Conference session with speaker Pat Huelman
 

5th Residential Building Design and Construction Conference (2020)

Whole Conference Proceedings

Whole Conference Proceedings (2020)

Authors: Various Authors

Publication Date: 3/4/2020

Publication Download Link

Description:

The 5th Residential Building Design and Construction Conference was held on March 4-6, 2020 at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State College, Pennsylvania, USA. The RBDC Conference series is intended to provide a forum for researchers, design professionals, manufacturers, builders, and code officials to exchange knowledge and understanding on the latest research and development advancements and to discuss and share their own findings, innovations, and projects related to residential buildings. The RBDC Conference includes papers and presentations on various issues related to residential buildings, which encompass single- and multi-family dwellings, mid-rise and high-rise structures, factory-built housing, dormitories, and hotels/motels.

With 132 attendees, there were 102 presentations held during four to five parallel tracks with 56 papers. As the Conference Schedule and Table of Contents of these proceedings show, many of the above areas were among the papers and presentations at the conference. In particular, there was considerable interest in Passive House Design and Retrofit, Disaster Resilient Design, Building Envelope and Building Science, and Construction using Cross Laminated Timber. The conference also hosted six Special Session panel discussions, three evening networking events, and a tour of the Building Enclosure Testing Laboratory (BETL) and the ADDCON Laboratory for 3D Printing of concrete, both located in Civil Infrastructure Testing and Evaluation Laboratory (CITEL) at Penn State University.

Two keynote speakers were invited for the conference: David O. Prevatt, Ph.D., PE, FASCE, Associate Professor of Civil & Coastal Engineering, Associate Director NSF - NHERI Experimental Facility at University of Florida and Lois B. Arena, PE, Director of Passive House Services at Steven Winter Associates, Inc. Professor Prevatt discussed his presentation titled “Wind Hazard Resilient Residential Communities—When Engineering Isn’t Enough.” Lois B. Arena shared her presentation titled “Passive House: A Proven Path Toward Resilient, Affordable & Energy Efficient Housing.” The conference also hosted a closing plenary session by Jay Arehart, Senior Research Fellow at Project Drawdown and Tom Richard, Director of Institutes Energy & the Environment at Penn State, entitled “Buildings as a Drawdown Solution: Getting to Zero and Beyond.”

The conference brought together university professors, researchers, graduate students, architects, consulting engineers, product manufacturers, and product related associations/councils who shared research/study findings or new developments in the field that offered insight into emerging trends and technologies, and provided better understanding of the current issues and challenges facing the residential construction sector.

Conference Program

Conference Program (2020)

Authors: Ali Memari, Sarah Klinetob Lowe, & Rachel Fawcett

Publication Date: 3/4/2020

Publication Download Link

Description:

Conference program for the 2020 RBDCC

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About

The Pennsylvania Housing Research Center serves the home building industry and the residents of Pennsylvania by improving the quality and affordability of housing.

We conduct applied research, foster the development and commercialization of innovative technologies, and transfer appropriate technologies to the housing community.

Pennsylvania Housing Research Center

The Pennsylvania State University

116 Lidia Manson Building

3127 Research Drive

State College, PA 16801

Phone: 814-865-2341

E-mail: phrc@psu.edu