Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024 - 4

It's material
that it matters
Fabric as a material of choice
to reduce environmental
impact of construction
by Bruce N. Wright, FAIA
ecent years have seen a number of announcements
of heroic efforts to literally reach for the moon
because terra firma is becoming unlivable due to
global overheating. Nation after nation has declared
its goal of landing on the surface of that celestial orb
to colonize new territory, usually suggesting to 3D print
dwellings using the surface dirt or sending inflatable pods
that expand upon landing to provide shelter. One recent
fantastic pronouncement proposed a gigantic solar shield
(presumably made of fabric for lightness) that would cast a
shadow upon the Earth to help keep annual solar heat gain
within acceptable range.
As architects, we have been given a mandate to help mitigate the
R
environmental impact of our buildings and to focus our efforts here
on Earth instead, certainly a more practical endeavor.
The architectural profession's current mantra goes something like
this: " Whatever you do, make your buildings reduce their carbon
footprint to zero! " This has been the drumbeat for architects since
the launch in 2015 by the United Nations of the " 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development " that warns of a no-turning-back-deadline
for Earth's health report.
Architect Nic Goldsmith, FAIA, has made a career of designing
fabric structures and doing the heavy lifting with regard to fabric
as a material of choice when it comes to sustainability. " This is a big
subject, " says Goldsmith, " First there is embodied carbon and then
there is operational carbon. Fabric as a material can work for both
areas, although in different ways. "
A prime example of the " adaptive reuse " approach, the Hartford
Healthcare Amphitheater, Bridgeport, Conn., demonstrates
strategies that reduce embodied carbon by repurposing an
unused baseball stadium into a major-draw event facility.
Photo: Carl B. Vernlund Photography
MEANS TO AN END
There are many ways to reach the sustainability goal, and this
publication will offer several involving architectural fabric as
the means. We propose that a) counting the embodied carbon
and operational carbon, b) making wise material choices, and c)
integrating photovoltaic technologies with fabric structures, can all
significantly help reduce the overall carbon impact of our buildings.
EMBODIED CARBON
When it comes to embodied carbon, adaptive reuse of existing buildings
is one sustainable approach that has proved highly successful. To
start, the lighter mass of architectural fabrics begins the carbon count
at much lower levels than more traditional building materials such
as wood, steel and concrete. Fabric has a very low embodied carbon
4
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Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024

Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024 - Cover1
Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024 - Cover2
Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024 - 1
Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024 - 2
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Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024 - Cover3
Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024 - Cover4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/fabricarchitecture/fabric-architecture-specifiers-guide-2021
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https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/fabricarchitecture/FASG2019
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