Jessica Saravia, AIA, CSI, CCS, CDT, NCARB, LEED AP is the Technical Director at DMAC Architecture & Interiors and Chairperson of the Chicago Building Enclosure Council

A 60 minute discussion of getting back to basics as a way to further progress in building resilience and passive survivability. Building science and technology continue to evolve and advance in both possibilities for improved outcomes and complexity. The more we learn about vented rainscreens, smart vapor barriers, all in one water resistive barriers and insulation products the more intricate our detailing becomes. High performance envelopes are exciting and full of promise even with the challenges of coordination and installation execution. 

However, I recently read an essay by Todd Williams and Billie Tsien called ‘On Slowness’ where they quoted Milan Kundara: “There is a secret bond between slowness and memory, between speed and forgetting”. The speed with which we are developing new technologies to enhance our building performance may be increasing our forgetting of the basic principles that helped people survive for hundreds of years without air conditioning and ducted heat. If we only use our new tools to overcome inefficiencies designed into the bones of our buildings, we are doing ourselves and our clients and communities a grave disservice. 

This presentation will review primitive cooling, heating, and resilience strategies and how they can be used to amplify and expand the effectiveness of our emerging technology for passive survivability and energy efficiency.