Event Description
Building materials represent over 11% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and this figure is rising. The building industry recognizes the need for urgent action to address the embodied carbon of our materials, and there has been widespread adoption of the AIA Architecture & Design Materials Pledge, which includes Climate Health. However, implementing materials solutions at scale faces many challenges. How can we begin to embed embodied carbon considerations in all of our designs? What questions do we need to ask throughout design and construction to successfully drive down our carbon impacts? What tools and resources do we already have at hand?
The presentation will highlight how we can institutionalize material health and embodied carbon efforts into the culture of a firm, and will conduct a deep dive into how designing for Climate Health can result in high-performing, inspiring projects. We will use case studies, such as Tobin Montessori & Vassal Lane schools and our own Pittsburgh office, to discuss specific strategies such as focused goal-setting, team education, benchmarking standards, material tracking tools, specifications, and the role of Life Cycle Analysis. We will detail critical questions that must be addressed in a high-performance design process to scale up our collective impact.
Speakers
Tanya Eagle, AICP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, Senior Associate | Leader of Sustainability Standards, Perkins Eastman
Christine Vohringer, Firmwide Sustainability Specialist, Associate, Perkins Eastman
Ryan Dirks, AIA, LEED AP, CPHC, Senior Sustainability Specialist, Perkins Eastman
Moderator: Gustavo Ribeiro, Intl. Assoc. AIA, At-Large Director and Brazil Country Representative, AIA International; Founder, Sito Arquitetura
Speaker Bios
With fifteen years of experience in the sustainable design and planning industries, Tanya Eagle leads sustainability efforts and manages third-party market standards across Perkins Eastman. Tanya creates and manages firmwide sustainability initiatives and policies, leads material health initiatives across the firm, and provides project support and consultation across all global offices. Tanya advocates for the intersection of health, wellness, and the built environment, and is the co-chair of the AIA Materials Pledge Working Group. Tanya has extensive experience speaking at leading industry forums such as the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design, NeoCon, and Metropolis symposiums, and is passionate about sharing practical steps toward a sustainable future.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-eagle-aicp-well-ap-leed-ap-bdc-718096a/
Christine Vohringer has MDes Energy and Environments from the Harvard GSD; with work experience in Germany, Chile, and the US. Christine has built a long research path in materials health, daylight, thermal comfort, energy, and wood, where she has deepened into different frameworks for integration in this resource and other materials transparency and healthy metrics. She has developed research collaborations with the Wood Innovation Center from the Catholic University in Chile and the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Today she works as Firmwide Sustainability Specialist for Perkins Eastman and maintains her research path through collaborations with several universities and institutions.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-m-v%C3%B6hringer-4764669b/
Ryan Dirks is a Sustainability Specialist at Perkins Eastman, where he helps develop solutions that reduce our impact on the environment while providing exceptional spaces for building occupants. His expertise is in all things related to building enclosures, building-science education, and especially energy and carbon. Since 2008, Ryan has worked on a variety of projects, ranging from single-family Passive Houses to hospital towers and nearly everything in between. He helped write the textbook Passive House Details, has presented at PHIUS Passive House conferences, and loves educating anyone that will listen about the benefits of sustainable design.
Moderator: Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Gustavo Ribeiro obtained his Architecture and Urban Design bachelor degree from the Federal University of Minas Gerais State – UFMG in 1992. He founded Sito Arquitetura in 1994, after winning the "National Competition for the Usiminas Cultural Center at Ipatinga, MG Brazil”, from which a book was later published in 1996. This significant prize created an excellent opportunity for him to achieve a rich experience at an early career stage, leading to 24 years of generalist practice.
He has won many other noticeable prizes throughout his career, namely Milton Campos Square, Betim MG; Belo Horizonte Centennial Landmark; COHAB headquarters, Belo Horizonte, MG; Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora Community Center.
At Sito Arquitetura he is the head of design for projects of various scales and typologies and has been diligently working on Single Family, Multi Family, Housing, Commercial, Hospitality, Retail, Mixed-use and Urban Development projects in Brazil and Africa.
He was a board member of CAU/MG for the 2021-2023 term, having also served the 2018-2020 term; Board member of AsBEA MG, serving as Director from 2010 to 2018; BIM committee member of AsBEA, conducting the BIM Workgroup from 2015 to 2016; In 1999 he took a graduate specialization course in Real Estate Development at FUMEC University in Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais Brazil, increasing his knowledge in this area. Since then, he has started a real estate development initiative, researching, planning and delivering projects. He truly believes that an insightful architect vision in this industry can greatly improve the way people relate to their environment.
