Webinar: Optimizing Laboratory Façade Systems Through Site-Specific Wind Loads to Reduce Embodied Carbon

In the context of laboratories, sustainability discussions often focus on operational performance. However, with increasing recognition of the environmental impact of embodied carbon, it is essential to address the environmental cost associated with construction at the earliest phases of design. For new facilities or for major envelope retrofits, optimizing the design to the site-specific environmental loads can yield significant potential for a better project; more resilient and lower embodied carbon from a generic design.

Studies indicate that the façade can account for between 10% and 31% of a building's total embodied carbon. This significant contribution underscores the importance of addressing embodied carbon in the early stages of design. Wind tunnel testing offers a means to refine design loads from a standard code-prescribed approach. The site-specific design loads, usually lower, from wind tunnel testing are enhanced by the ability to go lower than a generic code design to account for the…