Beyond Energy*

Climate Specific Passive Building Standards as a Baseline for Zero Energy Buildings

This workshop will review the new climate specific passive building standards developed by Building Science Corporation and PHIUS through a DOE grant as a possible new baseline for the Zero Energy Ready Home program. Out of all the measures that can take a building to zero energy performance, passive building measures were identified as having the best economic potential. The workshop will identify the sweet spot between supply (renewables) and demand (conservation) based on climate and economic conditions.

Beyond Technical Measures: Big Impact Program Design

Dr. Susan Mazur-Stommen will lead you through a wide range of behavior-based programs and discuss how to maximize effectiveness by “stacking” strategies, drawing on behavior-based research as the lead author of ACEEE’s Field Guide to Utility-Run Behavior Programs. We’ll look at grouping programs into categories for keener analysis, discuss ‘drivers’ or insights from the social and behavioral sciences (including feedback, incentives and social norms), and review challenges in assessment.

Opening Plenary With Keynote Address: Rethinking The Grid - How Our Changing Electrical System Will Impact The Ways We Produce, Distribute And Use Energy

Most of us take the electrical grid for granted. But it is perhaps the most complex technological achievement in human history. After more than a century of relative stability, the grid is changing fast. Our conference plenary will explore the technology and policy solutions evolving to enable a more reliable, resilient, environmentally responsible and affordable electricity grid.

Dematerialization Applied

As a follow-up to "Dematerializing Buildings" at BE14, this session will explore how the dematerialization and lightweighting of buildings is being put into practice. Many of the technologies discussed in the March 2014 session are now being put into actual application while more new technologies are entering the pipeline at a rapid rate. Driven by energy and environmental concerns, some projects are now quantifying the material savings and embodied carbon reduction resulting from lightweighting strategies.

Urban Food Production, Distribution and Energy Recovery

As architects, engineers, and municipal planners, how can we rethink the built environment to install more urban food production and distribution in the city? An urban permaculture will frame the session, discussing practices such as: green roofs, pink houses, vertical growing walls, a farm-in-a-box and vertical farms. We will mix short presentations with facilitated conversation about how we, as urban practitioners, can shape the built environment to include urban food.

Building Community Resilience in Cities

In the face of extreme weather conditions, the practice of Building Energy must undergo two transformations: (1) What we do differently to alter the built environment;(2)how we better connect people living in a neighborhood. We have learned in the past 2 years of delivering BE 13 and 14 in resilient cities is this: community resilience is as important as resilience of the built environment. For example, creating a network of neighborhood businesses to stay open in a disaster. Developing a public community connectivity rating or altruism index.

Building Science Puzzles

At BuildingGreen, I spend about one-fifth of my time doing building investigations, mostly residential. In this session, I will present the building assessment information for a series of investigations (one or two commercial/institutional buildings), we will work to identify the problem(s) and possible solution(s), and then I will present the actual solution (right, wrong, in between…). Come ready to quip, throw jabs and darts, but, please, no suits (law or three-piece…although there is overlap, of course).

H2-Uh-Oh: Moisture Risks and How to Manage Them

Do you understand moisture dynamics? Do you have a comprehensive plan to control moisture in your buildings? If you answered no to either question, then you run the risks of occupant discomfort, mold growth, excessive maintenance and/or premature building failure. This session will help you avoid these risks. A veteran building scientist and co-author of the EPA Moisture Control Guide will share key measures—from design through operations—for controlling water and moisture in buildings.

The Building Science of Multifamily Passive House

This session will explore the building science implications of achieving the Passive House metrics for larger buildings and will highlight the difference in design strategies compared to single family Passive House homes. Multifamily projects of all types, but especially affordable housing developers, appreciate the benefits of achieving Passive House, such as increased durability, low operating and maintenance costs, assured comfort, and superior indoor air quality.

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