New Construction

This session offers an opportunity for attendees to gain important insights into real-world performance of VRF systems and drivers that impact performance. Presenters will share results from two newly completed DOE-funded research studies focused on measured performance of VRF systems in cold climates. Come learn about the key findings, including VRF efficiency, refrigerant leakage, and the impacts of oversizing. Presenters will also discuss measurement methods and what the future of onboard measurement might look like.

Join us for a session delving into the realities of using IRA incentives for multifamily decarbonization projects. A presentation of case studies will outline the most used IRA programs, ways to stack incentives, and methods for monetizing tax credits. Some programs have proven challenging to leverage, warranting an explanation of common roadblocks and potential solutions. The past two years have shown that accessing IRA programs requires expertise and resources that certain market actors lack.

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.

NYSERDA's Early Design Support Buildings of Excellence partners will showcase three affordable Passive House multi-family projects, each featuring a variety of electrification and decarbonization strategies. Magnusson Architecture and Planning, Curtis+Ginsberg Architects, and Paul Castrucci Architects will present their ongoing research on electrification strategies, integrating renewable energy, the value add of ERVs, embodied carbon strategies, and calculations to meet zero carbon such as ILFI's Zero Carbon framework.

Together, Climate United and Power Forward were awarded nearly $9 billion through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund. This session will dive into two of the awarded coalitions to explore how use of these federal dollars can transform capital markets and create meaningful change in the multifamily sector.

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.

After the euphoria of opening a new or renovated building, many institutions struggle to manage the increasing complexity and resource demands for building operations and maintenance. The City University of New York (CUNY) developed an innovative Change Management Playbook that addresses these challenges. Implementing a “Boots and Suits” approach to secure buy-in from the facility staff to Senior Leadership, this programmatic solution created a pathway to achieve decarbonization goals.

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.

Embodied carbon accounting has made significant strides, yet challenges persist. Understanding the underlying assumptions behind EC calculations for each building element is crucial to accurate life cycle analyses, particularly on projects aiming for net-zero carbon and using newer technologies.