BuildingEnergy Boston 2021 Conference Sessions
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Light + Justice We begin with this simple premise: everyone deserves quality light (and dark).
We continue with this reality: whether your home, workplace and neighborhood are well lighted depends on your social, economic, and... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Cities, Communities, Place Mechanical Systems and Lighting Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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Achieving Performance Goals: Modular New vs. Retrofit Existing Two very different projects – Oak Bluffs Town Hall and The Graphic Lofts – share a common goal to create a passive-house-inspired high-performance building. One building utilizes conventional construction techniques, the other building... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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Net Zero Single Family Remodel: Whys & Woes This session details the design and construction challenges inherent in a net zero energy remodel and addition to a modest single family residence in Arlington, Massachusetts, completed in winter 2021. The project team sought practical... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science Mechanical Systems and Lighting Materials and Embodied Carbon Energy Production & Storage & EVs Codes |
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Comparing the Operating Performance of High Performing Public Buildings to their Design High performing buildings consume considerably less energy and water than conventional buildings. Through energy modeling and water use projections, design teams have been able to calculate the amount expected to be saved during the... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Mechanical Systems and Lighting Standards in Action* Codes Policy Business Practice |
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Understanding Boston's Proposed Performance Standard Boston’s proposed building emissions performance standard would set carbon emissions targets for existing large buildings that decrease over time. The targets align with the City’s 2030 goal of a 50% reduction in emissions from 2005 and... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Cities, Communities, Place Standards in Action* Policy |
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Public Health & the Built Environment: Putting Research into Action What factors contribute to optimizing human health both indoors and outdoors within the built environment? Creating equitable and healthy communities is a product of multi-level interventions in policy, places, and people. This panel... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Cities, Communities, Place Design and Construction Process Materials and Embodied Carbon Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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Best Practices: Comparing Two Adjacent Multifamily Passive Houses Beach Green Dunes I and Beach Green Dunes II are two of the largest multifamily Passive Houses in the country. They are adjacent to each other in the Rockaways in NY (in the flood zone) and were completed two years apart. Although they... Full Description |
Resiliency Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science Mechanical Systems and Lighting Health, Comfort and IAQ Standards in Action* |
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Why Do Startups Innovate Better than Design Firms & What Can We Learn from Them? Consider the qualities of startup culture: Continuous improvement, learning from our work. Valuing staff, treating them as our prime asset. Agile development with fast iterations and innovations. Reliance on specifications that are... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Business Practice |
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Electrifying Hard-to-Heat Buildings While there are established and feasible means to electrify space heating for many low heat load buildings like residential buildings, offices, and retail stores, all-electric solutions for high heat load buildings such as laboratories... Full Description |
Building Envelope, Building Science Mechanical Systems and Lighting |
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Why Go Deep? Retrofit Lessons from Low-Income Multifamily Projects Many cities in New England and beyond have carbon neutrality goals and are actively addressing new construction to hit the goals. What about all the existing buildings? How will those be addressed to reduce energy and carbon? What... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Design and Construction Process Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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Tracking the Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Your Energy Efficiency Measures: New Tools & Lessons Learned for Designers & Contractors This session will share insights from three research projects focused on greenhouse gas impacts of efficiency-related measures. How does the choice of insulation materials in new construction affect the building’s carbon footprint? What... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Mechanical Systems and Lighting Materials and Embodied Carbon |
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Virtual Power Plants: The Future of Distributed Energy Storage The virtual power plant - aggregated, behind-the-meter solar, energy storage, and building loads dispatched in concert to meet grid needs - is a new model that has been pioneered in New England and is now being adopted by forward-... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Resiliency Energy Production & Storage & EVs Policy Project Financing |
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Light + Justice in Practice Join the presenters of BuildingEnergy Boston 2021’s keynote, Light + Justice, for a roundtable discussion. During this live session, the presenters will answer audience questions and provide practical examples of how to apply the... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Cities, Communities, Place Mechanical Systems and Lighting Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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Mass Timber Construction in the Northeast The climate benefits of using timber are becoming better understood by owners committed to sustainability goals, but the procurement and implementation process still present challenges. Hear from practitioners from three newly... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Materials and Embodied Carbon Health, Comfort and IAQ Project Financing |
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The Next Frontier: Material Transparency Across Disciplines Transparency is the foundation for making informed decisions about the products we specify. The AEC industry is familiar with sustainability goals related to energy efficiency, but holistic discussions related to material goals across... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Mechanical Systems and Lighting Materials and Embodied Carbon Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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Project Management from Afar Project management from a remote location is common to some and unfamiliar to others. For those previously unfamiliar, Covid-19 has accelerated the industry’s transformation towards remote management becoming the norm. For those with... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Business Practice |
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Lessons Learned from MassCEC's Triple Decker Challenge Improving the efficiency of existing buildings and eliminating fossil fuel usage are vital steps to meeting states' goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout New England. Focusing on finding scalable and replicable models for... Full Description |
Resiliency Building Envelope, Building Science Mechanical Systems and Lighting Materials and Embodied Carbon Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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Schools of Thought At Bristol County Agricultural High School, the campus is the classroom. The site is an arboretum; buildings are structured with timber, encouraging conversations of carbon and land use. Composting toilets manage human waste using no... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Materials and Embodied Carbon |
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Whose Role Is It Anyway? Understanding the Requirement of Diversity in the New Green Frontier We recognize the need to diversify the sustainability industry, but how do we change the mostly white mostly male status quo? How do we create pathways to include underrepresented populations at the table? This session features women of... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Cities, Communities, Place Business Practice |
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Multifamily Humidity Control Problems: Muggy Mayhem Multifamily buildings with good insulation, great windows, and decent ventilation systems – what's not to like? Unfortunately, over the past five years, we have received calls from multifamily building owners who are battling persistent... Full Description |
Building Envelope, Building Science Mechanical Systems and Lighting Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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Case Study of a Low-Energy Multifamily Development: A Practical Discussion of Challenges & Success at The Flow Chelsea in NYC This session features an in-depth review of an award-winning multi-family low energy (Passive House) building in New York City. We will review the technical aspects of the building, from the components to the layout and finishes with... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Project Financing Business Practice |
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HFC Refrigerants in Heat Pumps: Regulatory Update & Emissions Analysis SPONSORED BY DXS NEW ENGLAND The need to electrify our built environment by integrating Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) and Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems is clear. Most ASHPs and VRF systems in the US use R-410A, a well-... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Mechanical Systems and Lighting Materials and Embodied Carbon Policy |
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The Glue That Binds PrePHab: How Designers & Builders SIMMplify Passive House The typical picture of prefabrication – a panel being positioned by crane – belies the tremendous amount of required planning and interdisciplinary coordination. Single Integrated Manufacturing Modeling (SIMM) and off-site... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science Materials and Embodied Carbon Health, Comfort and IAQ Standards in Action* |
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Piloting, Scaling & Committing to Healthier Materials When it comes to toxic chemicals, there is an urgent need for market transformation. Occupants, tradespeople, and fence line communities are being contaminated by the chemical manufacturing industry, which raises concerns about... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Design and Construction Process Materials and Embodied Carbon Health, Comfort and IAQ Policy |
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Integrating Sustainability into Practice The year 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a decade until major carbon emission goals, and the first year of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. There is no better time to take stock of your firm's sustainable design... Full Description |
Business Practice |
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Low-Carbon Concrete & Steel Structures The carbon emissions associated with the production of concrete and steel are significant contributors to the climate crisis, but these materials will remain over the next decade when much of the greatest reductions in greenhouse gas... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Materials and Embodied Carbon |
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Decarbonization of Domestic Water Heating in Multifamily Buildings Domestic hot water doesn’t get the attention it deserves, so this session will be talking about nothing but it! Decarbonizing DHW in multifamily settings is full of challenges, especially in a heating-dominated cold climate. We will be... Full Description |
Mechanical Systems and Lighting |
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Modular vs. Stick-built: A Side-by-Side Comparison with Habitat for Humanity Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity, Simple City Studio, and VEIC present PV Habitat’s award-winning experiment in affordable net-zero housing. Using data from a recent build, PV Habitat compares build time, cost, and energy efficiency... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science |
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Leaving the Mesozoic Behind: From Fossil Fuels to the Future via Carbon-Neutral Buildings New York State’s carbon-neutral policies and on-the-ground programs are the leading edge in the Northeast and provide a model for all communities. Come be informed and inspired by NYSERDA’s upcoming Carbon Neutral Buildings Roadmap. As... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science Codes Policy |
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Today's Acceptable Ventilation is Unacceptable Current ventilation standards are based on odor instead of health. One cannot smell healthy air. Ventilation standards disfavor air quality in smaller residences and multi-family dwellings while excessively ventilating larger homes.... Full Description |
Materials and Embodied Carbon Health, Comfort and IAQ Standards in Action* |
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Historic Buildings & Climate Change Mitigation: Case Study of a Low-Carbon Renovation Retrofitting vacant and underutilized historic buildings to PHIUS standards leverages an existing building’s embodied carbon, which combined with low carbon and carbon storing materials, can transform our historic buildings into carbon... Full Description |
Cities, Communities, Place Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science Mechanical Systems and Lighting Materials and Embodied Carbon Standards in Action* |
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Leveraging Diversity to Meet the Climate Challenge We cannot achieve the Green Building targets for reducing carbon emissions with the current workforce. We need to rapidly increase the number of individuals in green building fields - designers, green building professionals, engineers,... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Business Practice |
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Proving Your Worth: Energy Loan Performance Monitoring, Verification & Marketing Would you like to attract or deploy more funding for building energy improvements? Do gatekeepers scoff at your requests and ask for “more data”? What if your data could clearly show the value unlocked by energy upgrades? Take an in-... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Project Financing Business Practice |
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Sheridan Small Homes: Affordable Passive Houses for In-Fill Development Sheridan Small Homes is a project that originated in the classroom at the Rhode Island School of Design. The two passive house prototype student designs were created as a solution to increase affordable housing and make use of 200... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science Standards in Action* Project Financing |
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Single Family Retrofit to Passive House EnerPHit Standards When an experienced builder does a whole-house upgrade of their own home, you know it’s going to be done right. When that builder is Jesper Kruse, owner of Maine Passive House, you know remarkable energy efficiency will be the outcome.... Full Description |
Design and Construction Process Building Envelope, Building Science Materials and Embodied Carbon Health, Comfort and IAQ |
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The Proof is in the Project: Cost & Performance of Built Passive Multifamily With many states incentivizing housing built to the Passive standard, everyone wants to know: are Passive-certified multifamily buildings really achieving better energy performance? The answer is yes. With many built multi-family... Full Description |
Standards in Action* Policy |
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Electrification + Affordable Housing: What You Need to Know To achieve our 2050 climate goals we must go all-electric. But how do we get there? For new construction, all-electric solutions are increasingly viable. However, all-electric solutions for existing buildings are considerably more... Full Description |
Climate Justice, Social Justice Policy Project Financing |
