METALCON Attendees Embrace Education
Marcy Marro and Paul Deffenbaugh,
Posted
10/12/2011
Attendees flocked in for the early morning
educational session, then moved to the Keynote Address, given by
Kevin Kampschroer, director at the Office of Federal
High-Performance Green Buildings for the U.S. Government Services
Administration. Kampschroer took a look at how buildings contribute
to environmental, energy and economic performance, noting that
buildings
- consume 40 percent of the annual U.S. energy usage
- are responsible for 30 percent of CO2 production
- contribute to 40 percent of ozone depletion
- generate 35 percent of municipal solid waste
Additionally, 30 percent of buildings have poor
indoor air quality and most people spend about 90 percent of their
time indoors. Clearly, he argued, we can have a significant impact
on health and well being by improving the structures we building,
but he said, "We are in an industry, as we all know, that does not
change rapidly."
Kampschroer reported on the results of Executive
Order 13514: Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance and the
results of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He said that
of $5.5 billion allocated, $4.5 billion was for existing buildings.
More than 280 projects have been completed in each of the 50
states, two territories and D.C., with a concentration on providing
jobs and delivering high-performance green buildings. Examples of
projects include the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt building in
Portland, the GSA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the Land
Port of Entry in Columbus, New Mexico.
Kampschroer urged the audience to consider the
three most important things during planning and construction a
building: What am I using? What is my influence? And how does my
performance compare?
After the Keynote, the Metal Construction
Association announced the winners of the Chairman's Awards in
Excellence and Design, formerly the President's Awards. Chosen from
68 entries, winners were announced in the categories of Metal
Roofing, Commercial/Industrial, Municipal, Institutional,
Educational, Residential. An overall winner and three honorable
mentions were also shown. Winners will be showcased in the November
issue of Metal Architecture.
Though traffic on the exhibit floor started off a
bit on the slow side when the show opened at noon, it picked up
over the course of the afternoon. In particular, the demonstration
areas and the Solar Bay Live proved to be popular attractions.
METALCON continues through Thursday, October
13.