This article ran in the COTE News / November-December 2024 Issue
Building Performance Knowledge Community - Deep Focus on Performance on All Scales
by Will Babbington | FAIA, PE – Chair
with contributions from BPKC Leadership Group Jason Danielson, AIA; Jessica Saravia, AIA; Rob Shearer, AIA; and Guanzhou Ji, AIA
The profound impact of Building Performance on overall energy consumption is now well-known thanks to the efforts of groups like COTE. With more stringent requirements in current and future codes and standards, there's an increasing need to provide architects with even more tools and knowledge to lead design and construction teams towards higher performing buildings. With a large overlap in passion and goals with other Knowledge Communities, the Building Performance Knowledge Community (BPKC) is an important resource to the profession.
Officially stated, “The mission of the BPKC is to increase building performance related to occupant comfort and health, and to the function, durability, sustainability, and resilience of buildings.”
To this end, our Leadership Group is composed of well-versed technical architects, enclosure consultants, and whole-building energy modelers who work in government, international, commercial, and residential markets. While the group’s expertise can be focused, their activity through the BPKC is aimed at reaching the widest cross section of architects. The BPKC is a conduit and resource to not only disperse knowledge but to distill it in a manner to be accessible for, and simultaneously elevate the knowledge of, all architects to implement in their day-to-day work.
What We’ve Been Up To
Education
We hope some saw us at AIA24 in DC at one of the BPKC-sponsored events. David Altenhofen, AIA; Eddy Santosa, AIA; and I presented ‘Changing Enclosures for a Changing Climate’ highlighting the need for evolving design and detailing for a hotter, colder, windier, and wetter world. At ‘On the Cutting Edge: Building Performance KC Forum’, Vice Chair, Jason Danielson, AIA and Past Chair, Eddy Santosa; and I gave an overview of the BPKC and presented the GSA’s Enclosure Program and decarbonization covering everything from durabiltiy to building testing to whole-building performance.
If you missed those, we will continue with our BPKC AIAU-based series. We are building on the great success of Ajla Aksamija’s ‘Decarbonizing the Built Environment: Improving Building Performance through Regenerative Design’, with another technical webinar soon!
The Building Enclosure Councils (BECs) are celebrating their 20th year. These 32 BECs set up frequent interdisciplinary programs, site and fabrication shop tours, and other events across the country. A grassroots effort created jointly by AIA and the National Institute of Building Sciences, they focus on the local climate and construction practices.
Collaboration and Outreach
With the realm of Building Performance having so many facets and just as many implications, it’s not surprising that there are so many knowledge sharing opportunities between ourselves and other KCs in the AIA. We’re constantly looking for ways to collaborate and assist with other KCs.
Beyond the AIA, the BPKC has a long history of collaboration with NIBS and have begun to widen that network of collaborators. A current partner is the Charles Pankow Foundation. As an industry sponsor of the Thermal Performance of Spandrel Assemblies in Glazing, currently in the second phase of the project, the BPKC is helping to close a gap in codes and practice in the understanding and accurate thermal modeling of spandrel conditions. With the extremely aggressive requirements on fenestration in the new codes, this research is meant to make more informed use and understanding of spandrel thermal performance.
AIA Building Performance Definitions Project
The BPKC has completed the first phase of Definitions for Building Performance – Phase 1: Control Layer Terms for architects. This in-depth project set out to support the Climate Action Plan by establishing a common vocabulary to define and clarify often misunderstood terms and concepts crucial in the design and construction of efficient buildings. The result provided a much needed clarity and accuracy of enclosure terms in a manner easily accessible by architects.
What’s Next
We strive to be a top resource to all architects in the realm of Building Performance. We are organizing even more AIAU webinars and supporting local Building Enclosure Councils with their own programs. We’re currently finalizing Phase 2: Fenestration of the Definitions for Building Performance and looking forward to the next few phases of the Thermal Performance of Spandrel Assemblies in Glazing research project. The AIA Building Performance Knowledge Community is pushing forward towards and arming the profession to achieve the highest levels of performance and design.