Image courtesy of NJIT Hillier College of Architecture and Design

Sustainability is more than a buzzword for the team behind New Jersey Institute of Technology's (NJIT) upcoming Environmental Life Cycle Assessment in Design Symposium, better known as eLCAd. What began in 2020 as an idea to bring together the disciplines of architecture, design, and data-driven techniques for assessing environmental challenges has now become a book and industry-focused symposium for working professionals and students. 

When it comes to sustainable design approaches and best practices, there are numerous conferences and symposiums to talk about and attend. But what makes eLCAd different? Why highlight this symposium in comparison to others? In a nutshell, eLCAd 2022 is a three-day, international event that "unites two professions engaged in parallel systems thinking [...] to define actionable, collaborative opportunities brought about through continuing advances in computational tools." For John Cays (Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Interim Director of the School of Art + Design at NJIT, and symposium organizer), Connie Hensler (Director of Environmental Management and Product Stewardship at Interface and co-MC of the event), and Roderick Bates (Head of Integrated Practice at Enscape and guest speaker), however, the symposium further extends their passion for sustainable design solutions. 

Together we dive into the importance of creating bridges between designers, the LCA community, researchers, and data experts. Cays expands on the value of using measurable results and collaborative opportunities for students and industry professionals aiming to make effective environmental design change possible. 

To learn more about the upcoming eLCAd Symposium, which takes place from March 29 thru March 31, we dive into what makes the initiative an important event to attend. We discuss the importance of cross-disciplinary approaches to environmental assessment, the symposium's speaker lineup, and how design-driven tools can leverage better decisions regarding designing sustainably. We also share insightful comments from Hensler and Bates.

Bridge-building across disciplines

"This symposium aims to build cross-disciplinary bridges," shares Cays during our Zoom call. "It helps explain how firms and students can get in on the ground floor when it comes to integrating Life Cycle Assessment data, architecture, and design." It's essential to reference his book, An Environmental Life Cycle Approach to Design, which was used as a catalyst to bring the idea of the symposium to life. For Cays, addressing environmental challenges through data-driven techniques requires close interdisciplinary collaboration. He points out that this year's event itself was born out of an NJIT, CIRODD, and ACLCA institutional partnership.

For those who aren't familiar with the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA), it is a national non-profit organization that provides education, advocacy, and resources to communicate how environmental performance and impact can be applied across industries, academia, government agencies, and NGOs. Cays explains: "LCA is a science-based method used to quantitatively assess potential environmental impacts of any product system over the course of its entire life cycle from extraction and processing of raw materials through manufacturing, transportation, use, through end-of-life disposal."

This symposium aims to build cross-disciplinary bridges. It helps explain how firms and students can get in on the ground floor when it comes to integrating Life Cycle Assessment data, architecture, and design. — John Cays

Before diving into the intricacies and details of the symposium, it's important to address the valuable collaborative efforts of NJIT faculty and alums such as Erin Heidelberger. As a technical institute, the heart of NJIT's Hillier College of Architecture and Design is committed to educating its students holistically while giving them the technical and quantitative tools to use in their design studios and after they graduate. Heidelberger, a former student turned adjunct professor and member of the eLCAd symposium team, is an excellent example of how LCA tools can be used on projects as a student and graduate. Her work with Cays and other NJIT faculty provides a reference for students interested in attending the event and exploring sustainability applications to high-performance buildings.

This year's symposium also features a dedicated student-focused workshop entitled Life Cycle Thinking for Designers and Design Students. The workshop provides individuals interested in addressing design solutions for the climate crisis an introduction to Life Cycle Thinking and demonstrations of One Click LCA's software integrations for Revit, Rhino, and Grasshopper.

More than a symposium

Across three days, the symposium is packed with presentations, fireside chats, and collaborative working sessions that bring students and industry leaders together. Notable design titans from leading companies like Roderick Bates, Head of Integrated Practice at Enscape, Robert Cervellione of NVIDIA, and Charlie Portelli, NJIT HCAD alum and VP/Computational Designer at Thornton Tomasetti, join leading researchers and academics such as industry legend Don Greenberg, architect, distinguished professor of Computer Graphics at Cornell University, and creator of radiosity as well as global expert in LCA data and computation design Sangwon Suh of the University of California, Santa Barbara to name a few. Modern LCA Pioneers James Fava and Andrea Love, Principal and Director of Building Science at Payette, will also be presenting at this year's symposium along with Connie Hensler, the event's co-MC and the Director of Environmental Management and Product Stewardship at Interface. Hensler shares: "New regulations and laws are growing at the state, local, and federal levels. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides a tool for making decisions and meeting these requirements to make a real impact."

LCA provides one of the best mechanisms for allowing architects and other building professionals to understand the energy use and other environmental impacts associated with all phases of a building's life cycle: procurement, construction, operation, and decommissioning. — Connie Hensler

Cays and I also discuss the challenges industry professionals face when making these environmental design decisions and how symposium speakers address this. He explains that money is often the issue when aiming to design more sustainably. "People don't have time to invest and learn about these methods if they see that extra effort is needed to understand them." He adds: "What we're trying to do with the symposium is bring professionals together and have these conversations with industry leaders to show how these two fields, design and LCA, can pursue measurable 10x improvements." Hensler also makes note that "LCA provides one of the best mechanisms for allowing architects and other building professionals to understand the energy use and other environmental impacts associated with all phases of a building's life cycle: procurement, construction, operation, and decommissioning."

While this is only a snapshot of the 26 speakers who will be presenting at eLCAd this year, each session dives into an array of important topics such as Evolution of Sustainable Design Consultancy, UI/UX for LCA Data Integration, LCA for Design Students, Quantifying and Documenting Environmental Impacts (this workshop shows one school’s approach to satisfying a new NAAB criterion regarding environmental impacts), and Market Forces Driving Sustainable Design Decisions.

Linchpins in the industry

Sustainable design applications thrive by bringing people together. This symposium provides an excellent example that the decisions designers and companies make about offsetting carbon emissions and pursuing better environmental practices across an array of other important impact categories are not separate from each other. "It's a collaboration," Cays expresses, adding, "designers working with sustainability, data-powered tools are linchpins in giving the industry a rational approach to see where we are and what we can do now."

We asked Encape’s Roderick Bates, one of the eLCAd 2022 featured speakers, to weigh in on a few of the symposium topics. One question we asked was how AEC and entertainment industries continue to merge and improve production and visualization workflows through advances in computation. As simulations become more sophisticated, does he think our ability to analyze what is in these models and make informed decisions about them increases? Bates, who is a former principal at Kieran Timberlake and for many years worked on their Tally/Revit plugin tool, sees two primary answers to this question.

“First, there is a baked-in analysis component with the results displayed as some sort of optimal figure or score," Bates explains. "This means the tool developer is making blanket assumptions that may or may not perfectly align with a particular design project. Or second, the analysis is done by the individual, where the unique performance requirements of a given project are balanced by the designer. This requires a degree of expertise and, lacking that expertise, opens up the possibility of inappropriate data inputs that undermine the accuracy of the resulting analysis."

...the role of more powerful tools calls for design professionals to assume the mantle of experts leveraging powerful analysis tools that work collaboratively with clients to achieve their shared environmental performance goals. — Roderick Bates

"I’ve seen both asked for by customers when showing them building performance-related product concepts. Rather than picking one or the other, our current thinking is enabling both simultaneously. This can be achieved by providing a pre-packaged performance scoring metric for those who 'just want a number' to target and a more sophisticated methodology with the opportunity for customization that allows an expert to generate and draw their own conclusions from the data. We see the greatest opportunity in developing workflows that create a bridge between these two audiences, with the 'just want a number' crowd’s target informed by the experts involved on the same project.”

After connecting with Cays, Hensler, and Bates, it's clear that the upcoming eLCAd symposium is an event one shouldn't miss. Now in its second iteration, the 2022 eLCAd team continues to provide a space where discussions surrounding sustainability can move from observation to applied techniques. An event like eLCAd aims to spark discussions "giving industries insight, to do better," shares Cays. "With better data and better information, we can start to query our own models when designing."

When asked about whether more powerful analytical tools will allow design professionals to leverage them to advocate more vehemently for sustainable design solutions, Bates responds: "To be honest, I think the time for the designer to be the lone, vociferous advocate for sustainability on a design project is beginning to ebb. Instead, you have clients coming to the fore as advocates for building performance. In this new context, the role of more powerful tools calls for design professionals to assume the mantle of experts leveraging powerful analysis tools that work collaboratively with clients to achieve their shared environmental performance goals."

The symposium's message emphasizes the opportunities, technology, tools, and the growing client demand for architects and designers to leverage their expertise when designing for climate initiatives. Most importantly, Cays and the team point out that the symposium allows guests to connect with a community of like-minded LCA experts and technologists to help them build a truly sustainable world.

Those who want to measurably improve their designs’ environmental profiles, are welcome to join NJIT from March 29th to the 31st and learn about ways to "Show Your Impact."