This course is the first in a two-part series on the principles and practices of circular design in architecture. The course will briefly introduce the concept of the circular economy and its application to the built environment before focusing on the Circular Buildings Toolkit (CBT) recently developed by Arup.
The CBT is a comprehensive guide for designers, developers, and other stakeholders in the built environment that provides practical advice and guidance on how to design, construct, and operate buildings in a more sustainable, circular manner, with the goal of reducing waste and promoting resource efficiency. Representatives from Arup will give an overview of the CBT’s goals and note the challenges and differences in an American and European context. The session will demonstrate how to use a selection of the toolkit’s modules and address how the CBT can be integrated into the design process. Participants will engage in an active discussion around how to pitch circularity to clients and fellow designers and will have the opportunity to identify how circular design principles can be applied to real-world projects.
About the Speakers:
Bill Ladley is a Senior Sustainability Consultant with Arup’s New York office. Prior to working with Arup, he was a sustainability and wellness strategy consultant for Meta. For most of his career, he has been a practicing architect in New York, working on a range of project types with a focus on sustainability as well as building and material reuse. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from New York Institute of Technology.
Frances Yang specializes in accelerating circular economy and decarbonization of our built environment, most recently co-founding the All for Reuse initiative to increase reuse in commercial tenant improvement projects. She is also active in Arup’s partnership with the Ellen McArthur Foundation in developing knowledge and tools for the EMF Built Environment Group. Yang has presented Arup’s global body of work on circular economy at Cradle-to-Cradle Built Positive workshops and other events. She contributes to essential working groups in the sustainable materials community through initiatives such as SE 2050, AIA 2030, Carbon Smart Wood, Healthy Building Network, and the Carbon Leadership Forum.
Greg Bencivengo is an architect at Slade Architecture. Bencivengo has brought sustainability-focused initiatives to the forefront of his design work, leading a materials research group and serving on the Steering Committee for the Design for Freedom (DFF) initiative and co-developing parts of the DFF Toolkit. He believes in architecture’s capacity to reflect and influence cultural behavior and that a circular, integrated design model can reinforce this potential.
Wei Wang is an architect at Dattner Architects and serves as the New York State Representative for the Young Architects Forum (YAF) and the Committee on the Environment (COTE) liaison for the YAF. Her research focuses on building materials and circular design principles with a goal to apply them in daily practice. Wang believes that adopting circular design is the way forward to minimize waste and achieve good design without sacrificing economic gain.
