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Zak World of Façades USA

Name: Zak World of Façades USA
Start: 2026-05-14
Location: Hyatt Regency

edition

216

Date

14 May 2026

Venue

Hyatt Regency

City

Phoenix

Official page

Speakers & Panelists

Conference Agenda

Every speaker for the day, grouped by session. Select a topic to see who is presenting, the session focus and the talk points.

Session 1

08:30 — 09:30 Delegate Registration & Welcome Coffee Hour

Event Convenor & Host

09:30 — 09:40 Welcome Address

11:05 — 11:55 Networking Tea / Coffee Break

Session 2

13:35 — 14:45 Networking Lunch Break

Session 3

16:20 — 16:30 Thanks/Conference Concludes

16:30 — 17:00 Refreshments & Networking

09:40 — 10:00

Martha dePlazaola Abbott

Co-Managing Director Principal

Gensler

Jay Silverberg

Design Principal

Principal, Gensler

Topic

Beyond Shade: Strategies for Comfort and Resilience in the Sonoran Desert

Talk points

Level setting for contextual facade design

A thermal veil in the desert

The data center turned inside out

Prioritizing human comfort through urban intervention

10:00 — 10:20

Brian Davie

Senior Building Enclosure Consultant

Walker Consultants

Topic

2024 IECC Implications for Practice: Advancing Building Thermal Envelope Performance Verification

Talk points

Expanded air barrier design and documentation requirements

Air leakage compliance – testing the whole building, dwelling and sleeping units

Building thermal envelope design and construction verification criteria

10:20 — 10:40

Tobiasz Staszak

Area Manager - North America

Reynaers Aluminium

Topic

Sustainability from Every Angle in the Building Envelope

Talk points

Sustainability strategy

The importance of operational carbon and embodied carbon: Need to go hand in hand to decarbonise

What really makes a building sustainable

10:40 — 11:05

Nicholas Hofstede

Managing Director

Johnston Marklee

Topic

A Grid is a Grid is a Grid – Ray Phoenix

Talk points

Ray is an art and design-forward apartment endeavor that incorporates distinctive artists, architects, communal spaces, and commercial tenants as a contextual, local response

A rigorous approach to a tall residential building ties together the combination of a stout podium under a slender tower through careful proportions and detailing of a grid system

The strong color palette and horizontal bias of the grid create a singular identity within the skyline of this desert landscape

11:55 — 12:15

Chris O'Hara

Senior Principal - Structural and Facade Design

Studio NYL, a Lerch Bates Company

Topic

Topic to be Announced

12:15 — 12:25

Bob Zhang

Commercial Director

Tianjin North Glass

Topic

Advances in Curved Architectural Glass

Talk points

Multi-curved glass

High-end curtain wall glass panel

Customization

12:25 — 12:55

Rachel Green Rasmussen

Principal and Partner

Architekton

Topic

Extreme Climates, Calibrated Façades – When Building Performance Meets the Human Condition

Talk points

Climate as a design driver: Understanding extreme environmental forces, heat, solar exposure, diurnal swing, and how they shape façade strategies from day one

Calibration over reaction: Moving beyond one-size-fits-all solutions to finely tuned envelopes that balance performance, cost, constructability, design intent, and clients' goals

Translating Performance into Experience: Considerations that expand beyond the spreadsheet and consider how façade decisions impact your comfort through access to daylight, views, and the intuitive way people inhabit the space

12:55 — 13:35

Moderator

Diane Jacobs

Founding Principal

Holly Street Studio

Panelist

Cassie Saba

Arizona Higher Education Core Market Lead

DPR Construction

Panelist

Sin Hei Kwok

Founder

LOFTSPHX STUDIO

Panelist

Peter W. Rutti

Chief Design Officer | Managing Principal

DLR Group

Topic

Material Choices Making Big Impacts on Low-Rise Façades

Talk points

Creative façade design solutions that don't get VE'ed out

Desert-hardy façades that increase occupant comfort

Navigating local regulations, sustainability, and material performance

14:45 — 15:10

Steve Valev

Associate Principal

Multistudio

Topic

Central Station: A Project for the City

Talk points

How Central Station will be the central transit bus and light rail terminal in the heart of downtown Phoenix, with over one million transit patrons visiting a year

The project was designed not as an object, but simply as an extension of the city, where people can seamlessly meander in and out without barriers

The prefabricated building façade is designed specifically for the local desert climate with proper orientation, a self-shading building façade, deep overhangs to protect transit patrons on the ground level, and places to escape the harshness of the desert sun

15:10 — 15:30

John Anderson

Partner | Principal

180 Degrees Design + Build

Topic

Continuing Wright’s History of the Exploration of Incorporating Advancing Technologies at Taliesin West

Talk points

Researching modern products to design an energy efficient roof assembly that maintains the aesthetics of the original design

Incorporating the use of digital and 3D printing technologies for prototyping and detailing

Testing and developing a system that’s not only suitable at Taliesin West, but a widely-used sustainable building solution that stands up to desert elements

15:30 — 15:40

Donald Lawson

LUMIFLON® Technical Development Chemist

AGC Chemicals Americas

Topic

Environmentally Friendly FEVE Fluoropolymers Resins for Powder Coatings

Talk points

FEVE resins in powder coatings

Life cycle (cost analysis)

Architectural applications

15:40 — 16:20

Moderator