Commercial

It takes water to make energy and it takes energy to make water. In some buildings, the cost of water is significantly greater than the cost of HVAC+DHW energy, yet we don’t address it. Simple water retrofits can greatly increase the cash flow in a building. There are also many things that we use on a day to day basis that use immense amounts of water, and controlling this use reduces local and regional water consumption.

In this session, we will discuss the capital plan and design of central plant upgrades at a 443,000 sqft multifamily building with over 500 apartments. The design includes chiller electrification, mechanical design to operate the chillers in heat pump mode for heating, water source heat pumps (WSHPs) that utilize condenser water from the chillers during the summer months, and a building management system (BMS) that integrates a sequence of operation (SOO) to engage gas-fired equipment only during peak periods.

Building retrofits need to scale now, but face many constraints that create pressure on project teams, making it difficult to design optimal retrofit solutions. In response, Phius has developed REVIVE 2024, a new standard for passive building retrofits with a supporting software tool. The standard is guided by thermal resilience as a leveling metric, and a whole building life cycle cost analysis (including the cost of embodied and operational carbon) to help choose an optimal retrofit package. The result is a cost-effective retrofit with minimal embodied carbon.

National model codes serve as an essential tool for policymakers to drive progress on climate goals. In this panel, representatives from the International Code Council (ICC), NYSERDA, and the New Buildings Institute (NBI) will discuss the codes and standards development process, and how it connects to policy and practice at the local and building scale.

There is considerable debate about the relative benefits of electrification with heat pumps and envelope improvements. It has been suggested that Deep Energy Retrofits (DERs) are impractical & not cost effective. However, when an accurate Social Cost of Carbon is considered, DERs begin to look much more financially feasible. We apply a systems thinking lens to explore how carbon emissions are valued. We will present two multifamily DER examples to show the operational and embodied carbon reduction potential.

New York City's clean energy goals require deep energy retrofits and innovative technologies for compliance. Wastewater energy transfer (WET) systems, which extract thermal energy from wastewater for reuse in building systems, are one technology that is scalable for many building systems. Our discussion will utilize a real project in New York City to discuss building candidates, the benefits and challenges of design and implementation, and the difficulties encountered in planning and installing a real system.

Commercial tenant spaces are a critical component to compliance with Local Law 97. Join an insightful discussion between building owners, tenants, and legal representatives about driving decarbonization in leased office spaces by changing business-as-usual to prioritize energy savings and emissions reductions at key stages of the leasing cycle. These new practices endeavor to create more sustainable, efficient, and healthy workplaces that meet local and state regulations. The principles and strategies shared from these office examples can apply to other tenant types in mixed-use buildings.

In the Northeast, we have the benefit and burden of a large stock of uninsulated masonry buildings of various typologies and conditions. Leaving these buildings as they are is untenable with the global effort to reduce carbon emissions, and will not address climate shifts, the fabric of community, or the health of occupants. We will explore insulating from the interior, exterior, or both.

This session will deconstruct how collaboration is a key component in helping communities decarbonize. The Crescent Farms Community Solar Project, built atop two Staten Island churches, is backed by workforce development labor and strategic financing structures. The project is exemplary in integrating financing, design, and deep stakeholder engagement to increase accessibility of clean energy, especially in disadvantaged communities.