Description

Overview: Materiality of adobe and mass timber, new build and retrofit, and the elasticity of Passive House approaches.

Presentation 1:

Mass Timber Renovation in NYC: The Data 1 Year Later

Presented by Floris Keverling Buisman, 475 High Performance Building Supply

An urban infill retrofit, addition, and conversion on a tightly bounded lot was then designed to utilize nail-laminated (mass) timber (NLT) and a foam-free assembly, achieving Passive House Plus certification, including a 7.9kW rooftop solar system. See the methods, the results, and lessons learned.

Presentation 2:

Adobe or not to be: Rebuilding with Vernacular Materials in a Modern World

Presented by Mike Horgan and Caroline Dunn, Cairn Collaborative

Rebuilding after the Eaton fire in Altadena, the team and client decided to pursue Passive House, not just in the Pueblo style, but also utilizing adobe building methods, bringing together a new hybrid of high-performance optimization with natural materials, rooted in the region’s history – and offering lessons for others to move this approach forward.

1.25 AIA & 1 PHI CEUs

Moderated by Andrew Ruff, GOA Architecture

Learning Objectives:

1. Explore design concepts that promote reliable and durable solutions for Passive House thermal envelopes, mechanical and renewables utilizing Mass timber structures.
2. Investigate how air sealing and vapor control affect the performance of insulating historic masonry walls without resorting to foam.
3. Describe the benefits and differences of Adobe from standard materials through the lens of internal heat sources, thermal insulation, thermal mass, and facade color.
4. Explain the measurable data one would use to determine the “success” of a building utilizing natural materials.