World Tour of Heavy “Masonry” Construction Projects

Look at the countless architectural examples from history, and then study the truly riveting examples of heavy masonry construction from today. It’s this simple: Designing with brick can save energy and reduce fluctuating interior temperatures. 1st Image: The Queens Building @ De Montfort University)

Professor Alan Short MA DipArch RIBA FRSA (Professor of Architecture at the University of Cambridge and Chairman Short & Associates Architecture) delivered a fantastic keynote address at the 2nd Annual BrickStainable Awards Ceremony. An inspiring talk about the historical influences and styles of architecture, bio-climatic design strategies and building performance, and basic design concepts including: thermal mass, stack effect, and orientation were also discussed.

Brick allows you an unbelievable amount of design flexibility in color, size, pattern, shape, detail, and adaptability. It not only promises hundreds of years of durability, but it is manufactured from abundant, organic materials that are typically locally sourced.



Final thought from Professor Short:
“…to return to this chart (Image 2), there is an order of magnitude saving in energy and cost available through careful design. Only at this point should renewable energy technologies be introduced to deliver the residual and potentially much reduced energy requirement for comfort. Don’t apply gadgets to the top bar!”

Click here to download the entire keynote address.


Drawing and advice from Georgia Short, Age 7.

The Impact of Brick on Recycled and Regional Credits for LEED

For projects pursuing LEED certification, the question of the impact of any material on the Recycled Content and Regional Content credits consistently arise. This is understandable. During the design of a project it is difficult to tell what products will ultimately come from within the requisite 500 mile radius or what their recycled content will be. If a project wants to insure that it will achieve these LEED credits, it makes sense to insist from every vendor that their products be regionally sourced and that they have recycled content. Unfortunately, sustainability is not a black and white issue and these credits can sometimes conflict. In other words, material within the 500 mile radius may not have the highest recycled content available. Additionally, manufacturers beyond the 500 mile radius may offer other benefits that can save costs or speed construction or meet a design requirement that addresses other sustainability goals.

Designers who select materials solely on the basis of meeting these two LEED criteria may be missing other opportunities for creative expression or sustainability. So, how does one know when to broaden the criteria for material selection? We have decided to take a look at several LEED certified projects to assess the relative contribution of certain materials or specified items to the Material & Resource credits for Recycled Content and Regional Materials. Since this site is focusing on brick, we will begin here but, we plan to be able to provide metrics for other materials so stay tuned.

We have compiled data from several LEED projects built with brick exteriors. Comprised of a variety of building types, all projects are located in the Baltimore, MD/Washington, DC metro region.

Recycled Content
In the sample we have compiled, total recycled content represents between 18% and 55% of the cost of the materials (divisions 2-10) of the project. Though some brick contained recycled content, others did not. For the sake of this exercise, we calculated the impact for both zero and one hundred percent recycled content to illustrate what the potential material impact would be. In fact, few bricks will include one hundred percent recycled content. The impact of 100% recycled brick on the total recycled content of a project varied between 2.26% and 3%. This is the total potential contribution of brick to this credit. In most cases, because few brick are made of 100% recycled content, it will be lower than this. Fifty percent recycled content in brick for the represented projects would yield an impact of 1.13% to 1.5%, for example.

As previously mentioned, the total recycled content of these projects varied from 18%-55%. Projects whose recycled content exceeded twenty percent meet the LEED requirement for achieving the two points available under this credit. Many projects received the Innovation in Design Credit for Exemplary Performance by meeting or exceeding thirty percent recycled content for the materials on the project. Whether or not the brick contained recycled content was insignificant to the achievement of the maximum number of points for this credit.
 
Regional Materials
Using the same sample of buildings, the total value of materials regionally sourced ranged from 9.17% to 50.3% of total material costs (divisions 2-10). Again we calculated each project at zero and one hundred percent of the value of the brick for this credit. Again, the contribution of brick to the total value of regionally source materials was between 2.26% and 3% overall.
In the case of the Regional Material credit, the sample of projects revealed that many of the projects in the Baltimore/Washington area were obtaining more than thirty percent (30%) of their materials regionally, well above the twenty percent (20%) required to achieve the two available points under this credit and enough to achieve the Exemplary Performance point under Innovation in Design. In this case, the contribution of brick to the achievement of this credit could be the difference between qualifying for the Innovation point or not but, for all projects, it did not impact the project’s ability to qualify for the two points available under this credit.

Sustainability
It is true that whether one achieves a LEED point or not, the embodied energy, and therefore the embodied carbon, of a material is likely to be greater if one has to transport it farther – particularly if it is a heavy material like brick. But, if one wants to truly drill down to this level of detail, one would have to consider such things as the efficiency of the plant where the material is manufactured, where the raw material is harvested, whether the brick will be transported to the local distributor by truck or rail as well as the relative impact of any potential increase in embodied energy to the total life-cycle benefit of building a brick building. While I would support such an exercise, I do not anticipate that it will be part of a typical design process.
This exercise is intended to assist design teams in evaluating the relative contribution of their material decisions on these particular LEED credits and to place these decisions in the context of the overall project sustainability goals. As this author has frequently expressed, sustainability is about so much more than LEED. Each project needs to be considered in its entirety as well as for its individual credit compliance.

In summary, designers should focus on the big picture and the strategies that contribute to a project’s overall sustainability. Yes, one needs to be conscientious about material selections but, most non-structural material selections are likely to have small to insignificant impacts on the overall compliance with the Recycled Content and Regionally Sourced material credits. Consider your location, what other materials are contributing toward targeted credit compliance and the projected value of the material in question. What are the other considerations; aesthetics, a manufacturer’s ability to meet fabrication and schedule requirements or cost. Discuss your options with your LEED consultant.

For a full report, contact Potomac Valley Brick at info@PVBrick.com.

Masonry Materials Comprise 11 of 13 Wonders of the World!

Just out of curiosity, I thought I would find out what the Seven Wonders of the World were and of what materials they were made. Do you know? There are actually Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, of which only the Pyramids at Giza still exist, and a New Seven Wonders of the World, selected from sites and structures still in existence. Between the two lists, the Pyramids at Giza were on both so, two times seven only yields thirteen. Interestingly, of the thirteen structures, all were masonry except for two, the Colossus of Rhodes (from the original seven), which is reputed to have been Bronze, and Christ the Redeemer in Brazil (of the new seven) which is concrete. Of the ancient wonders, only one remains standing, the Pyramids at Giza. Except for the two non-masonry structures mentioned, all of the others are built of stone or brick. The two brick new wonders are the Great Wall of China and the Colosseum in Rome.

The Great Wall, except for the “guard houses” is primarily an elevated road to keep out the enemy and move troops and military supplies. Though occupant comfort was not a primary consideration, durability was. And, endure it has. Even through its degradation, many of the bricks remained. Now, having received its second, at least, restoration, the Great Wall continues to impress as much by virtue of the mere chutzpah that it took to construct it as by its technical accomplishment.

The Colosseum, though an open structure, was built to provide a modicum of human comfort while attending gladiatorial exhibitions. There has been much speculation about the canvas awnings at the upper level that provided shelter from the sun but, these no longer exist. When you are there today, the shade of the arched concourses and the coolness of the brick still provide considerable relief from the Italian sun.

Here are the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the New 7 Wonders of the World.

7 Wonders of the Ancient World
Pyramids at Giza
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Temple of Artemis
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
Colossus of Rhodes
Lighthouse at Alexandria

New 7 Wonders of the World
Pyramids at Giza
Machu Picchu
Chichen Itza
The Colosseum
Great Wall of China
Taj Mahal
Christ the Redeemer

There were many other contenders when the New list of Wonders of the World was created. Selected for features such as beauty and cultural value, it is notable that the majority of them are masonry structures.

15,500,000 brick … Sustainable … A Hundred Plus Year History!

The National Building Museum in Washington, DC (USA) is a showcase example of how the stack effect of masonry units can achieve natural ventilation and infiltration. Originally the Pension Building, the National Building Museum was designed to provide natural air-conditioning and light for its employees. Through the use of windows and air vents in the exterior walls of the building a ventilation system was created where hot air escaped through the skylights in the roof. The upward flow of air through the large central atrium would draw in fresh air through the exterior wall openings. The significance of brick construction cannot be overstated. The thermal lag created by the brick bearing walls helps to keep the interior of the building cool during the hot Washington, DC summers. And, the combination of the thermal lag and stack effect is how the National Building Museum maintained a comfortable interior environment prior to the installation of air conditioning.

These same concepts--Thermal Lag and Stack Effect are two of the six core concepts identified in the 2009 BrickStainable Design Competition entries. Check out all six design techniques utilizing brick to achieve sustainability goals.

Just this fall, Potomac Valley Brick (PVB) represented the brick and masonry industry by participating in the Festival of the Building Arts event hosted at the National Building Museum. PVB’s team partnered with United Masonry, a local mason contractor, to lead the bricklaying demonstration. This event was attended by thousands of visitors of all ages. A good time was had by all. Ellen Jacknain, coordinator of the Festival of the Building Arts noted, “As always, bricklaying was one of our most popular activities. Thank you so much to (Potomac Valley Brick) Dave and all of the workers for their expertise and patience in working with all the young visitors. The event’s general atmosphere of learning and fun was remarkable – due in large part to the enthusiasm of demonstrators like you.”

And we’ll be back at the National Building Museum in March. It will be the venue for the 2nd Annual BrickStainble Awards Celebration for the second year in a row. We can’t wait to return to this fabulous brick structure for another night of sustainability celebration!

What’s your favorite feature of the National Building Museum?

Integrated Design--A Path to Utopia?

Within the arena of sustainability, the term “integrated design” is now being bandied about like the term “green” has been. If everyone is green and integrated, as an increasing number of businesses and products claim to be, we should be in Utopia by now. Are we there yet?

Not quite.

So, what do these terms really mean and what do we seek to achieve by striving to integrate the design of our products and places to be green? It is really a self preservationist point of view. The well known definition of sustainability is “…meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Historically, human development has occurred by exercising our dominion over nature. People were few and nature was abundant. The pace of life was slower. Now, in the frenzy of a technological explosion and an expanding and increasingly affluent population whose consumption rate is growing; the loss of natural lands, increased scarcity of resources, degradation of our water supplies and changes in our climate are pressing our collective comfort zone. That is to say that these impacts are affecting the daily lives of people all over the planet. Many, worldwide, seek to live within a smaller environmental footprint to preserve a quality of life for future generations and, some would say, the planet itself.

We increasingly sense the interdependency of our actions. What we purchase and consume, where we live, what we throw away, our national security, our public health and, not least of all, the quality of our environment are all linked. While more than 50% of the world’s population now lives in cities, we seek to live increasingly “in harmony with nature” without knowing exactly what that means. Ironically, indigenous people who have lived in harmony with nature for centuries are considered “uncivilized.”

So, here we are, civilized people seeking to design our environments and products in a manner more integrated with nature, more holistic, more “green.” The term “integrated design” requires an understanding that the thing we are making is part of an interdependent system. If it is a product, there are material and energy flows in every aspect of its material acquisition, manufacturing, advertising, packaging, distribution, sales, obsolescence and recycling. In the case of architecture, the building or development engages its place environmentally, socially and economically.

Even city blocks that are fully developed from property line to property line are part of a watershed and, possibly, a migratory path. It has water and energy income and out flows. Though it may not function as it once did as a natural environment, we have to ask ourselves whether it could be restored to do so. How do I take advantage of the climatic cycles? What is the potential energy income? What do I do with rainwater that falls here? What do I do with the waste streams that are created by this development? What would nature do?

How will this project function economically, not only individually but in relation to its community? How does it support the social network of the community within which it resides? Addressing these issues integratively is a new challenge to architects and planners. Integrating a design is not only about integrating building systems but it is also about understanding and integrating the building with its place.

Designing a project that addresses these questions is very different than designing a project that seeks to achieve aesthetic, economic and compliance goals. The integrated approach is much richer, more rewarding, more “green”.