The Right Tools for the Job: Building a Toolbox for Integrated, Iterative Sustainable Design

Misha Semënov-Leiva
Proposal Status
Ready for Committee Review
Username
Misha Semenov
Proposer First Name
Misha
Proposer Email
semenov@centerbrook.com
Proposer Last Name
Semenov
Proposer Phone
(860) 581-2713
Proposer Job Title
Senior Architect & Sustainability Coordinator
Proposer Additional Info
Misha Semenov AIA, LEED AP BD+C, CPHC (he/him/his) is a Senior Architect and Sustainability Coordinator at Centerbrook Architects and Planners. In this role, he helps optimize project workflows, advise teams on sustainability, and lead research and education initiatives. Misha has design experience with a broad scale of institutional projects, with a focus on energy performance, sustainable materials, and the integration of biophilic design elements. Misha has presented his expertise at various conferences and media outlets, including Greenbuild, the Northeast Summit for a Sustainable Built Environment, and the US Green Building Council’s Built for Health podcast. A licensed Architect in Connecticut, a CPHC, and a LEED AP BD+C, Misha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Princeton University, a Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture, and a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment.
Proposed Session Description
In this session, Mark Herter and Misha Semenov of Centerbrook Architects and Planners will share how sustainable performance and cost evaluations can be easily and cost-effectively integrated into every step of the design process through the targeted use of analytical tools. Through a set of project-specific design case studies, Misha and Mark will demonstrate the ease of use of these tools, and the data and images they produce, as part of a BIM-based workflow. Finally, they will also introduce Centerbrook’s unique approach to sustainability, emphasizing connections to place and the creation of enduring, emotionally resonant buildings. Tools covered will include Cove Tool, Ladybug, Revit, Therm, WUFI, Enscape, and more.
Why is this session important?
The urgency of integrating sustainability holistically into the design process has never been greater. The 2030 Challenge deadline for signatory firms is rapidly nearing, and our climate is approaching a tipping point. But many firms are still feeling paralyzed, unable to set and achieve sustainability goals on every project because the tools they are using are too difficult, time consuming, or costly. This presentation will focus on specific applications of easy-to-use tools that we have employed in our office in the past few years to assess metrics like Energy Use Intensity, embodied carbon, and daylight autonomy. We will go over not just the specific capabilities of each of these tools, but, most importantly, how their use can be integrated into an iterative design process and how their graphic and numerical output can be most effectively presented to clients, allowing them to make informed decisions on the integration of sustainable features. Attendees will leave the presentation with a good sense of a "toolbox" that they can back to their firms and apply to every project.

Comments

Lauren Hildebrand Mon, 05/02/2022 - 10:16 am

MAYBE - would need to expand on how it can help facilitate financial gaps and how it can directly help NYC building decarbonization through LL97, etc. Quantifying and measuring is crucial right now though, understanding software to help with benchmarking, costs, etc. 

Elaria Turton Mon, 05/02/2022 - 3:22 pm

Round 1: MAYBE - I agree that they should clarify how they contribute to decarbonization. However, I am interested in how the tools could help firms like mine conduct benchmarking.

Aidan Mayer Thu, 05/05/2022 - 9:24 am

Round 1: MAYBE - I think that this discusses an issue that should be talked about more. There are plenty of firms that have a solid design process that incorporates countless tools to create in an sustainable mindset, but what about smaller firms that don't have the same access? I agree with Elaria and Lauren, clarification for a direct relationship to decarbonization might be helpful.

Ben Sachs-Hamilton Mon, 05/09/2022 - 11:57 am

Round 1 Discussion:Very technical, specific software, limited audience, only one firm, would need to bring in more perspectives. Ask who else they might include. Nudge toward more detail, less overview.

Tristan Grant Fri, 05/27/2022 - 10:04 am

Mark is associate principle at centerbrook, Misha is a young architect 1.5 years licensed, at centerbrook for 3 years, they come with contrasting experience and notions about the industry. Centerbrook works out of a mill building that acts as a "sustainable laboratory" with on site PV, geothermal pond loop, high efficiency boilers, full LED lighting, green roof, hydro power from old water wheel turned to micro turbine. Session will discuss the processes and tools, both modern and time tested, that they use for energy, daylighting, and carbon analysis. They refer to this as their "tool chest" and are eager to open it up to inspire designers and project teams on how to deploy the analysis tools and techniques at various points in the design process, and demonstrate and discuss what they can expect to get out of the analysis, and how to use that to inform the design. Part of the discussion will be angled at helping designers underrstand how to bring these processes in-house, as well as what tools to use at different phases, what information they yield, and what that information tells you / how to feed that back into design. The format session will be intro, discuss beneefits of early modelling, and reiterative modelling. Then dive into specific areas of analysis; daylighting, discuss daylight factor, show variety of tools related to that. Then move onto energy modelling, with similar discussion of the tools, and then move on to carbon. In each they will provide one or more case studies that address the modelling process and the outputs. In the past with a similar session they have done more as a design phase structured format, which was also successful, although the approaches target somewhat different audiences, so they are open to hearing what the makeup of the NESEA attendees typically are, and if the committee has feelings one way or the other based on other sessions. Phase presentation becomes more about how to integrate into design process and the company structure. Doing is by area of analysis is a bit more "geeky" and can allow design professionals to think creatively about how they can use these tools/strategies in various aspects of their work. They discuss also bringing in elements of, elaborate on how to integrate modelling protocols into the work flow, how to build into contracts, how to sell the "value" of these exercises to clients, discuss operational cost, first costs. They has question about whether we are OK to discuss "brand name" modelling tools, or whether this is prohibited. I said we do not want session to be an "ad" for their services, but i thought we are OK to discuss the names of modelling tools (Trace, WUFI, etc.), want to confirm with NESEA this was correct. Aiming for 60 minute session, 10m intro, 10m in each of three sections (daylighting, energy, carbon), 15-20 for QA.

Diversity and Inclusiveness
We believe that social justice should be an important consideration when presenting owners with material and energy decisions. As part of our talk, we will discuss materials transparency tools, and our work with the Design for Freedom initiative, which aims to eliminate materials made with forced labor from the building supply chain. As designers, we believe strongly that the most sustainable buildings are the ones designed with the involvement of the entire community of users. We foster inclusion throughout the design process by inviting a wide variety of people from our client communities to participate in workshops, group games, design exercises, and charrettes. In our presentation, we will highlight some of the ways in which we tailor our sustainability workshops to a broader user community.
Learning Objectives
Illustrate how client goals for energy, materials, and health can be translated into achievable, trackable targets that the design team can benchmark and assess throughout the design process.
Understand key sustainability metrics, such as Energy Use Intensity (EUI), Spatial Daylight Autonomy, Embodied Carbon, and Renewable Energy Potential, and their measurement, benchmarking, and reporting.
Become familiar with the applications and features of specific digital design tools, including cove.tool, ladybug, and Revit, for real-time analysis and visualization of specific environmental performance metrics as part of a design workflow.
Review the importance of enduring, emotionally resonant buildings that create connections with nature and place, and illustrate relevant design strategies.
Has this session been presented before?
Yes
When and Where?
A modified earlier version was presented at the Connecticut Architecture Conference & Exposition in 2021.
Additional Comments
Our presentation on this topic was one of the top ten from the 2021 Connecticut AIA conference, selected for an online continuing education curriculum. For this proposal, we are revamping the presentation with more information on new tools, as well as expanding our embodied carbon section. We are also going to talk about equity and justice through the lens of the Design for Freedom initiative.

NYC 2022 Areas of Focus

Session Format
Debate between opposing viewpoints

Strongest Content Connection - NYC 2022

Comments about your speaker roster
Mark and Misha represent two ends of the spectrum of experience. Mark is a seasoned Associate Principal with decades of project work under his belt, while Misha is a newly licensed architect who is working to bring new technologies into the firm's workflow. Misha and Mark have presented together on several occasions before with great success.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about your session proposal?
We always get a lot out of the NESEA conferences and would be thrilled to be able to contribute to one!
Reviewer 1
Mayer, Aidan
Reviewer 2
Grant, Tristan
Proposal #
102
Committee Decision
Being Considered

Presenters