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CSI Board of Directors Chair-Elect William Sundquist, FCSI, published a timely article titled, “Permeable Pavers: Resilience for Your Home and Community,” in Elemental.Green, a resource for green home building and design.
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In the article, Sundquist, a Regional Sales Manager for Whitacre Green clay pavers states, “As our landscape keeps evolving with the built environment, the need for environmentally friendly outdoor building materials becomes more and more necessary for our communities. Landscapes have changed from natural open spaces that could absorb most rainfall events. Today, our communities divert large amounts of rainfall runoff and discharge into waterways, hopefully filtering it first. As this trend progresses over time, the ground is not able to absorb rainwater as it used to. Thus, increasingly disruptive flash floods plague urban and suburban spaces. Fortunately, an alternative to standard driveways and concrete patios is gaining increasing attention. Beautiful and functional, permeable pavers were developed to enhance our hardscapes and to help manage rainfall runoff and recharge our local water tables.”
Sundquist provides several examples of where pavers can make a positive impact in local waterways and communities. Enjoy the article: https://elemental.green/permeable-pavers-resilience-for-your-home-and-community/
Here, Sundquist provides a little background on the value of architecture, engineering, construction, and owner (AECO) community professionals sharing their professional insight with colleagues in the field.
William, why do you think it is important for CSI members to write about their professional experience and share that knowledge with other professionals?
I have always believed that CSI members are the knowledge library of the AECO industry. I remember when I was young in my CSI career and I heard an architect tell me, “It’s not what I know about my product that is helpful, it’s knowing how my product works with others is when I become a valuable resource.” That said, CSI members should share our knowledge, that will continue to make us that valuable resource library for the AECO industry.
Why are permeable pavers such an important topic to you?
I always say the everyone in the AECO industry and project team has a responsibility to the build environment and we must design/build to current day construction challenges. Knowing this, storm water management is a current day construction challenge because the Earth does not absorb water like it did in the 1800s. Therefore, permeable products, or any products, that help a client manage the storm water runoff is critical to the performance of modern-day infrastructure.
What other ways do you see environmentally friendly building materials being integrated into projects in the AECO community?
There are many ways I see this, but specifically to my expertise, you are seeing more solar components added to veneer materials to help capture the energy from the sun to supply electricity to a building. I was just at Belden Tri State Brick Showroom in downtown Manhattan, NYC, touring their veneer division. The advances in technology that has evolved have been tremendous since I have entered the industry in 2001. Not only has the thermal performance of a veneer wall system been enhanced to reduce energy use, but the collection components have made tremendous strides allow a building to become less dependent on traditional energy supplies.
Along with writing articles and blogs, what other ways might CSI members work to provide a positive impact on the AECO community?
Inviting all in our industry to participate in our knowledge sharing. As I said earlier, I consider CSI the library of the AECO industry. The longer you stay in a library, the more you learn and grow as a person. Professionally, with our diverse membership, there is not a better place for anyone to engage in dialogue and knowledge sharing in the AECO industry. I’ve always said, the stronger CSI is, the better our industry will perform.
Is there anything else you would have liked me to ask you?
Yes, when does one say no? Like I said earlier in this article, being on any construction team comes with a responsibility to perform professionally. This means sometimes you have to say no. In my case, no, this product does not meet the specifications and performance as designed. If I have one major take way from CSI, it’s the empowerment and importance of knowing when to say no. Because it’s not about a lost sale, it’s about the safety of anyone who will walk into that building for decades to come. Saying yes is easy, saying no to uphold my professional responsibilities is a duty.
Have you recently published an article of interest to the AECO Community? Contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at pkray@csinet.org with a link and brief explanation of why you wrote the article, and he will follow up with a few questions so we can share your article here.