A detailed rundown of the events of the 2024 Westford Symposium on Building Science by one of its hosts, Betsy Pettit.
What happens when you put 500 building science professionals together for a shared learning experience?
And what if that experience includes sharing food prepared with love and care (by the building science professionals), sharing music (created by building science professionals), and dancing with joy (alongside building science professionals)? And what if there are places to meet together and apart all in one place?
Answer: You have the Westford Symposium on Building Science – AKA Summer Camp!
And you all leave with a glow of excitement about the future.
On Monday, Aug. 5, classes began with the “Father of WUFI,” Hartwig Kunzel, from the Fraunhofer Institute. He provided perspective on why WUFI was developed and how field tests of real buildings were used to develop its inputs.
Brian Hubbs, P. E. from RDH Building Science provided the next presentation, about the wetting of wood, including the impact of when the wetting happens and how long it stays wet on the long-term performance.
Foster Lyons, of Foster Lyons Building Science, provided an interesting and informative lesson on adhesion, and how this concept is used to our advantage and disadvantage in the building industry.
Tessa Bradley, AIA, of Artisans Group and Christy Van Rite, of White River Consultants, came to explain how architects can work with Phius and developers to put together a functional multi-use development and how to sell it to the funders to make it happen.
Adam Broderick and Aaron Grin from Dupont closed with a presentation on their testing and use of MgO board, with accelerated testing on magnesium oxide and its products such as ceramic-like cement and composite panels. They discussed past failures with this product and future promises for long-term use.
And that was just the first day!
Tuesday began with a rousing presentation from Marc Rosenbaum, P.E., who might just be called the grandfather of all things solar powered and passively/actively stored. He told us where we have been with solar power storage and where he thinks we are going.
Next, Kent Browning put together a fascinating presentation on some of the mechanical failures he has seen, and how he was able to move people forward to better solutions.
Bruce Harley, P.E. shared his long-term studies of heat pump performance, including the truth that heat pump technology just keeps getting better. He also explained why you shouldn’t be scared of heat pumps in cold climates and why!
Steve Baczek, AIA, showed his architectural drawings and discussed the wisdom that is shared with every good architectural drawing and how one learns what to draw. Knowing when a detail is required and when a 3D detail is required, and what added color provides to the reader of the drawing is paramount when deciding what to draw.
The second day concluded with a rousing round of applause!
And finally we come to day three. Andrew Steingiser, RA, CPHC from RDH Building Science who explained how the Massachusetts building codes (as well as other states) recently underwent a radical shift with the introduction of performance metrics, and how building science principles, such as those made familiar by Phius and passive building practitioners, are converging.
Julie Klump provided outstanding examples and data about how her Preservation of Affordable Housing company (POAH) is moving its stock to the future with a focus on enclosures, indoor air quality, electric conversion, efforts to reduce carbon production, and use of better renewables while trying to reduce the embodied carbon of their retrofit materials.
Duncan Prahl, AIA, CUNY Building Performance Lab, provided data from recent building retrofits showing the long-term benefits of certain building upgrades. He also provided some data analysis of how he believes the future commercial building energy code compliance will play out in NYC.
The closing address was provided by Keith Simon, FAIA, who talked about architecture and fashion, and how 1,000-year buildings become, well, 1,000-year buildings. Fashion is short lived, but craft never dies!
And as the closing bell rung,
“Everybody had a good time, Everybody let their hair down, everybody saw the sunshine, and everybody put their foot down” – “I’ve Got a Feeling” by The Beatles
