BuildingEnergy Pro Tour
Pro Tour: Two Living Building Challenge Centers
With construction on these two buildings recently completed, the August 2016 ProTour was a chance for participants to see the finished products, after occupation and with systems up and running. The tour included a walk-through of both sites, as well an overview of the LBC certification process, and a Q & A with members of the team that made these projects a reality. Because there are currently only eight certified LBC projects in the world, this tour provided a rare opportunity to hear from people working to the meet the LBC criteria.
Pro Tour: 2 Geeks, 2 Houses on Martha's Vineyard
On April 1, NESEA kicked off the 2016 Pro Tour Series with an event on Martha's Vineyard. After braving the rain to arrive in Vineyard Haven, attendees spent the afternoon touring two recently completed high-performance houses. The first house was a completely new structure, purpose-built to incorporate high performing energy systems and materials. The second house was a deep energy retrofit, where an existing house was reworked to become a net zero home. Attendees heard about the different approaches to these projects, which required different strategies to achieve the same energy goals.
Pro Tour: Affordable Passive Multifamily in Maine
This Pro Tour will featured one of the largest Passive housing projects in the United States, that also manages to meet the aggressive affordable housing cost cap set forward by the Maine State Housing Authority.
Pro Tour of a Passive House School and Net Zero Home in Falmouth, ME
On December 4th, NESEA hosted a BuildingEnergy Pro Tour in Falmouth, ME of a modular, net zero home and the nation's third Passive House-certified school!
Pro Tour of the First Certified Passive House in Wayland, MA
Over 70 people joined NESEA on this Pro Tour of the first Passive House in Wayland!
The tour of this 2,500 square foot home was led by hosts Mike Dutra and Nicholas Falkoff from Auburndale Builders, Michael Hindle, CPHC, and Donald Grose, the project designer. The tour concluded with a reception, and a presentation entitled "Going Foam-Free in Passive Construction."
CEUs: 2.5 AIA LU/HSW, 2.5 GBCI, and certificates of participation were available
Member registration: $25 | Non-member registration: $35
Second Pro Tour of the First Certified Passive House in Wayland, MA
Due to the overwhelming enthusiasm for the August Pro Tour of this site, NESEA was thrilled to be able to offer a second Pro Tour of the first Passive House in Wayland! The tour of this 2,500 square foot home was led by hosts Mike Dutra and Nicholas Falkoff from Auburndale Builders, Michael Hindle, CPHC, and Donald Grose, the project designer.
Pro Tour of Menck Windows' Manufacturing Facility
Join NESEA on a Pro Tour hosted by NESEA member Menck Windows of their recently completed 75,000 square foot advanced production and process technology facility featuring state-of-the-art CNC equipment.
Pro Tour of Manhattan Passive House Retrofit
On October 2nd, NESEA hosted a Pro Tour of a Passive House retrofit in Manhattan! The project team was striving for Passive House EnerPHit certification, LEED Platinum certification, and committed to healthy “Red List” compliant materials. The tour was be led by Janus Welton, CSBA, LEED AP BD+C EcoArchitecture DesignWorks, PC and other project team members and concluded with a reception and presentation.
Pro Tour of Cold Climate Homes with Ductless and Ducted Minisplits
NESEA hosted a Pro Tour of two sustainable homes in Lancaster, NH! The tours of these two homes, one a Net Zero Home, the other a Deep Energy Retrofit, were led by Ben Southworth, who designed both projects, as well as builder Tom Southworth, project manager Matt Hammon, and home owners Imre Szauter and Fletcher Manley.
Pro Tour of Two Living Building Challenge Projects
On 9/18/15, NESEA held on a Pro Tour of two projects under construction on the Hampshire College campus in Amherst, MA, designed to meet the rigorous standards of the Living Building Challenge (LBC). There are currently only eight certified LBC projects in the world.
Pro Tour of Two Renewable Energy-Powered Houses in NJ
This Pro Tour visited two sites located in Augusta and Lafayette, NJ, both of them residential homes. Each of these houses uses combinations of both passive and active renewable energy systems, including wind power, and most notably solar power.
Berkshire County Jail Pro Tour
During this Pro Tour of the Berkshire County Jail, a group of architects, engineers, and municipal planners, among others, toured the site of one of the deepest reductions of energy use by a state facility in Massachusetts.The project is projected to result in a 52% reduction in energy use through operational improvements, electrical and mechanical systems optimization and onsite renewable production. The tour of this 148,000 square foot facility was led by Bart Bales, PE, MSME of Bales Energy Associates, the energy engineer for the project, and concluded with a reception, presentation and Q&A session.
First Rhode Island Passive House Pro Tour
Over 50 builders, students, architects, engineers, contractors and real estate professionals joined NESEA on a Pro Tour of the first Passive House in Rhode Island on Friday, April 17. The tour was hosted by builder Steve DeMetrick, and led by Steve DeMetrick, the architect Steve Baczek, the Passive House rater John Rodenhizer and the Passive House consultant Dan Roy. The event concluded with a reception and workshop led by homeowners and commercial real estate appraisers Brad and Jordan Hevenor on the topic of appraising high performance buildings.
2015 Zero Net Energy Building Award Winner Pro Tour
Thirty-five people gathered on a sunny spring afternoon for a Pro Tour of the home that won the 2015 Zero Net Energy Building Award, located in Greenfield, MA. The tour was led by builder and homeowner Spartan Giordano and lead carpenter Adam Heintz, and concluded with a reception, presentation and Q&A session.
Placetailor Pro Tour
Join NESEA for a Boston-area Pro Tour hosted by Placetailor. This Pro Tour will showcase two different projects, including the Hawthorne Youth Community Center and the Lamartine Lofts, located on the cusp of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, MA. Placetailor tour guides will talk about high performance structures, community engagement and education, and the realities of working in tight urban spaces.
Martha's Vineyard Pro Tour
On a warm (ish) day in April, NESEA organized a Pro Tour of two sites designed and built by South Mountain Company and Island Housing Trust, located on Martha's Vineyard MA. The tour showcased healthy, durable, comfortable homes that offer valuable lessons for building high-performance and affordable structures in the 21st century. The tour will concluded with an educational workshop with Matt Coffey, John Abrams and Marc Rosenbaum of South Mountain Company, and Philippe Jordi of Island Housing Trust.
Noble Home Pro Tour
Over thirty people braved a chilly yet sunny afternoon to attend the Noble Home Pro Tour. We visited two sites constructed by Noble Home - maker of high-quality, custom-built passive solar kit homes - in Colrain and Shelburne, MA. In Colrain we toured a demonstration kit home that promotes sustainability through an affordable, super-insulated shell, and in Shelburne we visited a passive solar expansion of a family home designed for hands-on homeowners.
Bensonwood Pro Tour
On a crisp, sunny day in December, NESEA took a Pro Tour of two sites, one in Putney, VT and one in Walpole, NH. In Putney we got a tour of a home that feature accelerated site construction of a high performance shell, and in Walpole we toured the Bensonwood shop and discussed the virtual carpentry and fabrication process.
Yestermorrow Pro Tour in Vermont
NESEA and Yestermorrow Design/Build School partnered up to host an intensive (and intensely awesome) 2.5 day learning experience and high performance buildings tour in Vermont. Led by Andy Shapiro of Energy Balance, Inc, participants were able to interact with some of the region’s leading high performance building practitioners, delving deeply into the details of outstanding projects, asked questions and got feedback on pressing building questions.
Deep Energy Retrofit in Springfield, MA
In 2010, a dilapidated 100-year old brick warehouse sat at the corner Warwick St. in Springfield, MA. After a deep energy retrofit, the building is now home to EcoBuilding 
Bargains, New England’s largest used and surplus building materials store, and uses 75% less energy.
MacLeish Field Station Pro Tour
Supported by a grant from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Smith College completed the construction of a 2300-square-foot environmental classroom at the Ada & Archibald MacLeish Field Station in 2012. At the time of the Pro Tour, CEEDS anticipated that the building would be certified as a “Living Building” in late 2013 or early 2014, a process which was realized in early 2014, making it the fifth Living Building Challenge certified building in the world.
Deep Energy Retrofit Tour in Northampton, MA
During this Pro Tour, members looked at two Deep Energy Retrofit projects in Northampton, MA. Members were also able to meet with other sustainability professionals, ask questions about DER, and network. The afternoon capped off with a workshop event where the building teams were able to share their successes and mistakes, address specific questions, and show pictures of the project under construction.
North Shore Pro Tour
Thirty-five building professionals enjoyed the warmth and beauty of Massachusetts' North Shore while touring these two homes - one designed to be net zero and the other designed to comply with stringent coastal siting requirements - and concluded with an informative workshop at the Joppa Education Center.
Rhode Island Net Zero Pro Tour
On Friday, November 7, 2014 NESEA hosted a BuildingEnergy Pro Tour in Rhode Island. 46 professionals joined NESEA on tours of two homes in Jamestown and Tiverton, one a single family home designed to achieve zero energy status with a 12kW solar array that powers the geothermal heating system and the plug loads for the house, and another in Tiverton built on spec and designed to be net zero yet priced competitively with non net zero homes built on spec in the area.