Northeast Sustainable Energy Association

Join NESEA for a Pro Tour of the world’s first 'Core Living Building' Certified project! On May 17, attendees of this Allentown, PA, event will have the opportunity to meet members of the project team as they lead the tour of this newly-constructed 21,000 sf building on the Muhlenberg College Campus. This project, which was also designed and built for PHIUS certification and is LEED Platinum certified, offers extensive learning opportunities. Our event will start with a presentation from the design team, detailing the project’s history, design and building strategies, the considerations and process of meeting PHIUS, LEED, and Core Living Building Certification requirements, and the project’s connection to the campus’s broader sustainability goals. After the opening presentation, attendees will break into small groups to tour the building with members of the interdisciplinary project team, who will each speak about their work on the building. The event will conclude with a Q&A and reception. Architect and sustainability consultant Re:Vision Architecture designed the project using Passive House principles of continuous/optimized insulation, reduced thermal bridging, high performing windows and doors, and high performing HVAC systems. The building was also planned and designed around two critical sustainability principles: “long-life loose-fit” (so it can be adapted over time) and biophilic design, including bird-safe window glazing, a half hectare of carbon-sequestering meadow restoration, and rainwater harvesting. We hope you will join us! Date: May 17, 2024 Time: 1pm-5pm Location: Allentown, PA Read more and register: https://nesea.org/05-17-24

NESEA Community Meet-Up for Inclusion & Equity Several NESEA Board of Directors will be hosting an in-person meet-up for underrepresented people to help inform NESEA's next steps related to our Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) work. Come join us as we continue to build a sense of community and help to lay the foundation for our refreshed roadmap of initiatives that will aim to help guide NESEA and influence our industry for years to come! Refreshments provided. This event takes place in the Financial District in Manhattan; the exact address will be in the registration confirmation email. For more information about attending, please email NESEA Board Member Andrea Mancino at inclusion@nesea.org. Event Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024 Time: 4pm-5:30pm Location: Financial District, Manhattan, NY Cost: free Register and learn more here: https://lnkd.in/ev8MSU3a

BuildingEnergy NYC 2024 Session Proposals Are Due Monday! BuildingEnergy NYC will take place on October 24, 2024, with the theme of Beyond Compliance: Risks and Rewards. Session proposals are due next Monday, April 29, and will be reviewed by an experienced committee of NESEA Members. Speaking at BuildingEnergy NYC is a great opportunity to share your perspective and expertise with the NESEA community. We hope you will consider submitting a proposal! more info: https://lnkd.in/eQbaGj23

Join NESEA on 5/3 for a spring Pro Tour of an under-construction single family home on Peaks Island, just a short ferry ride from Portland, ME. Our event hosts from Juniper Design + Build will be joined by additional members of the team to walk attendees through the site and history of the project, including the deconstruction and materials salvage of the previous structure. We’ll tour the house learning first-hand about the design decisions, including insulation, air sealing, and energy modeling, which were made through the lens of carbon consciousness. The house’s all-electric mechanical systems will include ERV, ducted heat pumps, electric baseboard backup, and heat pump hot water. The team will also address some of the specific challenges of building on the island in the shoreland zone. The day will conclude with a reception with light refreshments and a Q&A, before attendees take the ferry back to Portland. We hope you will join us: https://nesea.org/05-03-24

Join NESEA on 5/3 for this spring Pro Tour of an under-construction single family home on Peaks Island, just a short ferry ride from Portland, ME. Our day will start with an opening presentation from our event hosts, Juniper Design + Build, who will walk attendees through the history of the site and project, including the deconstruction and materials salvage of the previous structure. We’ll learn about the design decisions behind the new house, including insulation, air sealing, and energy modeling, which were made through the lens of carbon consciousness. The house’s all-electric mechanical systems will include ERV, ducted heat pumps, electric baseboard backup, and heat pump hot water. The team will also address some of the specific challenges of building on the island in the shoreland zone. We’ll then visit the project site to hear from additional members of the team. The day will conclude with a reception with light refreshments and a Q&A, before attendees take the ferry back to Portland. We hope you will join us! Register and learn more: https://nesea.org/05-03-24 Event Date: Friday, May 3, 2024 Time: 11:30am-4:30pm Location: Peaks Island, ME CEU Information: AIA (pending) Cost: $25 Members/$35 Non-Members

Honored to be one of the co-chairs for the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s 2024 BuildingEnergy Boston Conference with Mark Schow, P.E. Am humbled by the positive response of the NESEA community to the pressing issue of climate resiliency in our built environment. Thanks to the keynote speakers and session presenters, as well as to the content committee and NESEA staff for making this year’s conference such a success! Looking forward to next year!

Our call for session proposals at BuildingEnergy NYC 2024 is open! The urgency of climate change demands bold action, innovation, and transformative leadership. In recent years, New York and the Northeast have led the country through groundbreaking changes to building codes, energy codes, and financial incentives to support climate adaptation across all sectors. Today, we have an opportunity to push our industry to achieve and even exceed these ambitious mandates. The 2024 BuildingEnergy NYC conference will be a chance to explore both the risks and rewards of moving Beyond Compliance. At this year’s conference, we challenge you to share your experiences, successes, and setbacks with projects and programs that exceed the bare minimum and innovate on existing practices. We need to be thinking beyond compliance both in terms of scope (What else?) and time (What next?). This holistic approach encompasses the intersections of health, efficiency, resilience, and financial benefits, and prioritizes the needs of people while addressing the climate crisis. More: https://lnkd.in/eQbaGj23

I know I should have posted this immediately after the Boston Energy Conference, irrespective, this was such an important topic that I think timing did not make a difference. Sari Kayyali Lydia Lowe Elena González and myself spoke about Energy as a Human Right and how to Improve resiliency and decarbonization for Low Income Communities. Some important highlights were: Build a Plan, Engage Stakeholders - This is for the people, getting tehir opinion and their buy in was really important. There are challenges, but we are going to work through it. Thanks Northeast Sustainable Energy Association and Ben Sachs-Hamilton for organizing such a great conference and highlighting the importance of resiliency and decarbonization. Thanks to Consigli Construction Co., Inc. For supporting this purpose and ensuring that we can find ways to decarbinize low income communites.

NESEA's new BuildingEnergy Access program serves companies led by people historically underrepresented in the architecture, engineering, construction, and clean energy industries. This cohort-based program gives business leaders the opportunity to connect with the resources of NESEA's programs and community. We recently had the opportunity to talk with Megan Rajner, owner of Emerald House Studio, to learn more about her background, company, and the beginning of the Access experience. Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/e53fEv9K

We're still buzzing from BuildingEnergy Boston 2024! It was so great to see our community back together, sharing ideas and connecting. We have put together a gallery of photos from the conference here: https://lnkd.in/ejisTgpE