High-Performance Facades | Part Three: Performance Attributes — What to Consider & Measure
"High-Performance Facades" is an ongoing series leading up to the Facades+ Conference in New York City, April 11-12. The theme of the two day event is performance. Part Four of this series will appear in the April edition of SkinTec. Part One is available here, and Part Two here.
By Mic Patterson & Jennie Matusova
While EISA develops a set of attributes for high performance and green high performance, qualitative terms like “integrates, optimizes and outperforms” are subjective and relative measures that yield no concise metrics for evaluation. The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) is one of the organizations working to define these needed metrics, baselines, benchmarks and verification strategies, specifically with respect to the building envelope. The building envelope is the nexus of many, often conflicting, functional demands, or as NIBS states: “many high-performance attributes interact at the envelope” (National Institute of Building Sciences n.d., 4). NIBS has leveraged EISA 2007 to define a set of performance attributes relevant to the building envelope, with an emphasis on enhanced security. The following attributes are similarly derived.
Attributes for Determining Performance of the Building Facade
Building energy performance is significantly impacted by various attributes of the facade. The building skin provides thermal insulation, mitigates air infiltration and controls solar energy radiation, providing daylighting opportunities to reduce electricity consumption and heating loads resulting from artificial lighting. Solar energy harvesting technologies will one day contribute to net-zero and net-plus energy buildings. Natural ventilation through the facade can play a significant role in building energy efficiency.
Environmental impacts of the building facade include energy consumption and resulting emissions over the operations phase of the building lifecycle, as well as larger, more lasting impacts. The lifecycle context requires that embodied energy, disassembly and end-of-life impacts also be considered. Waste generation through the building lifecycle is another important consideration.
Safety and security are provided to the building occupant by the facade systems (at the most fundamental level, keeping bugs and burglars out, and babies in). Protection from weather extremes includes impact resistant design practices. Blast loading criteria is now commonplace in facade design. NIBS references ballistic, chemical, biological and radiological protection.
Durability is an often neglected but fundamental aspect of performance and sustainability for all building systems, with special significance for the facade in its protective role of separating inside from out. In the majority of cases, a predicted service life for a building and its facade system goes undefined. Most damage and deterioration in a building can be traced to moisture penetration and migration through the building skin. Weathering is a particular concern for the exposed elements of the facade. Renovation requirements should be anticipated and planned for over the full building lifespan.
Cost-benefit, or economic efficiency, is yet another important performance consideration, which takes into account at what cost performance attributes are being amplified, verses the benefit the improvement provides. As discussed in Part One of this ongoing series, high performance and green programs are often motivated by promotional and image interests (greenwashing) and may ignore simpler and less costly solutions capable of providing equal or greater benefit at less cost, solely because they do not provide a high-profile green “wow” factor.
Human comfort, health, and productivity are profoundly affected by the facade system. The facade provides thermal and acoustical comfort, daylight, visual comfort and glare control, as well as connection to the natural environment. Natural ventilation through the facade can greatly enhance indoor air quality. Favorable biophilic facade attributes are well documented in providing a more productive and healthier indoor environment (Terrapin 2012). Even small improvements in productivity can quickly trivialize related first costs.
Sustainability criteria are included by the EISA in evaluation of high-performance systems. This opens the evaluation to the wide and varied considerations — and the inexact science — of sustainability. Many of the issues discussed here are fundamental sustainability issues. These considerations also include emergent issues like resilience, or the ability of a system to withstand extreme and unanticipated future conditions. Sustainability considerations will drive future development of facade technology. Water harvesting, for example, will become an increasingly important function of the facade in many geographic areas as supplies of potable water diminish. Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) will become the framework for the sustainability metrics that will drive future development of facade technology.
Operational considerations for the building facade include its integration with other building systems, the user interface, and maintenance and renovation requirements over the operational phase of the building lifecycle. Provisions must be considered to keep a building operational during planned renovation cycles, including disruptions to fuel and water supply, extreme weather conditions, and political instability.
Using the EISA definition then, a high-performance facade would be one that integrates and optimizes the above attributes on a lifecycle basis. A high-performance green facade is a high-performance facade that outperforms similar buildings with respect to key sustainability metrics as described above, again, on a lifecycle basis. Context, however, will determine the attribute set and the priority of those attributes as represented by the project specific criteria adopted for each attribute.
The EISA definition effectively leaves no performance attribute off the table when it comes to evaluating high-performance systems. But is it reasonable to “integrate and optimize” all of these attributes in each application? What if a facade application optimizes one area–energy efficiency, for example, but ignores durability analysis or acoustical performance? What about greenwashing? If a facade design employs high-performance materials and technology in an application where near equivalent performance could have been achieved with a simpler and less costly strategy (i.e., an expensive double-skin system where triple-glazed IGUs would have sufficed), is the system still deserving of the high performance designation? One begins to recognize how easily the term high performance may be applied with inadequate discrimination. High performance and green are terms that should be protected from dilution of meaning by clear definition and standards of practice.
While helpful to have some relevant performance attributes identified, related metrics are still lacking. The evaluation of some of these attributes may be inherently subjective, while others lend themselves to quantitative measure. In either case, appropriate evaluation criteria must be developed. Part Four, the final article of this ongoing series, will explore some of the materials and techniques of facades in both qualitative and quantitative terms, with the goal of identifying evaluation criteria and best practices for some of the more abstract concepts in the high-performance facade dialogue. Stay tuned.
National Institute of Building Sciences n.d. “High Performance Based Design of the Building Envelope.” Accessed 11 February 2013: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nibs.org/resource/resmgr/HPBC/HPBDE_Workshop-Project_Overv.pdf
Terrapin 2012. The economics of biophilia: Why designing with nature in mind makes financial sense. New York: Terrapin Bright Green, LLC. Accessed 8 June 2012:
http://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/
About the Authors:
Mic Patterson is Vice President & Director of Strategic Development for Enclos, where he divides his time between the firm’s Advanced Technology Studios in Los Angeles and New York City. A lifelong student of the building skin, his experience includes many landmark projects involving exposed structural systems, architectural glass and high-transparency facade systems. Patterson is the author of Structural Glass Facades and Enclosures. His current interests involve sustainability considerations and green building practice with respect to high-performance facade technology in both new and existing building applications. He will be leading a dialogue workshop at the Facades+ conference in New York City on Friday, April 12 entitled Facade Retrofits: The Challenge & Opportunity Presented by an Aging Building Stock. Patterson can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Jennie Matusova is a designer at Zaha Hadid Architects in London. She received a Bachelor of Architecture and Minor in Communication Design from the University of Southern California, where she graduated Cum Laude with a thesis award for "Outstanding Independent Research" on architecture and crime.
© enclos corp 2013
(0) Comments
High-Performance Facades | Part Two: Defining High Performance
"High-Performance Facades" is an ongoing series leading up to the Facades+ Conference in New York City, April 11-12. The theme of the two day event is performance. Part Three of this series will appear in the March edition of SkinTec. Part One is available here.
By Mic Patterson & Jennie Matusova
High performance in the building sector is most often calibrated to energy efficiency, more specifically, energy efficiency during the operations phase of a building. Human health and productivity are also frequent considerations of contemporary architecture, and certainly essential to the high-performance building dialogue. Energy performance, health and productivity are also fundamental elements of sustainability. In fact, a review of the literature reveals that high performance is often regarded as synonymous with sustainability. While energy consumption and resulting emissions are a central issue, comprehensive assessment of building performance yields a far more complex set of considerations. New buildings today are often erroneously labeled high performance. Buildings that do legitimately qualify for high-performance standing may not meet the true measure of sustainability. A more concise definition is required to bring clarity to these various ambiguities.
The term "high performance" is prone to ambiguity and misuse in a number of sectors, and its usage in the construction industry is no exception. The term is commonly applied to both buildings and their facades, and often to the materials of which they are comprised, such as "high-performance glass." Part of the problem is the relative nature of performance. Consider automobile performance, since cars are more commonly and easily measured by quantitative performance metrics. High performance in automobiles is typically measured in acceleration, speed and handling, with companies like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche as top contenders. But what if fuel efficiency is the primary consideration? Wouldn’t the Toyota Prius be a top contender for a high-performance vehicle by this measure? Or what if the playing field is changed from the track or highway to rugged off-road terrain? How would a Ferrari fare on the rocky rutted back roads of the Baja Peninsula? An entirely different kind of performance is called for. Additionally, sports cars are expensive — but is higher cost a necessary accompaniment to high performance, or could cost-benefit be developed as a performance metric? What about the complexity that seems to parallel performance improvement? Is there room in the high-performance dialogue to embrace simplicity?
Performance then is contextual – it is not an inherent property of a material, product, system or building. So-called high-performance glazings are not high performing if misused. The context must be defined as a function of the application and conditions of use, and then relevant performance attributes can be considered. Buildings share a common set of attributes, but performance criteria may vary widely. An office building, residential tower, warehouse and hospital all have different performance requirements as a function of use. An office building in Toronto has different performance requirements than a similar building in Phoenix, as does a high-rise residential building in a dense urban setting when compared to one in a residential neighborhood. Therefore, relevant performance evaluation criteria must be established, along with appropriate metrics, baselines, data collection and validation strategies.
The US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007, sec. 401-12, 13) defines a high-performance building as one that “integrates and optimizes on a life cycle basis all major high-performance attributes, including energy conservation, environment, safety, security, durability, accessibility, cost-benefit, productivity, sustainability, functionality, and operational considerations.” Broad strokes indeed, yet a useful list of fundamental considerations. Interestingly, the Act differentiates between high-performance buildings and high-performance green buildings, implicitly acknowledging that high-performance buildings are not inherently green. According to the Act, a high-performance green building is a high-performance building that outperforms similar buildings in the following areas:
- resource efficiency, including energy and water
- indoor environmental quality, including thermal comfort, lighting and acoustics “that affect occupant health and productivity”
- environmental impacts to air and water, waste generation
- use of biobased, recycled and nontoxic materials
- reuse and recycling
- systems integration
- reduced environmental impacts resulting from transportation
- consideration of human and environmental health impacts
It is important to note that these definitions (both high-performance and green high-performance buildings) are consistently rendered in the context of building life cycle, a term the Act goes on to define as:
“...all stages of the useful life of the building (including components, equipment, systems, and controls of the building) beginning at conception of a high-performance green building project and continuing through site selection, design, construction, landscaping, commissioning, operation, maintenance, renovation, deconstruction or demolition, removal, and recycling…” (EISA 2007, sec. 401-12, 14)
Other definitions for high performance exist, and more are certainly possible, but the EISA definition serves as well as any as a basis for deriving performance attributes appropriate to the building facade. Part Three of this series will pursue the definition of such attributes. Part Four will explore evaluation criteria appropriate to the various performance attributes. Stay tuned.
EISA 2007. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Public Law 110-140. 110th Cong. Accessed 2 February 2013: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-110publ140/html/PLAW-110publ140.htm
About the Authors:
Mic Patterson is Vice President & Director of Strategic Development for Enclos, where he divides his time between the firm’s Advanced Technology Studios in Los Angeles and New York City. A lifelong student of the building skin, his experience includes many landmark projects involving exposed structural systems, architectural glass and high-transparency facade systems. Patterson is the author of Structural Glass Facades and Enclosures. His current interests involve sustainability considerations and green building practice with respect to high-performance facade technology in both new and existing building applications. Patterson can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Jennie Matusova is a designer at Zaha Hadid Architects in London. She received a Bachelor of Architecture and Minor in Communication Design from the University of Southern California, where she graduated Cum Laude with a thesis award for "Outstanding Independent Research" on architecture and crime.
© enclos corp 2013
(0) Comments
Enclos approaches completion at San Diego Mesa College Math + Science Building
Facade installation is nearly complete at the San Diego Mesa College Math + Science Building. Enclos is providing comprehensive design-build facade services as a prime contractor for this four story, 180,000 square foot facility.
Read the full release here.
(0) Comments
VIDEO | Facade Retrofits with Enclos at CTBUH’s 9th World Congress
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has released a series of video presentations from their 9th World Congress, held September 19-21, 2012 in Shanghai, China. The sold-out, three-day event brought together over 800 of the world’s leading tall building owners, developers, contractors, architects, engineers, planners, and policy-makers to discuss the “Age of the Sustainable Skyscraper City.”
Among the included presentors is Mic Patterson, Vice President & Director of Strategic Development for Enclos, who lectured on retrofit and lifecycle considerations for the building Facade. Patterson’s New Skins for Skyscrapers: Anticipating Facade Retrofit delves into the high-rise boom of the 1960’s as the precursor to many of today’s aging, underperforming buildings. His lecture discusses in length the opportunity for retrofit in existing buildings through a series of case studies, including the recent reclad of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, one of the largest applications of space frame technology in the world.
Patterson’s CTBUH conference video is available in its entirety here.
(0) Comments
FACADE FUTURES 2013: Trends & Forces Shaping the Future of the Building Skin
“Facade Futures” first appeared in the Facade Tectonics Journal, the University of Southern California School of Architecture’s focus group publication, in 2011. The Advanced Technology Studio of Enclos now publishes a revised outlook annually. The intent is to identify continuing and emerging trends by looking back upon the events of the previous year and anticipating what the New Year will bring. The following is adapted from the original journal article and addresses many of the same topics. We welcome your comments.
by Mic Patterson
Until the recent shift toward the modular, prefabricated curtainwall designs referred to as unitized systems, not much has changed in contemporary curtainwall technology since its advent in the mid-twentieth century. Not since the early pioneering days of lightweight, thin, aluminum and glass systems replacing traditional masonry infill walls has the facade industry been so challenged to innovate. Market forces including escalating performance demands are driving a step change in building skin technology, bringing increased attention to the facade and interest across professional, industry and the academic boundaries. Rapid climate change, volatile energy prices, depletion of easily accessible carbon-based energy resources, unstable economic conditions, increasing adoption of green and sustainable building practices, and urban population growth are all among the pressures forcing change across broadening areas of global culture. The intent here is to take a brief look at how these forces are shaping the future of the built environment through the building facade.
General Market Conditions (a contextual sketch): Economic conditions have improved in 2012 with a progression of mildly favorable indicators. The ABI (Architectural Billing Index), was up in November for the 4th straight month. Its gains are being led by the residential and industrial sectors, the while institutional and mixed-use markets are actually down. Nonetheless, many industry professionals we’ve talked with are guardedly optimistic in 2013. The emerging market conditions are not uniform across the nation, with some regions booming while others languish. Tall building construction has resumed with a vengeance in New York City, with over twenty towers currently underway (Curbed). While new office building projects have certainly come to life, the emphasis remains on luxury residential and mixed-use projects with a significant residential program. San Francisco is also in the midst of a resurgence of building activity (read more). All sectors have contributed to the uptick, as owners and developers pull the trigger on delayed projects in anticipation of rising costs resulting from improved market conditions. In fact, leading facade contractors are busy with growing backlogs and recruitment activities to fill open operations. Look for the improving conditions to gradually spread to other large metropolitan areas that have yet to benefit, and for a leveling off and possible gradual downturn in the current hot markets. Much, however, will depend upon emerging developments in the overall marketplace through 2013’s first quarter. The underlying market conditions are felt by many to lack fundamental stability, and any number of emerging variables could negatively impact market direction. International concerns include the dire economic conditions in Europe and continued political unrest in the Middle East. Looming issues at home include the lingering effects of the subprime mortgage crisis, the perceived “fiscal cliff,” the expiration of the Bush tax and payroll cuts, another debt ceiling showdown, student debt, continuing tight credit, and so on. Good fortune may smile upon us, but be prepared for market turmoil in 2013 — the potential is certainly there.
The Push & the Pull: The architectural facade has long been a compelling focus of interest for building scientists and designers alike, combining attributes of both appearance and performance in a manner unlike any other building system. It is informative to study the patterns of innovation within markets, the relationship between the push of industry vendors and material suppliers, and the pull of design teams demanding superior materials, products and services. The construction marketplace has been dominated for decades by the push, with newly available products and technologies often slowly adopted by building design teams. The traditional practice of masonry infill walls in the early half of the twentieth century continued for decades even after new structural framing practices and lightweight building materials made novel approaches possible. This dynamic has undergone a fundamental shift: the long-running dominant industry push has been supplanted by a waxing pull from the design team for better performing materials. The manifestation of this dynamic is increasing innovation in facade design and all aspects of facade technology.
Its Still (almost) All About Glass: Glass remains a ubiquitous material in the building skin, a virtual commodity material, in spite of the challenge it poses in extreme loading conditions (blast and impact), and its extensively documented behavior as a poor thermal and acoustical insulator. Despite frequent predictions of a decline in the use of glass in the building facade, the trajectory remains upward, as evidenced by the latest crop of glass skyscrapers taking shape from in New York City and throughout Asia. Meanwhile, the debate continues: should the use of glass be prescriptively limited, or are large areas of glass required to maximize energy efficiency? Daylighting is a determining factor here, and substantial documentation exists demonstrating that large areas of clear glass are not a prerequisite for effective daylighting. There is also the argument that large areas of glass actually create more challenge than benefit with respect to good daylighting design (Daylighting Collaborative). Nonetheless, the extensive use of glass will persist, driven not by performance issues but by the owner and occupant demand for the aesthetic of floor-to-ceiling glass. Developers have learned that they can demand higher lease rates and enjoy higher occupancy rates with buildings featuring an extensive use of glass. This will not abate without legislative intervention in the form of significantly escalated requirements for the energy performance of buildings, including daylighting analysis and energy modeling for any large building. This is coming, but only gradually. The voluntary adoption of green codes, standards and rating systems could speed the process, but much will depend upon economic conditions. Meanwhile, material suppliers continue to develop architectural glass products with ever-improving performance attributes.
Security Glazing & Facades: Safety concerns continue to rise after the Oklahoma City bombing and devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew in the 1990’s. As terrorist and storm threats continue to increase, so will the development and application of security glazings and facade designs. Blast design criteria are now commonplace on government and many public buildings. Given the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Irene and Sandy, look for impact-resistant provisions found in South Florida building code to migrate northward.
Dynamic Glass: The market penetration of high-performance electrochromic products appears to be imminent. Sage Electrochromics was acquired by Saint-Gobain, potentially bringing massive resources to the SageGlass product line (read more). Soladigm has raised significant amounts of private equity funding and has partnered with Guardian to bring their electrochromic product to market (read more). Both are in the process of bringing new high capacity fabrication plants on-line with the promise of competitive products for building facade applications.
Thin Skins: Architectural glass is a highly engineered material with a tremendous amount of technology packed into an extremely thin panel —the typical double-glazed IGU is only 1 inch deep (25 mm). Solar, thermal and acoustical performance continues to rise through methods of triple glazing (two cavities), cavity treatments (thin-films, aerogels, gas fill, fritting and mechanical sun control devices), and an increasingly diverse range of interlayer laminating materials. Look for triple-glazing to gradually increase market share as a relatively easy and effective green building design strategy, especially in comparison to the cost and complexity of double-skin facade solutions. Vacuum glazing holds future promise as an affordable high-performance thermal material that, interestingly, produces a panel of even less depth by reducing cavity thickness (read more).
Deep Skins: Conversely, facade designs are getting deeper with the introduction of multiple skins, deeper cavities, shading systems, and maintenance and circulation space within the cavity. A new Gensler designed Shanghai Tower under construction in Pudong includes a double skin that incorporates multiple atria within the cavity (read more). The profession is equal parts interested in and skeptical of double-skin facades. The continued upward trend of this technology is threatened by lingering negative economic conditions, but the facade is no longer constrained to the thickness of a conventional curtainwall system.
Shape Shifting: Geometric complexity in the building facade will continue while fueled by new parametric modeling tools such as Rhinoceros and Grasshopper (and the rest of the zoo), all of which are eagerly embraced by students and young professionals. Optimization is an emergent computation process providing the rationalization of complex surfaces as a means to reduce component differentiation in the built facade.
Daylighting: Daylighting requirements should be legislated as a means to reduce electricity consumption, a major contributor to GHG emissions. While appropriate leadership to accomplish this is lacking, daylighting design practice is gradually growing. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, despite its shortcomings, encourages this practice. Daylighting also contributes to a healthier work environment, but requires good design practice to avoid problems with glare.
Integrated Facades: In the deeper zone of the building envelope (see Deep Skins above), shade systems and electric lighting will be tied to the facade through sensors and controllers, with the whole system tied to a building automation system. These systems are growing in effectiveness and becoming more affordable. For a great example, see the work done by the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory on the New York Times Tower (read more). Building systems integration is a fundamental aspect of high-performance building design.
Acoustical Facades: Acoustical behavior has emerged as an issue of growing concern, largely driven by the increasing urban residential population. The inside/outside sound transmission properties of various glass products are well known and documented, but it gets more complicated with a curtainwall system. Flanking sound, or sound across partitions, floors and building units, is emerging as a significant problem. Triple glazing, laminating, and double-skin facades are all techniques to improve acoustics through the building skin.
Facade Retrofit: The facade retrofit of older buildings with contemporary facade technology is gradually gaining momentum, especially in key market sectors like New York City. The city added a regulation allowing for the expansion of the building envelope by eight inches to accommodate over-cladding retrofit strategies. The retrofit of the Javits Convention Center in New York City is just now nearing completion (read more).
Glare: As with acoustics, glare has emerged as a significant problem with glass, both inside and outside the building envelope. The marketplace has seen its first lawsuits dealing with glare, including the highly publicized occurance at the Vdara Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas and the Nasher Museum in Dallas (read more). Glare problems in China have caused code changes and prompted regulating authorities to block the construction of some new glass skyscrapers.
Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV): The commitment to renewable energy sources remains low, hobbling what should be a robust market that would both provide jobs and reduce environmental stress. The technology continues to improve, but while cost is gradually dropping it remains high. New projects incorporating BIPV continue to emerge, but the BIPV component is frequently value engineered out, limiting it application to a small projects in even smaller markets.
Durability: This aspect of performance is often ignored in the high-performance building facade dialog. Predicted service life does not equate to warranty period, at least not inherently. Most materials and products are actually warranted for a far shorter period than their expected service life, but this service life often goes undefined. The issue of durability is starting to make its way into the dialog in the form of standards and rating systems. The Canadian version of LEED includes a point for durability planning, although nothing in the United States has emerged so far (read more).
Lifecycle Assessment (LCA): It’s just not all about energy consumed during the operations phase of a building. Embodied energy and environmental impacts must also be considered. Lifecycle is gradually emerging as the appropriate timeframe for evaluating cost, environmental impact and additional sustainability factors. LCA is the framework for evaluating the full spectrum of relevant building performance considerations. Lifecycle costing (LCC) will not soon replace first-cost and short-term payback analysis as the metrics of private developers, but ultimately, mandatory requirements will force the issue. LEED Version 4 introduces the topic into the dialog with a point involving building LCA (read more).
R&D: The construction industry has long been negligent in reinvesting profits in new research and development. This is changing as suppliers, vendors and contractors recognize that their success in a more competitive and technically demanding future will depend increasingly on their ability to deliver more efficient and economical solutions. Despite the prospect of continuing tight economic conditions, R&D spending must increase. There is great opportunity for collaborative R&D initiatives bringing together government, industry, academic and professional groups in common pursuits. This needs to happen.
Post-Occupancy Monitoring: Many are rightly and righteously frustrated by the lack of performance data yielding from the many high-performance buildings that have become operational in recent years. There is no excuse for this, but there are many reasons. Sometimes the data is simply not collected. In other cases data is collected but not shared for liability reasons. New York City has instituted an energy reporting requirement that is just producing its first round of data, and raising some eyebrows in the process (read more). Look for this program to pressure further code changes and spread to additional cities. Building rating systems like LEED will increasingly adopt post-occupancy monitoring requirements.
LEED: Midyear 2013 should see the release of LEED Version 4. The schedule 2012 release of the upgraded system was postponed to allow for a fifth public comment period ending December 2012. Adverse economic conditions have impacted certification growth, but use of the building rating system continues to spread both internationally and domestically. Future growth will depend upon developments in national economies and the adoption of the voluntary system by institutions, governments and private developers.
Summary Observations
Trends are indicators, not predictors, and can shift rapidly under the pressure of prevalent market conditions. This is why they are important to watch as a means to anticipate both opportunity and threat. There remains underlying instability in the marketplace, which will likely produce some market turmoil in 2013 with the ability to manifest in unpredictable ways, especially if negative economic conditions reemerge. Future success will be a measure of actions taken now in preparation for these coming changes.
About the Author:
Mic Patterson is the Director of Strategic Development for Enclos, and divides his time between the firm’s Advanced Technology Studios in Los Angeles and New York City. A lifelong student of the building skin, his experience includes many landmark projects involving exposed structural systems, architectural glass, and high-transparency facade systems. Patterson is the author of Structural Glass Facades and Enclosures. His current interests involve sustainability considerations and green building practice with respect to high-performance facade technology in both new and existing building applications. Patterson can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
(0) Comments