We are pleased to provide you with selected sessions from the 2017 BuildingEnergy NYC Conference + Trade Show which took place on Thursday, October 12, 2017.

The Next Frontier: Tenant Engagement in Commercial Buildings

Speakers: Dan Egan, Gary Fescine, Patrick Love, Paul Rode

Achieving top-level energy performance in a multi-tenant commercial building has its challenges. Some of the best-performing commercial buildings have one important element in common: owners and tenants working together toward a unified goal of energy efficiency. However, owners and tenants face a range of barriers to meaningful coordination that delay or prevent uptake of energy efficiency and cost saving measures. As part of this session, panelists will highlight creative solutions that they have implemented to break down barriers between themselves and enable greater efficiency and sustainability improvements than either party could achieve on its own.
 

Building Products of the Future: Where are We Heading?

Speakers: John Amatruda, Sean Brennan, Kirsten Mariager, Shawn Torbert - LEED AP

New Yorkers are used to the noise of a construction crew in full swing. While those sounds remain the same, industry demands and requirements of today’s building products are changing rapidly, as the request for healthy buildings and building products that entail co-benefits is ever increasing. As requirements change, there is a clear need to improve the alignment between building product research and industry demand. To help close this gap, this session will present the findings of a recent Urban Green Council and NYSERDA study and offer a panel discussion on current trends within building products and, more specifically, the type of building products that will be required in the future.
 

Solving the Problem of Ventilation

Speakers: Reinaldo Gutiérrez, Manalee Nabar, Aleksandr Yelizarov

We have to get fresh air into our buildings to maintain good indoor air quality and health of the residents. Recovering energy from the exhausting indoor air to temper incoming outdoor air makes per fect sense for optimizing energy usage. While that’s a straightforward strategy, its implementation requires quite a few critical considerations – ERV or HRV, Central or in-unit, Code and incentive program compliance, placement of the units, effect on heating & cooling loads, air sealing, filtration, insulation, and so on. This session will discuss these aspects from a multifamily design, maintenance and constructability standpoint and share some interesting ventilation problems (with solutions!) encountered on field.
 

Beyond Resiliency for NYC Public Housing

Speakers: Matt Fitzgerald, Mark Ginsberg, Michele Moore, Deborah Morris, Laurie Schoeman

It is becoming increasingly clear that existing buildings and communities are unprepared to withstand extreme weather events and shifting conditions associated with climate change, leaving low-income communities especially vulnerable. Investing in at-risk communities before disaster strikes is one of the most cost-effective ways to protect residents and property while strengthening their ability to weather the severe storms ahead. This session will explore some of the leading initiatives that support resilient city communities and districts, along with the challenges facing affordable housing communities, and available tools to help building owners, architects, and design professionals pinpoint risks to existing buildings related to changing climate conditions.
 

In Deep Water: Examining the Water-Energy Nexus at the Building Level

Speakers: Nicole Ceci, Laurie Kerr, Peter Korzeniewski

To optimize building performance, it is vital to consider the water-energy nexus in a building. Because water itself has multiple purposes, there is a variety of potentially impactful strategies to consider, including hot water, heating and cooling. Based on data-driven case study findings, this session investigates the challenges, benefits, and alternative approaches available. In addition, we’ll explore the metrics by which benefits are evaluated as payback time, water/energy savings, environmental impact, and lifecycle costs should all be part of the equation.
 

Transforming Affordable Housing: Mid-Rise Passive House Retrofits with Residents in Place

Speakers: Chris Benedict, David Newman, Scott Short, Justin R. Milliet R. Taylor

RBSCC and the Chris Benedict R.A. team continue their groundbreaking partnership in an 12-building 264-unit renovation of existing affordable housing to the PHIUS standard. Residents will remain in place while their buildings are transformed. The project is scheduled to begin in late 2017. The cluster includes several different building types ranging from four to six stories and will propose multiple solutions to achieving the PHIUS standard. The project is designed to be a demonstration of energy efficiency solutions for existing housing stock. Scott Short, Justin R. Milliet R. Taylor and David Newman will present several design utilizing different strategies to achieve this high level of efficiency and comfort.
 

Community Solar Coming Soon to a Rooftop Near You

Speakers: Chris Benedict, Gina Bocra - LEED AP, Priscilla Richards

The Energy Code is an increasingly robust tool for improving energy efficiency in our buildings. This session will examine how far the existing code has come and identify the remaining barriers and limits. Speakers will compare and contrast the existing energy code model with performance codes and the upcoming NYStretch-Energy Code (2018) to examine the forces that will shape the future code.
 

Engineers: Increase Your Bottom Line by Bringing Financing to the Table

Speaker: Patrick O'Donnell

This one-hour session will focus on the energy engineer’s role in leveraging energy audits and financing to do more implementation work. Financing can be used as a resource to extend capital budgets, increase payback requirements, and provide off-balance sheet and paid-from-savings options. Audits are the cornerstone of any facility’s energy plan but are underutilized as a vehicle for implementation of efficiency and capital improvement projects. Financing is rarely ever discussed. The presentation will cover the value-proposition and process for engineering firms to incorporate financing as an implementation resource to maximize existing client relationships and get more work for their firm. The presentation will also highlight the importance of client engagement and talking to the right stakeholders when transitioning from audit to implementation services.