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.

BrickStainable Offsets Carbon From Its Awards Program

BrickStainable will be offsetting the carbon emissions from its awards program this year. On March 31st, 2011, Potomac Valley Brick will host its Second Annual BrickStainable Awards Program. As in the first awards celebration, winners are being flown to Washington, DC, from their home cities and countries to participate in the awards celebration.

For the purpose of estimating the carbon impact, PVB has calculated the carbon consequences of all flights for winners and guests, hotel stays based upon the block reservation, preparation of the awards dinner and use of the National Building Museum for the evening. Transportation of local guests to and from the awards venue has been estimated at twenty-five miles per attendee. This estimate is averaged from those who will walk or take transit from locations within the City and those who may be driving from distances farther away. Based upon an estimated attendance of 200, the carbon consequence of the Second Annual BrickStainable Awards program is 24 tons of carbon.

As a supporter of BrickStainable, Doo Consulting LLC is purchasing the carbon offsets for the awards program. These are being purchased from the Enterprise Green Communities Carbon Offset Fund. Enterprise’s Green Communities Offset Fund offers the opportunity to offset carbon emissions caused by your conference or meeting by helping low-income families live in green affordable homes. As a building industry competition, BrickStainable sought to find an industry related offset fund. Supporting the creation of green communities and the construction of green affordable housing is consistent with the mission of BrickStainable and its sponsors.

Individuals can offset carbon emissions caused by your corporation or organization, or you and your family's daily activities through this fund as well. To check out the Carbon Calculator, click here.

Connection with the Natural World

Bill Browning, Founder of Terrapin Bright Green, was the keynote speaker at the 1st Annual BrickStainable Design Competition, and is a juror for the 2nd Competition.

Bill is one of the green building and real estate industry’s foremost thinkers and strategists. His areas of research and expertise include: biophilic design, the physiological and psychological benefits of building with nature and living systems; biomimicry, how nature evokes these benefits and inspires design; and, deep ecological history and metrics of various locations.

Browning’s most recent interest includes the Mannahatta project. This study focuses on the reconstruction and remapping of how Manhattan looked in 1609. Bill is interested in the carbon balance, original topography, and natural ecosystems prior to development.

It is truly fascinating to check out Manhattan on Google Earth and use the historical time tool to see the development of this New York City borough over just the past few decades.

- To see it for yourself, visit http://welikia.org/explore/mannahatta-map/

BrickStainable Jurors Speak at Greenbuild 2010

I never cease to enjoy Greenbuild. Even as it has expanded, the enthusiasm and breadth of expertise and investigation is enthralling. Those who have been in this field for a while may find many of the educational sessions to be too basic but, if one selects carefully, there is plenty of cutting edge work being presented. Two of the jurors from BrickStainable presented at the conference, as did I.

Vivian Loftness was a part of two sessions. One presented perspectives on the greening of college campuses. How is an institution’s commitment to greening itself manifest and how does it affect student life, academics and job opportunities in a green economy? Another panel that Vivian participated on addressed carbon footprint analysis for single family residences. This was part of the Residential Summit that took place at Greenbuild this year. This session focused on establishing the quantitative value of the carbon embodied (versus operational) in the single family house. This allows the design, including materials and systems selection, to better meet sustainability goals and more fully evaluate the life cycle impact of the project.

Bill Browning participated in a panel entitled “Mannahatta & The Mtigwaaki: Learning from Ecological and Indigenous History To Remake Our Cities.” Eric Sanderson’s book, “Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City” is a fascinating look at how the development of a City like New York has been affected by its natural history. Bill discussed a project of his own that was informed by this research and how that project has been able to take advantage of the discovery that is located on top of an historic, but long ago buried stream.

I participated in a panel discussion of two community health clinics that have achieved LEED NC Gold and LEED CI Platinum certifications. Serving Baltimore City’s homeless population and a distressed urban community, these LEED certified buildings contribute to the awareness of environmental health in these frequently marginalized communities.

There were many other fascinating sessions and over 1,000 exhibitors this year! The Brickstainable team has been actively involved and we hope to be able to present the contributions of BrickStainable to the sustainability discussion next year. Keep an eye on us and the great work of our competitors!