Six researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will present key findings from work conducted over the last year at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub during the 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, May 6-8, in San Francisco. Dr Franz-Josef Ulm, PhD (shown here), will participate on a panel titled Transparency and Material Ingredient Disclosure: What Google is Doing to Keep its Buildings Healthy. Environmentally conscious building owners, like Google, Inc., are demanding transparency with regard to the health and environmental impacts of the products they use in building construction. 

The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED v4 Rating System will soon demand Health Product Declarations (HPDs). This informative 1-1/2 hour panel discussion will provide an overview of HPDs, how Google is requiring transparency on its new Bayview project in the San Francisco Bay area and how stakeholders are addressing the issue throughout the value chain. Other MIT speakers and topics include:

• Dr. Jeremy Gregory, PhD, will present Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings: A Gap Analysis of Existing Literature and Trending Tools

• Arash Noshadravan will present Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Pavements Under Uncertainty and Variation

• Jacob Sobstyl will present Management: City Texture Matters

• Omar Swei will present Characterizing and Implementing Uncertainty in the Life-Cycle Cost of Pavements

• Christoph Wuestemeyer will present An Approach for Analyzing Cost and Energy Performance Trade-offs in Residential Building Wall Systems