Harnessing the Power of Cool Exterior Walls to Enhance Heat Resilience
2025-08-05 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual Event
Extreme heat causes more deaths in the United States than any other natural disaster.
Discussions around the role of buildings in heat mitigation and resilience often focus on air-conditioning, and while A/C can be lifesaving, it also increases peak cooling demand, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste heat released back into the environment. Further, regions with historically cooler climates and low percentages of air-conditioned homes are now experiencing longer, more frequent, and more intense heat waves, leaving residents without A/C at risk of heat illness and death.
Incorporating passive cooling strategies in new construction and building retrofits is critically important to improve heat resilience in buildings without access to A/C and to reduce A/C demand in conditioned spaces.
Like cool roofs, which are required for most buildings in California and for commercial buildings in several other U.S. cities and states, cool exterior walls efficiently reflect solar radiation back into the atmosphere instead of transferring it as heat into buildings. For a single building, this helps reduce solar heat gain, indoor temperatures, and A/C use, while increasing resilience to extreme heat, particularly in buildings with little insulation or that do not have or are unable to operate A/C. On a larger scale, this helps raise the community’s albedo, lower outdoor temperatures, mitigate heat impacts, reduce peak cooling demand, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
This presentation will describe the impacts of cool exterior walls on buildings and communities and the radiative properties of solar reflectance and thermal emittance, which determine the coolness of a wall surface. It also will provide examples of potential HVAC energy cost savings resulting from cool exterior wall use in different U.S. climates and equip attendees with the ability to estimate building-specific savings using a publicly available tool developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Additionally, the presentation will summarize wall radiative property provisions in codes, standards, and programs, including the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code, ASHRAE Standard 90.1, and LEED v4.1, and provide a tutorial for how to find and interpret independently verified radiative property data for exterior wall materials.

Learning Objectives

Explain how cool exterior walls can reduce a building’s solar heat gain and lower temperatures of buildings and surrounding communities.
Describe the surface radiative properties solar reflectance and thermal emittance, which influence the coolness of building exteriors.
Estimate building-specific cool exterior wall HVAC energy cost savings using Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Cool Surface Savings Explorer and local electricity cost data.
Compare the radiative properties of exterior wall materials and understand which materials will meet project requirements using a third-party database of rated products.

2025 Vitruvian Honors & Awards Ceremony
2025-09-18 15:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Pl, New York, 10012, United States
The Facade Tectonics Institute’s Vitruvian Honors & Awards program celebrates excellence and innovation in the field of facade design and delivery. This program honors outstanding projects, project teams, and individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to facade design, engineering, fabrication, installation, and lifecycle performance. These achievements exemplify FTI’s mission to advance the art, science, and technology of designing, planning, and constructing high-performance building facades for the benefit of both people and the planet.
FTI’s 2025 Vitruvian Lecture & Awards Committee has curated thirteen distinct categories that align with The Institute’s vision and mission, celebrating innovation, collaboration, and achievement within the AECO industry.

Smart Home and Furnishings 2025
2025-09-24 - 2025-09-26 | Rosemont, IL, Rosemont, IL, United States
Smart Home and Furnishings Conference and Exhibition is the premier event dedicated to showcasing the latest advancements in smart home technology. From groundbreaking products and expert presentations to interactive demos and invaluable networking opportunities, this event is designed to inspire and connect everyone passionate about enhancing modern living through smart solutions. Discover the trends, tools, and technologies that are shaping the way we interact with our homes. Join MIE Group in bridging global markets, connecting the brightest minds and most innovative companies from the United States, MENA, and GCC. Together, we will explore smart living solutions that are shaping the homes of tomorrow.

BEC-N Symposium on Building Science and Enclosure Technology
2025-09-25 09:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Chicago Architecture Center, 111 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL, 60601, United States
The Chicago Building Enclosure Council has been chosen as the host of the 2025 National BEC Symposium. This year’s event will be held at the Chicago Architecture Center. Please visit the event website for more information.

Greater Detroit Building Enclosure Council Annual Symposium
2025-10-21 07:00 - 16:30 (America/Chicago) | Livonia, MI, Livonia, Michigan

Building For Tomorrow
2026-01-28 08:00 - 2026-01-29 17:00 (America/New_York) | Southern California, CA, United States
In the wake of the devastating Southern California wildfires, this summit stands as both a call to action and a catalyst for national resilience. The historic fires exposed systemic vulnerabilities shared by communities across the country—severely damaged buildings, disrupted water and power services, severed communications, impassable roads, and compromised fuel systems, amplifying human and economic losses. These cascading failures underscore the urgent need to prioritize preparedness, protect critical lifelines, and invest in strategic, coordinated recovery.
Using Southern California as a case study, this summit aims to establish a national model for lifeline infrastructure resilience and smart capital investment. Federal, state, and local leaders will join utility providers, researchers, and resilience experts to chart a unified path forward, one grounded in interdependence, innovation, and the modernization of policies, codes, and systems that support long-term recovery.
Over two dynamic days, the summit will feature compelling keynotes and a mix of collaborative and hands-on sessions. Day 1 will feature policy makers and executive leaders from both public and private sectors for strategic discussions focused on forward-looking policy frameworks, including breaking down system silos, overcome integration hurdles, enhance data sharing, and foster collaboration to accelerate recovery and build long-term resilience. Day 2 will offer practitioners an in-depth look at cutting-edge technologies and building science innovations that are transforming how we retrofit, rebuild, and future-proof the built environment.

Building Innovation 2026
2026-05-19 08:00 - 2026-05-20 14:00 (America/New_York) | The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, 1700 Tysons Blvd, McLean, VA, 22102, United States
At NIBS’ Annual Building Innovation conference, attendees explore challenges, possibilities, the latest tools, groundbreaking strategies, and more. There’s no other event that brings together this unique set of individuals – from government agencies and AEC industry professionals to researchers, community planners, and innovative thinkers – to improve the built environment. Through curated panels, collaborative workshops, and federal program showcases, Building Innovation 2026 will explore how coordination across sectors can unlock scalable solutions to infrastructure challenges—transforming insight into action.
Learn more and register here: https://nibs.org/building-innovation-conference
