piper: decoding healthy & regenerative design

Piper Republic

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DESIGN
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Piper explores the diverse stories of the designers, architects, builders, brands and wellness experts working to make the built environment healthier and more sustainable for people and planet. Each episode aims to decode the complexities of healthy and regenerative design to make it more accessible to designers of all backgrounds.

NOV 14

LEED v5: The path to building product transparency with Wes Sullens

Responsible material selection and procurement is keystone to lowering the environmental impact of the built environment and improving occupant health over the entire life cycle of the building. In recognizing this, most green building certifying bodies are continuously evaluating how to rate and measure materials, and how to reward projects for prioritizing the use of those that are multi-attribute––in other words, materials that address carbon, ecosystem and human health, equity and circularity. In fact, under LEED v5, the USGBC just rolled out its Building Product Selection and Procurement credit, which provides a framework for material selection––and it was the topic du jour at this year's Green Build conference. Naturally, it was met with equal parts excitement and questions. Luckily, Wes Sullens, director of materials and resources at USGBC, was there to unpack the details.

21 min
OCT 31

From Story to Seed to Shelter: A Library Emerges from the Badlands

The badlands of North Dakota, much like a library, are rich with story. The layers of mineral deposits visible in the buttes and hoodoos that make up the region are like raconteurs of the ancient inland seas, floodplains and volcanic ash that once covered the area 28 to 75 million years ago. But while the badlands are now cherished for their beauty and history, they were given that name long ago for a reason. They're rigid, arid and harsh––a beautiful place to visit, a difficult place to traverse. But in the 1880s, when Theodore Roosevelt arrived in the region, he saw something different. To him, the Badlands became a place of reflection, introspection, healing, and deep connection to nature. In fact, Roosevelt said his time in the North Dakota Badlands was one of the foundational experiences of his life. And so, it was fitting that the area would become the home of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. And that's where the architecture and design firm Snohetta comes into the picture. Not only did the team see the rich story embedded in the landscape, they saw various pathways to connect people to TR's legacy and the historical significance of the land, while restoring the diminished ecology of the Badlands prairie. It was likely this vision and deep respect for the landscape that contributed to Snohetta being selected out of some 40 other candidates. From that point, the team embarked on an ambitious journey that would entail a rigorous set of sustainability goals––zero energy, zero water, zero emissions, zero waste––a number of firsts and the creation of the Native Plant Project. It's been said that the badlands are a great place to learn about geology, and that, in large part, was where Matt McMahon, director of landscape architecture, and Aaron Dorf, director of architecture at Snohetta, started their journey.

51 min
OCT 23

Reimagining buildings as circular systems with Marcus Hopper

Can buildings be circular systems? Unlocking overlooked opportunity If we were to think of buildings as living beings, how might that change the way we approach their design? Rather than thinking of them as static objects, they might become dynamic, responsive and adaptive systems––designed to continuously evolve and regenerate. They might have metabolisms in which their resources are reused in a closed-loop system rather than introducing a constant stream of new materials. They might be designed for adaptability to adjust to the needs of their occupants over time. And, their full lifecycle might be considered from the start, where components are designed for disassembly and can be reused or recycled at the end of their useful life. And that's exactly what Marcus Hopper, project director and senior associate in the Gensler San Francisco office, urges designers to consider––design with the end in mind. What is the second life of that material or component?

56 min
OCT 16

Turning to history to decarbonize the future with Carl Elefante

Are we too quick to turn to technology and novelty to solve today's most pressing challenges? Perhaps history and nature hold the answers to modern-day dilemmas––particularly those related to environmental degradation. That is the stance architect, past AIA president and now author, Carl Elefante takes. Though he's been preaching that message for more than a decade now, he didn't begin his architectural career with that mentality. In fact, it was about midway through his career that an important shift occurred for him. He began to see historic buildings in a new light––suddenly they had something to teach him rather than the other way around. He began to see the inherent flaws in modern-day cities and buildings––that they've been built around machines rather than people and planet. And he began to see how historic buildings actually addressed the carbon conundrum better than most of the buildings of the last half century. And now he's working to rally his peers to rethink some of the assumptions born out of the modern era. In this episode, Carl shares the significance of existing buildings in sustainability, the evolution of carbon awareness in architecture, and the lessons that can be learned from historic architecture. He emphasizes the role of architects in promoting sustainability, the complexities of carbon emissions and the need for operational efficiency in building design. He also highlights the importance of shifting towards people-centric design in urban planning.

1h 9m
OCT 9

Carbon smart: Is all wood good? with Jason Grant

We need forests. They're the lungs of the earth. They're also home to more plants and animals than any other terrestrial biome. They protect watersheds and mitigate flooding. Provide us humans with recreation, inspiration and well-being. And, of course, they contain vast amounts of carbon and the ability to draw down much of the carbon currently in the atmosphere. And it's because of this carbon-sequestering quality that wood products––particularly those in the building industry––have come to be deemed as "carbon neutral" or "carbon negative". And while wood may be the lower-carbon option compared to concrete or steel, there's much more to the story. As Jason Grant, manager for corporate engagement on the forest team at the World Wildlife Fund, explains, not all wood is created equal. In fact, not all wood is good. To truly understand the carbon impact of a wood product, one first has to understand the forestry practices used to harvest it and how carbon flows through various types of forests––something Jason often illustrates through his leaky-bucket analogy. In this episode, Jason shares how management practices impact carbon, why lifecycle assessments (LCAs) don't provide the full picture and how to source climate-smart wood.

47 min
OCT 3

Taking calculated risk to drive circularity with Andrew Ellsworth

Andrew Ellsworth seems to have an incessant appetite for risk. But dig a little deeper and you see that that appetite is fueled by a profound desire to drive the positive changes that will support environmental health. And he's using the built environment as the entry point to create that change. In addition to launching Doors Unhinged, the first US company to reclaim and resell commercial door systems, Andrew also co-founded the All For Reuse initiative to strengthen the demand for reclaimed materials. He also recently collaborated with Hennepin County in Minnesota to develop Building Circularity MN, and, as part of that program, is leading a training to help entrepreneurs build viable material reuse businesses. And when he's not doing all of that, he still finds time to take to the stage, speaking and advocating for circularity and reuse, which is where I found him, between his multiple speaking sessions at the Build Reuse conference. In this episode, Andrew shares how Doors Unhinged came to be, the challenges of launching a business in a sector that wasn't designed for circularity, and where he sees the biggest opportunity for entrepreneurs in the circular economy.

25 min
SEP 25

Building from the urban mine with Felix Heisel

It's difficult to capture all that the multi-hyphenate Felix Heisel has achieved and created in the world of circular architecture in the past 15 years. Since graduating from architecture school in Germany, circular construction has been a central focus of his career. He's authored numerous books and papers on the topic, created and now directs the Circular Construction Lab at Cornell University, and has led countless circular construction exhibitions and research projects around the world, including one of his most current, called AR3-Lumber, an AI-driven application that will visually grade reclaimed lumber. At this year's Build Reuse conference, Felix shared some of the findings from their studies and what he sees as important next steps to bring circular architecture more mainstream.

26 min
SEP 18

Reducing the embodied carbon of structural systems with Luke Lombardi

In the structural engineering of buildings, concrete and steel are among the most widely used materials. Concrete is actually the most abundant manufactured material on earth. But for all of the tremendous qualities these commonly used structural materials provide, they come with high environmental costs in the form of embodied carbon. And many structural engineers are starting to take note...and do something about it. One such engineer is Luke Lombardi, a senior sustainability consultant at the engineering consultancy firm, Buro Happold. And at this year's Build Reuse conference, Luke spoke about the major impact structural engineers can have on the path to net zero. In this episode, he shares some of those insights and talks about how natural building materials fit into the picture.

20 min

Piper explores the diverse stories of the designers, architects, builders, brands and wellness experts working to make the built environment healthier and more sustainable for people and planet. Each episode aims to decode the complexities of healthy and regenerative design to make it more accessible to designers of all backgrounds.

Creator

Piper Republic
Years Active

2024 - 2025
Episodes

27
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2024
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piper: decoding healthy & regenerative design