Multifamily

Air Tightness Requirements of the Passive House Standard

The Passive House (PH) building standard is the most stringent energy efficiency standard in the world. Several affordable housing authorities in the US currently or plan to include it as a sustainability option in funding applications. Achieving the stringent air tightness requirements of the PH standard requires careful coordination through all phases of design development and construction. The team from Steven Winter Associates will take you through the steps and tools necessary – including integrated design, air barrier documents, detailed site inspections, and review testing tools and protocols. They will share successes and failures from their wide experience, from three-story low-rise buildings to 33-story high-rise structures with 300+ units.

Heat Pump Water Heaters for Multifamily

Looking for the best ways to use heat pump water heaters efficiently, reliably, and without compromising comfort? So are we. In multifamily buildings around the Northeast, the speakers have investigated integrated, tank-type water heaters as well as larger, central heat pumps. Both have challenges, and speakers will present many examples of how NOT to use HPWHs in multifamily buildings. We are learning, however, and the technology is evolving. Systems using CO2 refrigerant are coming from overseas that appear to offer good performance even in cold weather. This session will include a review of the range of technologies currently available, discussions of applications and challenges, and our best take on best practices for heating water with heat pumps – now and in the future.

Utility Benchmarking 101: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Benefit You

Utility benchmarking can be a powerful tool in a property manager's toolbox, enabling them to monitor water and energy usage, make smart decisions about repair and maintenance, and positively impact the immediate and long-term value of their property. This introductory session will explore the topic of benchmarking, offering attendees insights into why it matters, and how it can benefit managers of properties of all sizes. A service provider, national program administrator, and property manager will present project examples and provide guidance about how to unlock the value of benchmarking. Specifically, the speakers will address multifamily benchmarking initiatives and requirements, benchmarking best practices and benchmarking success stories.

The Great Indoors: Green Building and Health Outcomes

As the green building movement matures, a stronger focus is evolving on short-term and long-term occupant health impacts. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health evaluated the health outcomes associated with living in new green housing, and the research revealed significant improvements in health among residents who moved from the existing housing into the green units. In this session, we will provide strong evidence that green interventions not only improve the environmental performance of housing, but also tackle major public health challenges in low-income communities.

Multi-Family, Tenant-in-Place, Passive Rehab: It's Possible!

Affordable housing offers a huge opportunity to refinance and rehab to the Passive House standard. The project team from Chris Benedict, R.A. and RiseBoro Community Partnership will show construction details from their ground-breaking tenant-in-place rehab project designed for Passive House. CBRA will discuss the construction challenges (and successes!) to date, and RiseBoro will outline the financing and development approaches that should motivate all stakeholders to pursue this path.

Building Inherent Value: Implementing the Passive House Building Standard

Two certified Passive House Consultants, an architect and a builder, will talk about the tremendous benefits of the Passive House building approach, and nostalgically lament what this means for our now limited friendships with the boiler maintenance guy! They will review the design and construction principles that are employed to achieve a super-insulated, air-tight envelope and the essential addition of continuous mechanical ventilation.

Comparing Three Certification Metrics That Drive Sustainability in Affordable Multifamily Housing

In building or retrofitting affordable multifamily housing, owners and developers committed to sustainability have several certification metrics to choose from, depending on their goals, budget, and practicalities. In this moderated panel, three experts will examine the benefits and challenges of the metrics they chose for their projects: Enterprise Green Communities, Passive House, and Zero Net Energy. Through case studies, our panelists will discuss the motivating factors behind each chosen metric, impacts on the design and construction process, and resulting performance.

Where We Went Right & Where We Went Left: Measured vs. Modeled Energy Performance

Since 2013 the Passive House Institute US has seen a significant increase in the design, construction, and certification of multifamily passive buildings. Many first multifamily passive buildings, from 6- to 57-unit developments, have been completed and occupied since then. Monitored performance data are now available. This presentation will report on a detailed comparison of modeled performance predicted by passive design tools and actual measured performance data of four case study projects while occupied and under operation. This session will answer these questions: How well do the currently used passive modeling tools, algorithms, and underlying modeling assumptions match the measured performance in the field? Were the anticipated energy and carbon-reduction goals met?

Should We Stop Trying to Update to the Latest Model Building Energy Code?

States across the Northeast expend significant time and effort in the pursuit of adopting the latest model energy codes from the IECC and ASHRAE. With the 2009 and 2012 model energy codes this resulted in significant improvements in the minimum building standards, but more recently national model codes have produced fewer savings at a time when the need for dramatic energy performance improvements has never been greater.

Unvented Roofs without Spray Foam: The Latest Building America Research

The current building codes let you build moisture-safe unvented roofs using spray foam or rigid board foam. But what about just using cellulose or fiberglass instead? Our team has been studying this issue over many climate zones for years. The current Building America/Department of Energy-sponsored research has a test hut here in Massachusetts, looking at a variety of assemblies, over the past two winters. Cellulose vs. fiberglass? Diffusion vents vs. no diffusion vents?

The New Gravity: Climate Change and the Imperative of High-Performance Housing

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) and the 17 multi-family Passive House projects they’ve funded are transforming the affordable housing industry toward a Net-Zero-Energy standard by 2030. This initiative has proved a catalyst for radical and significant market penetration of Passive House/Net-Zero-Capable housing, inspiring 12 more state housing finance agencies to similarly incentivize Passive House through their Low-Income Housing Tax Credit programs.

How Energy Efficiency Creates Opportunities & Financing in Multifamily Housing

More banks are beginning to incorporate green and high performance building into their mortgage underwriting process for multifamily properties. If leading lenders begin to encourage and provide incentives for owners to pursue energy and water efficiency and renewable energy at the time of rehab, refinance or acquisition, the results could be transformative for the industry. On this panel, three leading lenders - the Community Preservation Corporation, Fannie Mae, and Bank of America - will discuss their approaches to green underwriting and opportunities for building owners to access more financing and discounts by going green. The panel will discuss pathways to helping stakeholders integrate efficiency upgrades into major capital events, like refinancing, while recommending additional measures that can be done during tenant turnover.

Air (vital stuff): Strategies for Getting It Into (and out of) Multifamily Buildings

In an increasing market for multifamily, energy-efficient and high-performance building shells, efficient ventilation strategies become paramount in maintaining health and comfort without sacrificing high level project goals such as Passivhaus Certification. So what is the best approach to creating a well-ventilated multifamily building? As with most issues in design, it depends…. This session will discuss ventilation approaches to be considered from large central air handlers, to individual systems in each dwelling, to options in between.

Best Practices for All-Electric Homes & Apartments

With well-insulated envelopes and newer heat pumps that work in cold climates, some designers and developers are moving away from fossil fuels towards all-electric buildings. This can certainly save infrastructure costs, but what is the effect on operating costs? What about comfort and reliability? This workshop will present findings from research; case studies from the around the Northeast; and best practices for determining if, how, and when to forego fossil fuels.

Embodied Energy and Carbon: Calculating the Life Cycle Impacts of Buildings

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the impacts of buildings extend far beyond operational energy and carbon. As the thermal standards of buildings improve, attention will shift toward wider life cycle impacts including material production, transport, construction waste, on-site activities, material replacement, maintenance and finally the end of life of the building. These life cycle stages have a considerable impact, yet they are often neglected.

Energy, Water and Time Efficient Hot Water Systems

Once we build a high performance building, there are still major challenges with what to do with hot water distribution. Most practitioners are using outdated methods to control distribution piping, plumbing fixtures & appliances, and waste heat that runs down the drain. This workshop will present practical measures you can incorporate into your next project that result in high performance hot water systems and very satisfied customers.

Energy, Water and Time Efficient Hot Water Systems

Once we build a high performance building, there are still major challenges with what to do with hot water distribution. Most practitioners are using outdated methods to control distribution piping, plumbing fixtures & appliances, and waste heat that runs down the drain. This workshop will present practical measures you can incorporate into your next project that result in high performance hot water systems and very satisfied customers.

Neighborhood Development: One Project at a Time

This session offers a basic "how to" about high performance housing development and a critical look at the impact that high performance infill housing development can have on an entire neighborhood. Declan Keefe, Strategic Director of Placetailor, an architecture, construction and development company, will use their development projects in the Fort Hill neighborhood of Boston as a case study to explore how high performance speculative housing can be done and the impacts that it can have beyond just the building itself.
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