The Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council in conjunction with the Connecticut American Institute of Architects (CT AIA), CT Green Building Council, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), and Build With Strength recently hosted a Net Zero Schools Summit at the School of Architecture–Yale University in Hastings Hall, New Haven, Connecticut. This critical conversation on carbon mitigation and innovations showcased experts from across the United States who discussed sustainability, carbon sequestration in construction, and methods to achieve Net Zero schools. The goal was to host a candid discussion of sustainability, planning & designing, and construction of Net Zero schools with a goal of providing actionable information for the stakeholders behind school construction design.
Doug O’Neill, Senior Director, Building Innovations-NRMCA, reported that the summit was an encouraging first step toward a growing awareness from the design and construction industries of a carbon positive future with concrete. The all-day event attracted 180 attendees and received very high marks from evaluations.
This event evolved when Tom Evans, Executive Director-Maryland Ready Mix Concrete Association,
invited Dominic Di Cenzo, Executive Director-Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council, to attend a
US Green Building Council (USGBC) conference on Net Zero schools in Washington, DC.
Seeing the need for a similar program in his state of Connecticut, Di Cenzo contacted
his local CT-AIA chapter, who immediately saw this as a great
opportunity to educate its members!
Gregg Lewis, Vice-President-NRMCA and AIA, was a key contributor to the success of this event by compiling the impressive list of speakers, along with negotiating with Yale to host the event and helping to promote the event through different media sources.
Lewis said, “Architectural and engineering design [were] the mainstay of this event. But no matter how well we design our buildings from an energy efficiency standpoint, our building materials include a lot of embodied carbon, which is a direct result of the energy needed to generate or produce a given building material. Clearly once a net-zero school is built, it is going to perform on a very high level, from an energy efficiency standpoint. [Descriptions proceeded] through a building life-cycle analysis from an embodied energy standpoint and a use-phase energy standpoint.”
Lewis added, “We [talked about] not only the building performance, but also how the materials used in that building ultimately contribute to the total carbon that’s needed to produce the building. Net-zero schools in Connecticut are going to be something we’re going to see a whole lot more of. Our hope is that we can begin to prime the pump to see a more dramatic uptake of this approach for school and public building construction in the state.”
“Everyone [who was] on the list for this program is a thought leader. [These] folks [drove] this conversation nationally and globally around embodied carbon. Kenny Stanfield, AIA and Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects-Louisville, Kentucky, [presented] the design of the very first net-zero school in the country 11 years ago, and his firm has designed several since that first school. Tony Hans, Mechanical Engineer, CMTA Engineers-Prospect, Kentucky, has found a bunch of novel, cost-effective ways to drive energy performance to this net-zero level. If we want to see the path forward in a positive way, these are the folks [who] are going to lead us where we need to be,” Lewis said.
The line-up of speakers was formidable and included these leaders and topics:
• Embodied Carbon:
Dr. Jeremy Gregory, PhD., Concrete Sustainability Hub-MIT
• Panel Discussion: Sequestering Carbon Dioxide
Dr. Brent Constantz, PhD., Blue Planet
Dr. Sean Monkman, PhD., CarbonCure Technologies
Dr. Gaurav Sant, PhD., CO2 Concrete-UCLA
Dr. Nicholas DeCristofaro, PhD., Solidia Technologies
• Lunch Presentation:
Jennifer Mitchell, LEED AP, LinkedIn Corporation
• Kentucky Schools Adopt Net Zero Strategies for Construction:
Kenny Stanfield, Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects-AIA
• Zero Energy Should be the Norm Now that it’s Free! (3 Ways to Procure Zero Energy Schools):
Tony Hans PE, RCDD, LEED AP, National Director of Sustainable Projects-CMTA Engineers
• A Special Case Study Presentation:
Dr. Christopher Drew, PhD., Director of Sustainability–Smith + Gill Architecture
Lewis stated, “This will be the beginning of an ongoing conversation about these topics.”
Resources, video content, materials, and other information from the event are expected to be [available to attendees and non-attendees soon].
For more information on how to organize a similar event in your area, contact:
Doug O’Neill: E-mail: doneill@nrmca.org
Gregg Lewis: E-mail: glewis@nrmca.org
Dominic Di Cenzo: E-mail: ctconcretepromotion@gmail.com
Tom Evans: E-mail: tom@marylandconcrete.com
For the NRMCA E-News article titled “Net Zero School Summit at Yale University Highlights Carbon Positive Future with Concrete”, please go to: https://www.naylornetwork.com/nrc-nwl/articles/index-v5.asp?aid=601014&issueID=68480
For the ARCHITECT Online News Magazine pre-conference article quoting Gregg Lewis titled “What to Expect at the Net-Zero School Summit”, please go to: www.architectmagazine.com/practice/what-to-expect-at-the-net-zero-school-summit_o