As EcoServices team leader for Kirksey Architecture, Julie Hendricks spends her days thinking about how to build sustainably without busting a project’s budget.

On a typical job, whether for Kirksey or an outside firm, “we look at energy use, daylighting, and site analysis,” she explained. “We do a lot of different studies to make sure buildings are performing at the highest level.” The EcoServices team also conducts non-billable research, primarily focused on comparing actual to projected performance on buildings designed in-house. Hendricks will present an example from her research portfolio on June 18 at the Facades+AM Houston symposium.

Achieving sustainability goals is particularly challenging in Houston, said Hendricks. “We feel like we have a unique and especially difficult climate because of the humidity and heat,” said Hendricks. As a result, she explained, they have a limited range of passive strategies to work with; yet passive interventions are the most straightforward and cost-effective tools for mitigating thermal gain and moisture transfer. “That’s the number one thing we deal with, and have tried to become experts in,” she said.

The hot Texas sun can be especially hard to beat. Too often, said Hendricks, facades systems are applied counter to their intended use. “One of our favorite games on the EcoServices Team is to drive around and point out ineffective shading devices,” she said. “It’s ironic, because they’re really expensive. It means someone’s investing in a device that has a purely aesthetic function.”

On the flip side, Hendricks is encouraged by the increasing availability of glass products with built-in thermal protections. “When we can [mitigate solar gain] with just glass, those solutions tend to be more affordable,” she explained, citing glazing with embedded shading devices, ceramic frit glass, and electrochromic glass as examples worth exploring. Besides the potential to keep costs down, these options better satisfy clients seeking a streamlined curtain wall aesthetic.

Catch up with Hendricks and other experts in high performance facade design and fabrication at Facades+AM Houston. Register now on the event website.