BEC: Austin Symposium

2025 BEC: Austin Symposium – When the Envelope Breaks

A conference on the current and future state of building, reuse, and deconstruction. This event isn’t just about avoiding breakdowns; it’s about safeguarding our resources and honoring the deep, often untold stories of the structures and materials that shape our society.

Keynote Speaker: Christine Williamson, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech School of Architecture; @buildingsciencefightclub

Speakers:

• Andrea Hellerman, AIA, Associate Director of Facade Engineering at WJE
• Kelly Doran, CEO Ha/f Climate Design, Adjunct Professor at University of Toronto, and Senior Fellow at Architecture 2030
• Stephanie Phillips, Senior Program Manager, Deconstruction & Circular Economy at City of San Antonio

(Scroll down for speaker bios)

Plus the return of the Mock-up Rodeo!

GET TICKETS NOW>>

THANKS TO OUR SYMPOSIUM SPONSORS!

• Acme Brick
• ABAA
• Atlas Roofing
• Dupont
• Engineered Exteriors
• NVLP Materials
• Rheme Architectural Systems
• Rockwool
• Terracon
• Texas Fifth Wall
• Salas O’Brien
• Sika
• Siplast
• WJE

SPONSORSHIP
: Interested in sponsoring and/or exhibiting at the event? Learn more and purchase sponsorships here.

Speaker Bios

Keynote – Christine Williamson, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech School of Architecture; @buildingsciencefightclub

Christine Williamson is a building scientist and architect who has spent her career discovering why buildings fail and working with owners, architects, and builders to remedy the problems. She is an Assistant Professor of architecture at Virginia Tech and the founder of the Instagram account @BuildingScienceFightClub, an educational project that teaches architects about building science and construction. Christine graduated from Princeton University and received her Master of Architecture from NewSchool of Architecture + Design. She is past chair of ASHRAE Technical Committee 1.12, Moisture Management in Buildings and is a frequent lecturer on building science at universities and professional conferences.

Andrea Hellerman, AIA, Associate Director of Facade Engineering at WJE

Andrea Hellerman is a London-based architect and facade engineer specialising in building fabric consultancy for new and existing buildings. Ms. Hellerman advises clients on facade, roofing, and waterproofing systems, with particular expertise in recladding, energy performance evaluation, forensic investigation, repair and rehabilitation design, and condition assessment. She regularly supports clients managing building portfolios across the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Her work in new construction includes facade system design, specification development, peer review, and oversight of manufacturing and construction processes, ensuring seamless alignment between design intent, performance, and project delivery.

Since joining WJE in 2017, Ms. Hellerman has served as a strategic technical advisor, drawing on her background as a design architect and project leader for various complex building types, including mid-rise and high-rise structures and healthcare facilities. Her experience with international design standards, codes, and construction practices enhances her ability to analyse facade materials and systems, address complex technical challenges, and deliver effective solutions.

Kelly Doran, Co-Founder of Ha/f Climate Design and Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto

Kelly is a father, architect and educator. His holistic approach to the design of the built environment has been shaped by his experiences working across the world – first in the resource development sector, and later as MASS Design Group’s East African Director where he led the design and implementation of several of MASS’s projects, notably Munini District Hospital, One Acre Fund’s Headquarters, the University of Global Health Equity, and the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture. Working in these contexts brought about a profound sense of the scales of social and environmental impacts inherent to the built environment.

In 2022 Kelly Co-Founded Ha/f Climate Design to provide environmental design strategy, education, and policy development. Over the past three years Ha/f has trained over 2,000 architects and developed policy and guidance with the City of Toronto and Federal Government of Canada. Kelly is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, a Senior Fellow of Architecture 2030, and a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Committee on Regenerative Environments.

Stephanie Phillips, Senior Manager of the Deconstruction and Circular Economy Program for the City of San Antonio and co-founder of Circular San Antonio

Stephanie Phillips is an urban planner and policymaker specializing in heritage conservation and the circular economy. As Senior Manager of the Deconstruction and Circular Economy Program for the City of San Antonio, housed in the Office of Historic Preservation, she oversees the city’s deconstruction ordinance, expands workforce development through a deconstruction contractor training program, and leads efforts to recover and reuse building materials via the city’s Material Innovation Center. This model connects post-consumer building materials with community organizations focused on affordable housing, public infrastructure, art, and education.

Beyond San Antonio, Stephanie actively contributes to nonprofits and coalitions advancing embodied carbon reduction and circular economy efforts, including Build Reuse and the international Climate Heritage Network. She is also the co-founder of Circular San Antonio, a local circularity nonprofit, and is a 2023 J.M. Kaplan Innovation Prize awardee. She holds a MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Texas at Austin and a BS in Interior Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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