Magical Material Tour
This structural system is 1/3 of the weight of pre-cast concrete, has better seismic stability, is fire-resistive, reduces construction time, sequesters carbon dioxide compared to steel and concrete (whose manufacture causes 5% of global carbon emissions), and if that’s not enough, its biophilic!
What is Mass Timber
The reduction of greenhouse gases by transitioning fossil fuels to clean electricity requires generation by solar, wind and geothermal sources and an improved distribution grid. Yet what component or technology collects the energy to deploy a supply when renewable generation sources are intermittent?
What is Battery Storage
Research has demonstrated this free and naturally occurring resource improves standardized test scores and cognition in classrooms. Hint: Pre-industrial schools depended on large windows for this.
What is Natural Light.
Published in 1969, this seminal book centered on the role of ecology in landscape and building design while playing a a role in the development of GIS software.
For an extra 50 points who was the author?
A: What is Design with Nature
A: Who was Ian McHarg
The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge was a significant engineering achievement due to its use of this groundbreaking construction technique that held back water. In French it means “large box”. Name this construction technique.
What are caissons
Name a post-industrial or post-consumer material that can replace Portland Cement in a concrete mix, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
What is Pozzolan or Fly Ash (also known as supplementary cementitious materials)
What Building Standard is based on climate appropriate insulation, air tightness, thermal-bridge free detailing, high-performance windows, and continuous ventilation with heat recovery?
What is Passive House
This commonly used flooring material is low cost, easy to maintain, and comes in a variety of finishes however the typical and cheapest version contains phthalates which are endocrine disruptors and when the material is incinerated or buried in landfill after demolition, it can release dioxins which are linked to cancer and reproductive disorders.
What is VCT or LVT (vinyl composition tile and luxury vinyl tile
These large landscape features at grade are designed to collect stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution through vegetation and soil and reduce demand storm water infrastructure.
What is a Bioswale
The concept of circularity in design that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use.
What is Zero Waste
An engineered mass timber material consisting of laminations bonded together with the grain running parallel to the length of the beam.
What is Glue Laminated Timber
This principle states that, when energy passes into or out of a system (as work, heat, or matter), the system's internal energy changes in accordance with the law of conservation of energy.
What is the First Law of Thermodynamics?
This flooring material is manufactured from bio-based, non-hazardous ingredients such as rapidly renewable linseed oil, jute, and renewable wood-flour and free of the problematic additives found in some VCT and LVT products
What is Linoleum
This theory of urban design argues that the city is constructed of interconnected and ecologically rich horizontal field conditions.
What is Landscape Urbanism
Developed by SPG and available on SharePoint, this collection of resources related to the various structures, systems and services that serve NYC such as Multi-Modal Transportation, Mass Transit Accessibility, Mass Transit Sustainability, Urban Ecology, and Waste Management. Name this resource.
What is the Sustainable Infrastructure Atlas.
According to the 2022 NYC Building Code, Type IV Construction, which includes mass timber, is permitted (provided the exterior walls are noncombustible and the building is fully sprinklered) for R-2 and B occupancies up to how many stories or how many feet in height?
What is 7 stories or 85 feet
Besides Lithium ion, there are other lesser-known battery storage technologies. Which of the following battery technologies is not currently in development or use? Hydrogen fuel Cell, Aluminum, Flow, Phase Change, Compressed Compost, or Gravity?
What is Compressed Compost, and do we really want to know?
One of the most ubiquitous finish materials known, make sure you spec this product with low VOCs, free of formaldehydes and bearing the Green Seal or similar label. Hint: you got his covered!
What is paint
It may surprise you this presidential administration initiated many enduring, environmental policies in the US such as the Environmental Policy Act, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the signing of the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. Name this President. Hint: this is a tricky question.
Who was President Richard Nixon
Name this sustainable material can be used as an alternative to steel reinforcement in concrete, avoiding corrosion while cutting carbon-emissions. [Check with Dan Cohen’s research too]
What is Natural-Fiber Composite (NFC) or Hemp
What percentage of NYC’s electrical generation currently relies on 24 in-city power plants that run on fossil gas and fuel oil?
What is 50%
The Living Building Challenge (LBC), part of the International Living Future Institute, tracks “worst in class” materials, chemicals, and elements known to pose serious risks to human health and the greater ecosystem that are prevalent in the building products industry and believes these materials should be phased out of production. These materials are known as...
What is the Red List
Enacted in 2020, this local law amends the NYC Building Code to prevent bird collisions with buildings in new construction or alterations. Name the Local law
LL 15 of 2020