Thornton Tomasetti Team: Emily Buxengaard, Catrin Do, Jackie Wang, Ivanna Lai
2022-2023: In collaboration with Thornton Tomasetti, this student team developed a sustainable materials selection tool and a conceptual structural design for a future building at Smith College. The project connects to Thornton Tomasetti’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality in their structural projects by 2030. The goal of the sustainable materials selection tool is to recommend viable hyperlocal and sustainable construction materials to inform structural engineers’ design decisions.
The team compiled a database of structural materials and their properties, selected the system architecture for the tool, and developed the tool’s core functionality and calculations. In an iterative refinement process, the team added secondary functionality and incorporated user feedback. The team then leveraged the tool as part of their conceptual design for the Smith campus building, combining precedent research and tool recommendations to select materials for their structural design. The team sized the structural members through calculations, prepared models and drawings of their design, and delivered the drawing package and selection tool to their liaisons.