by Jonathan McGaha | October 11, 2011 12:00 am
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
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.
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