BuildingEnergy Boston 2025 Sessions

Thu, 03/20/2025 - 9:00 am - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 10:00 am
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
Keynote — Carbon (R)Evolution: Collective Impact and Decarbonization in the Building Industry Andrew Himes is Director of Collective Impact for the Carbon Leadership Forum. Over the past several years in the building industry, collective decarbonization efforts have accelerated dramatically.… Full Description	Andrew Himes

Thu, 03/20/2025 - 10:30 am - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 12:00 pm
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
The Materials Revolution It's time to build the movement! Bio-based or natural materials are the future, and we'll discuss the role they are playing in shaping the industry. The Bio-Based Materials Collective brings together… Full Description	James Kitchin Chris Magwood Ace McArleton Jonsara Ruth
Modular Multifamily Passive House: Design, Build, and Verify LaMora Senior Living in Westchester, NY is the first completely modular Phius certified multifamily building in the world. This session presents the challenges faced relative to enclosure design,… Full Description	Stuart Lachs Anthony Lisanti John Loercher
Slashing Upfront Embodied Carbon: How to Replicate Success Learn lessons from prize-winning submissions to MassCEC’s Embodied Carbon Challenge, as well as One Boston Wharf Road, a 17-story net zero operational carbon office building that reduced upfront… Full Description	James Carreira Beverly Craig Meredith Elbaum Caroline Murray
Building Momentum: Lessons from the Field of Decarbonization Retrofits in Boston Boston is becoming a hotbed of innovation for equitable approaches to retrofitting existing buildings with a focus on affordable housing. This panel will highlight the hard-earned lessons from… Full Description	Christina McPike Caitlin Robillard Kristen Simmons Brooks Winner Joel Wool
Anti-Racism In Action Join us for a facilitated conversation around the topic of structural racism in the construction industry, using a format that NESEA's Anti Racist Action Group (ARAG) follows in its meetings. Led by… Full Description	Asher Greenberg Kate Stephenson Andrew Webster

Thu, 03/20/2025 - 1:00 pm - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 2:00 pm
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
Beyond the Data: The Humanity of Radical, Regenerative Retrofits As practitioners, we are often so distracted by the data, payback, or whether a decision makes financial sense, that we lose sight of the real meaning of our work and why it is essential to meet zero… Full Description	Carri Beer Catherine Rosas
Beyond the Building: Climate Justice and the Solidarity Economy Explore how place-based strategies rooted in solidarity and economic justice can foster equity and build resilience beyond the buildings we build and companies we run. We'll talk about the the… Full Description	Declan Keefe
What's Old is New Again: Renewing Historic Enclosures for Modern Performance Improving the performance of existing building stock presents challenges, but can also provide surprising opportunities. This presentation looks at exterior retrofits in academic institutions in NY… Full Description	Justin Dufresne Thomas Haskell
Roadmap to Scaling: Best Practices from CO2 Heat Pump Water Heater System Pilots The complexities of effectively implementing and operating system-level innovations makes pilots prone to failure, impeding their scalability. To increase the likelihood of pilot success, we… Full Description	Charlie Simek Neil Donnelly
Carbon in the Landscape: A New Frontier in the Whole-Carbon Approach This session will explore how strategies from the 2023 MA Healthy Soils Action Plan (HSAP) can transform our approach to site development and expand the carbon counting boundary. We’ll look at… Full Description	Sebastian Gutwein Jim Newman

Thu, 03/20/2025 - 2:30 pm - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 3:30 pm
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
RESNET Standard 1550: Embodied Carbon Comes of Age Building Energy Boston 2019 launched awareness of embodied carbon as a key issue for the home building sector. The following five years marked major advances in understanding and measuring EC. The… Full Description	Chris Magwood
In the Last Analysis: An Electrified Town Garage for the 21st Century Details matter in this analysis of a challenging building type, a 9000sf Vermont town garage. First principles were applied to assess HVAC cases: two heat-pump types, two combustion fuels, with and… Full Description	Andy Shapiro
Aggressive Continuous Commissioning: A Decade of Energy and Carbon Reduction at Liberty Mutual Tower Over the past decade, the LEED Gold-certified Liberty Mutual Tower at 157 Berkeley Street has made significant strides in energy and carbon reduction through aggressive continuous commissioning and… Full Description	Andrew DelPrete Jess Farber Terri Laurence
Scaling Mass Timber Construction in Dense Urban Environments: Three Not-So-Little Projects Using mass timber construction instead of concrete and steel can greatly reduce the embodied carbon of new construction, but faces specific challenges in dense urban environments in addition to… Full Description	Floris Keverling Buisman Brent Buck Andrew Ruff
The Curb-Cut Effect: Practical Tools for Engaging Neurodiverse Project Teams Research estimates that at least 25% of people working in the AEC industry are neurodivergent, and yet most project teams are organized with the neurotypical brain in mind. Given that high-… Full Description	Miriam Aylward Mel Houser Kai Fast

Thu, 03/20/2025 - 4:00 pm - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 5:00 pm
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
Getting a Phius Project to the Phinish Line: What You Need to Know This panel will feature three construction professionals: architect, builder and rater/verifier, who have completed multiple certified Phius projects. Each professional will bring their unique… Full Description	Michael Browne Greg Downing Jeff Geisinger
Exterior Wall Insulation: Don’t Eat Your Sweater! Modern energy codes and requirements for high performance result in implementation of continuous exterior wall insulation. The speakers will explain the fundamental benefits of exterior insulation,… Full Description	Peter Baker Kohta Ueno
A Total Carbon Analysis Conversation: Balancing Operational and Embodied Carbon When it comes to the impact of buildings on the environment, considering both operational and embodied carbon is critical. Balancing these can be a complex task, sometimes with conflicting outcomes.… Full Description	Shari Rauls Mélanie Trottier
Blighted Site to Thriving Community: High-Performance Buildings for a Healthy Neighborhood An abandoned industrial site in Lawrence, MA is now home to 80 low-income families, living in Phius certified apartments near a riverway, public transportation, and shared recreational resources.… Full Description	Bill Boehm Spencer Buchholz Paul Eddowes Corey Heaslip Christopher Thompson
Keynote Follow-Up: Models of Collective Impact In the inherently competitive design and construction industries, collaboration can be challenging. However, there are powerful examples of collective impact-- where organizations and networks learn… Full Description	Andrew Himes Lori Ferriss Julie Janiski Michelle Lambert Nadav Malin

Fri, 03/21/2025 - 9:00 am - Fri, 03/21/2025 - 10:00 am
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
Keynote — From Silos to Synergy: Toward Inclusion and Thriving Communities The design profession has responded creatively and urgently to the climate impacts, but there is more needed to Build the Movement! Climate disturbances disproportionately impact marginalized and… Full Description	Laura Bailey Heather Ferrell

Fri, 03/21/2025 - 10:30 am - Fri, 03/21/2025 - 12:00 pm
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
Scale Up/Carbon Down: A Regenerative Approach to the Housing and Climate Crises This session will lay out in detail a comprehensive plan to simultaneously solve both the regional housing shortage and the building industry’s contribution to the climate crisis. Alan Gibson,… Full Description	Andrew Frederick Alan Gibson
Change Agents: This Is What Community Looks Like A panel discussion with leaders of advocacy communities who embody the UN-Bruntland definition of sustainability: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future… Full Description	Gina Cruz Taveras Meredith Elbaum Michael Gryniuk Rand Lemley Jim Newman
Regenerative Economics for Regenerative Times Regenerative practices are emerging in design, construction, systems ecology, and economics that may be equal to the multi-faceted existential challenge of our times. Yet despite their potential,… Full Description	Zbingniew Grabowski Michael Hindle Gus Dunn-Hindle
Working Smarter Not Harder: The Power of Teamwork in Multifamily PH Projects A recording of this session is available here: https://youtu.be/z84eBkyRNeo	Michelle Apigian Moses Cordeiro James Petersen Zoe Weinrobe Ashley Wisse
Building Material Reuse: The Time for Circularity Is Here! The building industry is assembling a circular economy, and we need you! Participants of all roles (architects, contractors, owners, fabricators, policymakers, etc.) are invited to learn what it… Full Description	Olivia Huang Michael Orbank II

Fri, 03/21/2025 - 1:00 pm - Fri, 03/21/2025 - 2:00 pm
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
Decarb Do No Harm: Applying the Hippocratic Oath to Existing Buildings Gone are the days of simple light fixture changes to save money and power. The low-hanging efficiency fruit has been harvested, and building owners, utilities and municipalities are in search of the… Full Description	Sara Kudra Rand Lemley Ilene Mason
Grid-Interactive Solutions for Sustainable Electrification As large-scale electrification and decarbonization accelerate, it's critical to mitigate the impacts of increased demand to the grid. This session will explore the role of grid-interactivity measures… Full Description	Joseph Bliss Charles Lovejoy Joey Redmond Ellen Richer Christopher Till
Just Do This! Proven Details and Strategies for Simple High Performance Homes Come learn from a Design/Build company that has been building market rate high performance and PHIUS certified homes in RI for over 10 years. Our experience has proven that high performance building… Full Description	Stephen DeMetrick
Historic Buildings, Modern Solutions: Decarbonization Strategies for Multifamily Landmarks This session explores the decarbonization strategies of two landmark build-ings. Harlem River Houses, a public housing preservation project with lowrise walk-ups, is decentralizing its heating system… Full Description	Ryan Esparza Dylan Martello Crystal Ng
Breaking the Design Bubble: Community Engagement and an Inclusive Process To Build the Movement we must break open the design bubble to allow room for growth, expansion, inclusion, and - fundamentally - to strengthen human connections.To do this, we must diversify the… Full Description	Laura Bailey Heather Ferrell

Fri, 03/21/2025 - 2:30 pm - Fri, 03/21/2025 - 3:30 pm
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
Refrigerants: Rethinking their Role in Electrification A recording of this session is available here: https://youtu.be/uUuGNMokg8Q	Neil Donnelly Maciej Konieczny JS Rancourt Tom Secondo
Moving the Needle on ADU Policy and Production ADUs can help us take advantage of existing infrastructure and developed land in order to build momentum in the production of resilient housing stock. Join us as we explore exciting developments in… Full Description	Greg Bossie Katie Faulkner Hilary Gove Chris Lee Parlin Meyer
Addressing Thermal Bridges that Arise During Construction Catching and solving thermal bridges in the building envelope that arise during construction can truly be the determining factor between whether the finished building meets the intended designed… Full Description	Laura Bashaw Nouha Javed Cynthia Staats
Open Source: Sharing Climate Knowledge for Speed, Scale and Inclusion This year’s conference challenges us to think about how to build the movement by reaching beyond our traditional networks and silos. We have no time to spare to implement some of the biggest paradigm… Full Description	Sara Kudra Curt Newton
Moving Beyond: Leveraging Moral Imagination to Accelerate Systems Change Expanding leadership skills and perspectives is vital to breaking through “business as usual” mindsets and enacting industry-wide change. Using an interactive moral imagination exercise, we guide… Full Description	Melissa O'Mara Kevin Stack

Fri, 03/21/2025 - 4:00 pm - Fri, 03/21/2025 - 5:00 pm
Session Title	Speakers	Areas of Focus
Low-Carbon Envelopes: Insights from Moisture Data in Biogenic Material Walls It is no longer sufficient to provide high-performance envelopes without considering their broader embodied impacts. Thankfully, data helps confirm the durability of enclosures using low-carbon and… Full Description	Diana Andrea Brito Picciotto Christopher Nielson
Three Routes to Work: Recruiting, Retaining and Upskilling Our Workforce Is there a one size fits all workforce development strategy for the built environment? NO! We will present three distinct approaches to workforce development that represent different needs and goals… Full Description	Chase Macpherson Brendan Ryan Andy Winslow
Creating Harmony: Overcoming Challenges in Passive House Multifamily Design The Passive House building is the song; the design team is the band. Cold Spring Apartments, a New York affordable housing project, exemplifies this symphony of collaboration. For many team members… Full Description	Nicole Schuster Andrew van Roo
Scaling Embodied Carbon Through Building Codes This presentation will provide an overview of strategies to introduce and enhance embodied carbon provisions in major model codes and standards. The presentation will look at code adoption at the… Full Description	Ariel Brenner Andy Buccino