David Chen, RA LEED AP

David Chen began his architectural career at Gensler's San Francisco office, where he worked in the commercial and mixed-use practice group. His early project work focused on building envelope coordination — developing roofing assemblies, specifying exterior cladding systems, and managing waterproofing details for structures ranging from $5M office renovations to $120M mixed-use towers. That hands-on envelope work gave him a level of technical precision about roofing, siding, and waterproofing that most architects acquire only after encountering costly field failures.

He holds California architect license #A-35207, issued by the California Architects Board (CAB), and the LEED Accredited Professional BD+C credential (#10294751), issued by the US Green Building Council. The LEED AP BD+C credential requires demonstrated proficiency in sustainable building design, energy performance, and materials selection across the full building and construction process — disciplines directly reflected in CalcSummit's energy efficiency and building envelope calculators.

At CalcSummit, David writes and verifies all calculators in the building envelope category: roofing area and material calculators, siding calculators, window rough-opening tools, gutter sizing calculators, vapor barrier calculators, and waterproofing square footage tools. His review process references IBC 2021 for commercial applications, IRC 2021 for residential, and NRCA (National Roofing Contractors Association) published standards for roofing assembly specifications. For energy-related calculators, he cross-references ASHRAE 90.1 performance requirements.

David co-authored two whitepapers for the Roof Consultants Institute (RCI) on roof assembly performance in high-humidity climates, published in the RCI Interface Journal. He has contributed four technical articles to Architect Magazine covering building envelope design and waterproofing system selection. He also writes for GreenBuildingAdvisor.com on LEED-compliant envelope specifications.

He is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and serves on the AIA's Committee on the Environment (COTE). His architectural practice perspective — understanding how envelope failures happen and why calculation errors contribute to them — shapes every building envelope calculator on CalcSummit.