Sustainability
A sustainability strategy becomes much clearer when options for reducing carbon impact are understood with other project considerations, such as budget, constructability, program, schedule, and social and political perception.
DeSimone is able to impact and minimize a building’s carbon footprint in many ways, with each of our services playing a role. Structural engineering is able to identify efficiencies in FAR ratios, employ more sustainable structural materials, and optimize structures by employing techniques such as voided slabs. Our integrated façade and building enclosure practice can deliver a highly insulated and well-sealed building envelope, minimizing the building’s heat retention and energy use.
We continually analyze the impacts of the structural materials that we utilize. Aligning building material quantities with the tracking and measurement of embodied carbon ensures increased transparency throughout the design process. The owner and project team have a clear understanding of how using less or less impactful structural materials may affect the overall sustainability of the project.
Our site performance modeling, structural systems comparison, and Life Cycle Analysis lay the groundwork for reductions in embodied carbon. Our experience with passive and net zero design approaches provide techniques that we can use to move the needle further in designing more sustainable structures. We assess our projects post-occupancy to learn from our work and further improve our approach.
Leveraging accurate and detailed data is central to our design approach; it’s critical that the project team understands the source, manufacture, energy demands, embodied carbon, labor demands, supply and logistics associated with our construction materials. Our significant experience with LEED, BREEAM, and WELL standards guides our knowledge and work.
Coordinated action is how structural engineers will achieve zero-carbon building standards, including the Structural Engineering 2050 Initiative (SE2050) and the Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) in the UK. DeSimone’s Embodied Carbon Action Plan (ECAP) is grounded in principles of integrated design and the belief that successful sustainable solutions maximize value while minimizing negative impacts of all kinds. Our ECAP features four connected initiatives with the shared objective of achieving net zero embodied carbon structures by 2050. The detailed plan includes actionable steps toward reducing a project’s carbon footprint, including performing five detailed life cycle assessments, reporting results to SE2050, and promoting ongoing client engagement to develop and implement embodied carbon goals.
Working with our clients, we work to evaluate structural and façade and building envelope materials using Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), favoring where possible low-carbon concrete mixes, recycled steel, and systems designed for circularity. We then develop a baseline carbon budget at the concept phase and track it through procurement. Strategies include structural optimization, adaptive core layouts, and material minimization through design precision. The design process involves careful attention to core-to-floor ratios, lift shaft optimization, and façade-to-floor ratios, all of which serve to minimize material mass.
Our sustainable façade design solutions respond directly to the site’s climate and environmental conditions. We analyze building orientation, solar loads, and wind behavior to inform double-skin solutions, operable shading, and ventilated cavity systems. Dynamic glazing and rainwater-harvesting façades are incorporated where feasible and aligned with project objectives. Embedded sensors measure real-time performance, linking directly to the building management system. We select façade components based on lifecycle carbon impact, with a preference for unitized systems that are preassembled offsite to reduce waste and improve quality.
Our internal analysis indicates that our Las Vegas Circa Resort and Casino has a lower carbon footprint compared to an average concrete building in the United States. We reduced embodied carbon and material by using Supplemental Cementitious Material and Post-Tensioned Concrete . Our highly accurate BIM model for Circa enabled the large, multi-disciplinary project team to view all of the building elements, materials, and mix-specific embodied carbon information together.
As reuse as opposed to replacement has become more typical of redevelopment projects in our cities, DeSimone has built a substantial portfolio of successful retrofit, refurbishment, and adaptive reuse projects. For example, the sustainably-driven transformation of Methodist Central Hall in Manchester (c. 1886) is a master class in the sensitive modernization of historic buildings. Extensive investigative research, combined with the prioritization of reuse in construction, ensured that the DeSimone team made informed decisions about what could be preserved, and where strengthening was truly needed. Similarly, the adaptive reuse of Terminal Warehouse in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood demonstrates the same high degree of responsiveness, while giving the historic industrial building new life as a $2B commercial development. DeSimone was instrumental in preserving the previous freight hub’s landmark façade while successfully navigating numerous structural challenges, including the strategic reuse of century-old timber and the integration of a new six-story overbuild.
About us
In an industry in which consolidation has become the norm, DeSimone stands apart from large engineering practices. The diversification of our services enables us to support a global clientele experiencing complex challenges. We remain independent so that we are able to provide bespoke and personal solutions, wherever your vision takes you.
Structural engineering is where we began, and it is still the core of our practice. But through the years, we have expanded the services we offer our clients, from façade and building envelope to vertical transportation to steel detailing and fabrication-ready modeling to advisory services.
