Balancing Light and Life - Managing Connection in Today's Built Environment - Recorded 9/5/24

In today's world, people spend nearly 90% of their lives inside buildings. The design, construction, and functionality of these buildings are crucial for the mental and physical well-being of their occupants. Traditional windows often fail to provide the necessary daylight, causing glare, discomfort, and eventually leading to the use of window coverings that negate their benefits.

Our presentation, "Balancing Light and Life in Today's Built Environment," addresses this challenge by introducing highly insulated translucent glass facades. These facades harvest sunlight, creating healthier, happier, and more productive environments. Unlike traditional opaque and transparent building envelope materials, which fail to balance natural light and insulation effectively, translucent glass offers an innovative solution. It seamlessly manages the connection between the interior and exterior, enhancing both aesthetic appeal and occupant well-being.

The course explores how this advanced material meets building and energy codes, stays within budget, and ensures superior thermal performance and longevity. Join us to learn the simplicity, logic, and cost-saving benefits of designing and constructing buildings that are not only energy-efficient and code-compliant but also aesthetically pleasing and conducive to occupant well-being.

Joe Menchefski is a chemical engineer with an MBA in marketing. In the late 1990’s he ran an extrusion operation to produce multi-walled acrylic and polycarbonate, which eventually led him to the world of glazing- and ultimately, to daylighting. 

Joe took over as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for AGL in 2005; since then, he’s been a shameless lover of all things architecture and a vocal daylighting enthusiast!

A highly entrepreneurial leader, Joe has now launched three companies, including a firm that designs and manufactures scent-free cleaning products for schools and hospitals and a medical nanoparticles research company that is currently traded on NASDAQ. 

Joe’s passion for sustainable design and occupant comfort has only grown stronger over the years, culminating in the creation of Better Buildings For Humans as the ultimate vehicle to engage in conversations with the thought leaders driving the creation of healthier, more beautiful, and more sustainable buildings.