David Kaneda

Integration Advocate

Background
Bachelor of Architectural Engineering, Penn State University; Master of Business Administration, London Business School. Principal, Integrated Design Associates (IDeAs)

Awards

Design Merit Award, American Institute of Architects (AIA) California Council, for the Bay School of San Francisco (2006)
Commendation, City of San Jose, for Design of the IDeAs Z Squared Design Facility (2006)
Energy Efficiency Integration Award: Citation, Savings by Design, for Morgan Hill Aquatic Center (2005)
President?s Award for Service, AIA Santa Clara Valley (2000, 2003)
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, E. F. Guth National Lighting Design Award and Chicago Section
Illumination Design Award, for 203 N. LaSalle Building (1987)

Publications

IDeAs Z2 Design Facility: A Case Study of a Net Zero Energy, Zero Carbon Emission Office Building,? Rethinking Sustainable Construction 2006: Next Generation Green Buildings

Q&A

What started you on the path toward sustainability?

Studying architectural engineering puts you on a green path almost by default. You?re trained to see buildings as an integrated whole. My early experience working for a firm that did both architecture and engineering naturally reinforced this integrated thinking. You?re responsible for ensuring that all the engineering systems within buildings?electrical, lighting, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, fire protection, plumbing, and structural systems?fulfill their individual functions and work as a whole. It?s a natural extension of this whole building thinking to consider the building?s role within the surrounding environment. In fact, for me, an integrated versus nonintegrated approach to the design of a building?s many systems is what differentiates green from not green in building design.

Who inspired you, or nurtured your talent?

While working at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in the 1980s, I played a small role in contributing to their history of designing highly integrated buildings. SOM has always put the emphasis on making architecture and the contained and surrounding systems work toward an aesthetically beautiful and high-performance whole.

Today I still find inspiration in the work of my collaborators. I?m fortunate to be working with people and firms like Scott Shell of EHDD Architecture and Bill Leddy of LMS Architects-- architects who have made it their mission to design buildings that contribute zero greenhouse gases to the environment. Peter Rumsey is designing HVAC systems that similarly demonstrate how a well-thought-out, integrated approach can result in dramatic gains in energy efficiency.

What gives you hope in your industry?

In a fairly short amount of time, the conversation about sustainability and green building has gone mainstream. The sense of urgency is there, and more and more dedicated people are devoting their talents to finding solutions. When you look at the building industry, there are gross inefficiencies in the fragmented, nonaligned ways we approach design and construction. Until now, relatively cheap energy costs and a blindness to environmental costs have allowed contributors to focus mainly on getting their piece done for a given budget and schedule. The green building imperative will drive architects, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, construction specialists, and other contributors to retain a focus on the whole project and to collaborate upfront in the design process to squeeze inefficiencies out. Just this change will result in big gains in building energy efficiency.

What worries you most in this area?

Everyone has to worry that we are not making the necessary changes fast enough. In the twentieth century, the rest of the world looked to North America for leadership in architecture and construction. Unfortunately, the developing economies have now copied many of our bad behaviors. CO2 recognizes no national boundaries. The changes we need to make in building design cannot be legislated by one government. Leaders in sustainable design must get their message out across the globe-and fast.

What advice do you give to young people who want to make a difference in the world?

Find a field where you can focus and make your mark, but be broad in your influences. For me, architectural engineering?and now sustainable architectural engineering?is a field where you can do very well for yourself while doing good for the rest of the world. We are on the threshold of big change in the building industry, and there is a vacuum of talent when it comes to building green. As a result, there is tremendous opportunity.

What is the role of technology in sustainable design?

Technology allowed us to put buildings into environments that otherwise wouldn?t sustain them. For example, we built high-rise office buildings in desert climates because we could air condition them. We now realize there is an environmental price we didn?t factor in. Whether more technology will help us cope with these past mistakes and make better decisions going forward remains to be seen. I am sure that we are only at the beginning of the evolution of material technologies that may provide solutions, such as photovoltaics and daylight sensors, and in the application of IT technology and tools such building information modeling (BIM).