Structural engineers have an unprecedented opportunity to contribute to green building certification. Within the green building practice, the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system has set a precedent for green building standards and codes such as the IgCC, ICC 700, CALGreen and ASHRAE 189.1. The latest version of LEED v4, released in 2012, awards a total of 3 points for performing whole building life-cycle assessment and specifically limits the assessment to structure and enclosure to encourage participation from structural engineers. …
Author Archives : Frances Yang, S.E., LEED AP
About the author ⁄ Frances Yang, S.E., LEED AP
Frances Yang is a structures and materials sustainability specialist in the San Francisco office and leads Arup’s Americas Materials Skills Network and Structural Sustainability Task Force. She has served as vice-chair of the MR TAG of USGBC, chair of the ASCE/SEI LCA working group, contributes to the Carbon Leadership Forum, AIA Materials Knowledge Working Group, and was the principal investigator for the ASCE Special Project described in this article.