IABSE Symposium Call for Abstracts

The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is hosting their 37th annual symposium on September 3-5, 2014 in Madrid, Spain. The conference will include a track on sustainable infrastructures. Abstracts are being accepted through November 30, 2013. More about the symposium is available online at IABSE.org. The title for the 2014 symposium is "Engineering for...

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Join Green Structure Group on Linked-In

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Sustainable Structures Symposium

The Portland State University School of Architecture is hosting a sustainable structures symposium April 17-18, 2014. Learn about the intersections of architecture, structural engineering and green buildings. More about the symposium is available online at http://web.pdx.edu/~cgriffin/symposium/ This symposium may be of particular interest to structural engineers, because the organizers recognize...

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A Personal History of Sustainability for Structures

How does one become interested in sustainability for structures? Over the course of a series of interviews with members of the ASCE-SEI Sustainability Committee, we hope to provide the answers. This blog and other frequently describe why sustainability is important, but the path taken by sustainability champions is seldom considered. Diverse experiences are to be expected. Understanding the reason...

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Natural Ventilation, Cooling and Lighting

Unobstructed soffit was required on this project requiring a raised floor to cover the upturned beams and the space created below the floor facilitated IT distribution and sprinklers. The thermal mass of concrete and properties of normal weight concrete were critical to effectiveness of the natural ventilation on this project. Locations good for this application are the “west coast and desert regions of the United States, where the climate has daytime to nighttime temperature change of about...

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Q3b: Reducing Operational Energy with Structural Innovation

As designers look to make buildings more sustainable, the comparison between operational and embodied energy highlights the importance of honing in on the operations of the buildings as it holds the larger energy footprint. Structural engineers should be aware of opportunities for structural materials (the embodied impacts) to participate beneficially to reduce operational impacts.  Therefore,...

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Q3a: Operational vs. Embodied Energy

How do operational impacts compare to embodied impacts on the carbon footprint of a building?  Authors: Frances Yang, Rebecca Jones ; Contributors: Megan Stringer, Matthew Comber The approximate average across several case studies (Perez, 2008; Ramesh, 2010; Junilla, 2006) is 20% of the total life-cycle energy, as often cited in the building practice.  However, as recorded in Figure 1,...

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Q4: How much of total embodied impact comes from structure?

A rule of thumb often stated within the building design community is that the structure accounts for approximately 50% of a building's life cycle embodied energy.   Author: Terry McDonnell; Contributors: Frances Yang, Kate Simonen, Rebecca Jones This article examines three main scenarios for the amount of embodied energy due to structure compared with the entire building; Structural...

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