Christine Vohringer
Username
Christine Vöhringer
Proposer First Name
Christine Marie
Proposer Email
c.vohringer@perkinseastman.com
Proposer Last Name
Vohringer Cardenas
Proposer Company/Organization
Perkins Eastman Architects DPC
Proposer Phone
(631) 479-8770
Proposer Job Title
Sustainability Specialist
Boston 2023 Areas of Focus
Proposer Additional Info
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-m-v%C3%B6hringer-4764669b/
Proposed Session Description
As the climate crisis grows, the impact of building materials on human and environmental health has received increased attention, and hundreds of design firms have pledged to support healthier materials. However, widespread, real-world implementation poses a challenge. Ensuring healthier material selections can require complex decisions and collaborations. Acknowledging this challenge, how can the industry adopt meaningful material health goals across all projects? Can the industry scale up, and quickly? Material health leaders from four firms will discuss how are they pushing for higher standards by using innovative strategies for the implementation of healthier materials on all projects, so as the solutions needed to scale up quickly.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical topics within material health. The AIA A&D Materials Pledge highlights Social Health & Equity as one of five main topics areas, and it is a topic area that may currently be the least researched and well-known to the building industry; this is a theme that affects everyone, which democratizes health and access to well-being when is prioritized. The manufacturing of materials has significant impacts on fenceline communities, industry workers, and global issues of human trafficking and slave and child labor. The deliberate selection of local materials can have an impact on community health and inclusive representation in the building sector. The session will highlight the importance of these issues, and will discuss Social Health & Equity as one of the material health topics that need to be considered at scale across all project types.
Within the session panel itself, the speakers include women and minority representation, including Hispanic representation. Women are still a minority in much of the building industry, and Hispanics are a very underrepresented group within the architecture industry.
Learning Objectives
Recognize and communicate the critical role materials have on environmental health, ecosystem health, human health, social health & equity, and circularity.
Establish material health goals for all project types, and understand different methods of tracking measurable results and explore scalable outcomes.
Set specific educational and action-oriented initiatives that can be implemented in their own work, and shared across their practice.
Identify the types of questions to ask in order to achieve material health targets, and what industry tools are available to achieve desired results.
Has this session been presented before?
No
Session Format
Presentation followed by facilitated discussion or breakout groups
Session Format Details
This session can be displayed in 2 formats, the 60 minutes possibility gives the option for each firm to give a very brief presentation (8 to 10 minutes each) with general concepts and ideas of their initiatives plus an introduction to the topic and some space for Q&A. The 90 minute presentation is thought to dig deeper into each of the 4 cases, visualizing in detail the used tools and strategies from each firm including an introduction and some final next steps as an industry as a closure; followed by Q+A or a possible dialogue from the 4 parts on this subject.
Recommended Length
60-minute session
90-minute session
Strongest Content Connection - Boston 2023
Comments about your speaker roster
Our group of speakers count with at least 30 years of diverse experience around the Material's Health topics, which provides; not only a very deep and insightful perspective on this subject but also a clear and sharp analysis of where we are as an industry, what we need to act fast and what we are asking from one of the mains parts in this story: the materials industry. Only with presentations formed by groups like this is it possible to give a meaningful push into areas of the market that need informed professionals asking the same every day more: no more materials in architecture that are harmful for our health!.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about your session proposal?
We are really excited and available to work through this topic's possibilities for its presentation and format. Thank you!
Reviewer 1
Smith, Greg
Reviewer 2
Smith, Greg
Curator
Smith, Greg
Proposal #
172
Session #
803
Committee Decision
Accepted
Presenters
Full Description
Materials have an impact on climate health, ecosystem health, human health, social health & equity, and a circular economy. With the widespread adoption of the AIA A&D Materials Pledge, and the upcoming Common Materials Framework which will provide a common material health language, the building industry is ramping up material health efforts at a rapid pace. A majority of the building industry is recognizing the importance of material impacts. However, the implementation of material health goals face many challenges, and there is no single solution. The average designer is often overwhelmed by the material health ecosystem of certifications, labels, and information. A careful overview of specifications and material purchasing is required to ensure that selected materials are actually installed in buildings. Education of clients, contractors, and designers is often required, and establishing common benchmarks and metrics for material health targets can pose a challenge. Material health goals often vary by project and occupant type and need to be tailored to each building type.
Each speaker will consider these challenges on a daily basis in their roles at HOK, Perkins & Will, HMFH, and Perkins Eastman. While some projects pursue leading edge material health goals, the majority of projects still do not set targets around topics such as embodied carbon, human health, sustainable sourcing, or social equity. All four firms have struggled with institutional challenges, and have created a variety of education initiatives, material health resources, and benchmarking standards for their firms in an effort to scale up the implementation of healthier materials across all projects. HOK will discuss internal and external education and firmwide tracking initiatives. HMFH will address the role of research with their Healthy Materials Pilot program, Perkins & Will will share the significant role of material librarians (and libraries), and Perkins Eastman will share their initiatives and discuss the importance of integrating material health efforts into the culture of a firm.