A’23 Day 2 Keynote: GSA announces investment in Green Proving Ground; industry experts tout sustainability and client benefits of design-build integration

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["a",["href","https:\/\/www.gsa.gov\/climate-action-and-sustainability\/center-for-emerging-building-technologies\/about-green-proving-ground-gpg"]],["b"],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.gsa.gov\/real-estate\/design-and-construction\/design-excellence-program"]]],"sections":[[1,"h2",[[0,[],0,"Integration is the future. How can architects do it effectively?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"During the Day 2 Keynote panel discussion at the 2023\nConference on Architecture, Robin Carnahan, Administrator of the U.S. General\nServices Administration, announced that GSA \u2013 in collaboration with the U.S.\nDepartment of Energy \u2013 will invest $30 million in testing novel green building\ntechnologies through the "],[0,[0],1,"Green\nProving Ground"],[0,[],0,". This program evaluates innovative building technologies in\nthe GSA\u2019s real estate portfolio. The GSA plans to meet a net-zero energy goal\nfor its building portfolio by 2045. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Sustainability was a major focus of the AEC panel discussion\non integration in the design and construction industries, moderated by Amy\nBunszel, EVP of AEC Design Solutions at Autodesk. Carnahan participated in the panel\nalong with Jennifer Devlin-Herbert, FAIA, president \u0026 CEO of EHDD, and Eric\nLamb, a member of DPR Construction\u2019s board of directors. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Bunszel kicked off the discussion by asking, \u201cHow do you\nstart the integration journey?\u201d She first turned to Carnahan and asked about the\nkey benefits she has seen in her role at GSA across the design and building process\nin terms of project outcomes, efficiency, and cost. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cWhat\u2019s very interesting for us is that the built environment,\nas you know, has become very complex,\u201d Carnahan said. \u201c[Formerly], we used to\nhave architecture, which is thinking about the functionality and the design\ncomplexities around the building. But now, we have to think about so many other\nthings: we have to think about sustainability. We\u2019re thinking a lot about\nsecurity. We\u2019re thinking a lot about technology and integration and adaptive\nuse. We\u2019ve got to understand the operations and maintenance of these buildings for\n[a longer period of time].\u201d "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Carnahan said that she had just spoken backstage with Carol\nRoss Barney, FAIA, this year\u2019s Gold Medal winner, about Ross Barney\u2019s design of\nOklahoma City\u2019s federal courthouse after the 1995 bombing, a great example of a\nbuilding that was primed to integrate technologies that didn\u2019t yet exist when\nit was built. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cShe was able to design that in a way that was adaptive and\nthought about how to integrate new things into that building in the future. It\u2019s\nnow a LEED building for us,\u201d Carnahan said. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[1],1,"The evolution of integration"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Jennifer Devlin-Herbert, FAIA, of EHDD, said that she\u2019s seen\na great level of innovation in her 28 years at the firm in concert with\ncontractors and owners who\u2019ve been \u201cmeeting us where they are.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cI will say that integration is absolutely 100% the way of\nthe future,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile we\u2019ve been anticipating this wave of design-build\nsomewhat reluctantly in the last five years, 50% of our work is design-build,\nand we\u2019re ready for it. But it\u2019s not easy, and we don\u2019t naturally have\nbehaviors of collaboration.\u201d "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cI see contractors as thinking in black-and-white \u2013 \u2018Give me\nthe documents, we\u2019ll build them, we\u2019ll figure that out,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I know\narchitects love the shades of gray that start from the blank sheet or screen, and\nwith every new challenge is a new opportunity to think of a new idea.\u201d "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Lamb acknowledged that another challenge posed by\nintegration can be one of too many cooks in the kitchen. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cIn an integrated process where you\u2019ve got a lot of voices\nin the room and a lot of people, the only way to counter this is really to have\na disciplined decision-making structure that\u2019s very transparent in understanding,\n\u2018How are we making decisions, when are we making decisions,\u201d he said. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[1],1,"Sustainability and AI"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Just as sustainability is top-of-mind for all members of the\nAEC industry, it is for the federal government as well. \u201cWe intend to use our\nbuying power to really leverage a change in the marketplace,\u201d Carnahan said,\nciting the ambitious net-zero goals of the administration and its plan to spend\n$2 billion of its budget on lower-carbon building materials. \u201cIf we can reduce\nthe carbon in the production of those projects, we can move toward our net-zero\ngoals faster,\u201d she said. Devlin-Herbert, who is working on the redesign and\nrenovation of AIA\u2019s Washington, D.C. headquarters as part of EHDD, said, \u201cWhen\nGSA issued its "],[0,[2],1,"Design\nExcellence"],[0,[],0," guidelines, it really changed the industry for public buildings.\u201d\nShe encouraged her industry colleagues to \u201cvote with their spec book\u201d when it\ncame to creating demand for building materials with low amounts of embodied\ncarbon. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"To close out the conversation, panelists touched on AI in\narchitecture and how it plays into design-build integration. While it can be\nhelpful for things like cutting custom materials before delivery to a job site\nor taking care of mundane design details, its utility in the AEC industry is\nstill somewhat of an unknown quantity. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Changing the current culture to foster greater integration\nwon\u2019t happen overnight, but it can be an important tool in reaching net-zero\ngoals for the built environment and providing better client solutions. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cLet\u2019s all rise up and meet this moment,\u201d Carnahan said. "]]]]}