and is licensed both as an architect and a mechanical engineer. He has pursued a 20-year career focused on the interaction of building form and technology.
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Robert Bolin
Senior Vice President, Syska Hennessy Group
Presentation: Panelist Intro Presentation
Robert Bolin is Senior Vice President with Syska Hennessy Group’s Chicago Office and National Director of High Performance Building Solutions. He has 22 years of sustainable consulting engineering experience.