Pacific Northwest

Credit type: 1 AIA HSW LU
Provider: Northern Facades

This course helps architects understand why thermal bridging mitigation is no longer an energy issue, it is now central to building resilience, durability, occupant comfort, and professional risk management. As codes become more performance-driven and climate pressures intensify (extreme heat and cold, wildfire exposure, grid instability), attachment strategies and envelope detailing increasingly determine whether wall assemblies perform as intended. Through clear visuals and real-world examples, participants learn how cladding support systems affect moisture risk, constructability, fire performance, and long-term building reliability. The course emphasizes how to evaluate cladding attachment systems holistically, moving beyond narrow R-value comparisons to consider structural efficiency, fire testing, durability, and ease of installation. Attendees leave better equipped to ask informed questions of manufacturers and consultants, avoid common value-engineering pitfalls, and confidently specify high-performance attachment systems that support future-ready, defensible envelope design.

Learning Objectives

• Explain why thermal bridging mitigation now impacts resilience, durability, occupant comfort, and long-term building risk, not just energy performance.
• Identify how evolving energy codes, climate pressures, and wildfire-related requirements are influencing exterior wall and attachment design.
• Recognize how attachment strategies affect condensation risk, moisture durability, and fire performance in wall assemblies.
• Distinguish between theoretical performance (modeled R-values) and real-world performance based on constructability and installation consistency.
• Evaluate cladding attachment systems using a holistic framework that includes thermal performance, structural efficiency, fire testing, durability, and ease of installation.
• Understand how thoughtful envelope detailing supports passive survivability and occupant comfort during extreme weather events and power outages.
• Apply a more informed, critical approach when reviewing specifications and value-engineering proposals related to exterior wall assemblies.

Presenters

Jennifer Hickman

Technical Sales professional

Jennifer Hickman

Jennifer Hickman is a Technical Sales professional at Northern Facades, supporting architects, contractors, and the building envelope community with high-performance facade and building-envelope solutions. With experience in architectural glass, window and door systems, and thermally efficient enclosure assemblies, she brings a systems-based approach to facade design with a strong focus on thermal performance and constructability. Jennifer is known for her ability to translate complex building-science concepts into practical, project-ready solutions that support durable, energy-efficient buildings.

Credit type: 1 AIA HSW LU
Provider: Evolv Surfaces

Materials used on building facades need to withstand many things, including water, wind, sunlight, and sometimes severe weather conditions. They also need to hold up to the effects of people who may inadvertently or even intentionally cause damage. Choosing materials used for facades is certainly influenced by the ability to hold up over time but also by the available size, not to mention the appearance, of the material. Being able to install it in a manner that is efficient and cost-effective usually rounds out the criteria for selecting a building material for building facades. There is one new product category that will be the focus of this course, namely sintered stones that can be used for curtain walls, rain screens, siding applications, and other common wall systems for both residential and commercial buildings.

Learning Objectives

• Identify and recognize the characteristics and beneficial properties of sintered stones.
• Investigate the manufacturing process of sintered stones and the suitability of the product to both interior and exterior building applications.
• Assess the functional contributions of sintered stones as they contribute to green and sustainable building design.
• Specify sintered stones in a variety of green and conventional buildings and formulate appropriate selections related to specific applications.

Presenters

Peter Wazna Blank

President

Peter Wazna Blank

Peter Wazna Blank, President of Evolv Surfaces has been involved in construction and stone industry for over 25 years. He brings a wealth of experience of developing solutions that are both beautiful and sustainable for residential and commercial Façades. His experiences span projects from the Chase Center in San Francsico to custom residential estates in Western United States. His expertise focuses on site specific design issues with unique architecture.

Bill Gamble

A&D Account Manager

Bill Gamble

Working with the leading Architects and Designers of our Generation Bill Gamble has been involved with the Surfaces Industry in Northern California for the last 25 years sourcing and overseeing the installation of both Natural stone and Composite materials in both Residential and Commercial applications. Understanding the need to find safer and heathier materials his focus is now looking toward finding a balance between the beauty of natural stone and the unique properties of mineral based composites and how the two can be paired together to provide better solutions to today’s design challenges.