Sustainability: Time for a Reset?

John L. Pierson, P.E. and Julie Anne Geyer, The Garland Company

After 50+ years of trial and error, how close are we to ensuring our buildings are adequately protecting the environment? Our industry is on the cusp of a new era in which sustainable design and building functionality have become indelibly intertwined for the health and welfare of our planet and its inhabitants. This informative paper discusses the common pitfalls that have limited the effectiveness of “green” building initiatives in the past, and looks to the future with a more holistic definition of sustainability that includes measurement of short- and long-term benefits through Life Cycle Assessment.

Sponsored by The Garland Company:

The Garland Company is one of the worldwide leaders of quality, high-performance roofing and building envelope solutions for the commercial, industrial and institutional markets. For over 125 years, Garland has continually developed unique product and service offerings that have raised the bar of performance while exceeding the individual needs of customers throughout the world. Today, our network of over 220 local building envelope professionals is ideally positioned throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to provide quality building envelope solutions for single and multi-property facilities. The Garland Company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company.