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 building typologies, such as triple deckers, will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as increase tenant comfort and reduce energy bills. This session focuses on the best ideas and lessons learned from MassCEC’s Triple Decker Design Challenge. What variations were there in proposals for roofs, basements, exterior insulation, air infiltration reduction, electrifying mechanical systems, and sizing of solar systems?  When upfront cost and 30-year operating cost are factored in, what are the most promising actions that should be taken? We'll hear details from MERGE Architects, Inc., who submitted a prizewinning proposal to add a unit to the back of a triple decker, and finally, hear about the City of Boston's greenhouse gas emission goals, housing shortages, and how retrofits of triple deckers are critical to these goals.

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