IDEAS Seminar | 01 June 2015
Catherine DE WOLF will be the speaker of the next IDEAS Seminar, entitled "Low-carbon pathways for structural design". It will take place on Monday, June 1st 2015 at 12:30 pm in the IDEAS space (LE Building).
"My research project develops an assessment and design approach to compare the life cycle impact of the built environment. To address the demand for a global, uniform embodied carbon assessment method, I developed a database of material quantities and embodied carbon in buildings in the Building Technology Lab. I created an interactive interface where leading firms can enter their projects into a growing database, including thousands of buildings worldwide. Results have revealed, for example, that no other stadium has exceeded the embodied carbon of the Olympic Stadium in Beijing (Bird’s Nest). My research not only develops benchmarking standards, but also helps to balance embodied carbon with other design variables, such as the financial cost, operational carbon, structural efficiency, functionality or spatial experience of the architecture. These new guidelines will then be assimilated in an explorative design tool for practitioners, creating opportunities for lowering the embodied carbon of their buildings. While leaving all design options open to architects and engineers, this expanded knowledge will lead to a brand new, innovative design approach in architectural engineering."
Catherine De Wolf obtains a double diploma of Civil Engineering – Architecture in Brussels in 2012 (VUB / ULB). She is currently completing her PhD in Building Technology at the Department of architecture of MIT (Boston).
The axis Integrated Design, Architecture and Sustainability (IDEAS) is a joint initiative of both the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Performance-Integrated Design (LIPID) and Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) of the ENAC School at EPFL. It aims to address an increased integration of the various issues related to sustainable architecture within the framework of the Master Cycle in Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, as well as the Doctoral program Architecture & Science of the city (EDAR).
A light lunch will be served during the presentation. For logistic aspects, please let Joëlle Eaves know of your participation before Friday 29 May noon.