About. Building Energy.

Why it Matters

At NESEA we recognize and respond to the crucial connections between the generation and use of energy and the whole systems that sustain planetary health. When it comes to the practice of sustainability, we believe that the work that you do, your capacity and ambition, should not be bound by your professional discipline. We want to introduce you to people and ideas that will extend your reach. Attending Building Energy will lead to new understanding and relationships. You join a community whose works compliment your own. Together we are establishing a regional capacity to practice sustainability and communicate that capacity to the marketplace, our civic communities, and those that govern.

What to Expect

Building Energy features three days of speakers, workshops, and special events. Content is organized in 8 Tracks with nearly 80 Sessions and includes 11 special Workshops. The first two days include a full Trade Show with hundreds of exhibitors.

Each session invites thought and practice leaders to both share with and be confronted by their audience. This give and take is both an expectation and a hallmark of the quality of this dialogue; advancing our common understanding through engagement and scrutiny.

Between sessions, the audience is invited to gather at networking “villages” on the exhibit hall floor. These areas are designed to provide visible public gathering spots with chairs, tables, and coffee available – each centrally located within a “town square” perimeter of exhibition booths. Meeting and interacting with colleagues, old and new, are consistently rated as primary conference virtues. It is a gathering of a community united by a common purpose and that feeling is tangible.

The Trade Show features the technical products and services on which sustainable practices depend. Our audience is knowledgeable and hands-on and eager to confront and explore the virtues of the materials on exhibition.

On the evening of the first day of the conference, an Exhibitor Reception is held on the floor. The reception is followed by NESEA Night, a celebration of the spirit and purpose of the community. This event has a long legacy and is celebrated with spirit. Levity is an important ingredient!

On the evening of the second day a public forum on Climate Change is being organized to take place in the Auditorium. The exhibit floor will be open to the public for an hour preceding this event.

The third day of the conference will feature a special business focus, with sessions and events dedicated to that theme. Smart Power and the Investors Circle are each expected to sponsor events. The third day will also be dedicated to half and full day workshops and tours.

Who You’ll Meet

Building Energy is attended by professionals who work directly with energy, energy policy and sustainable thinking.  This includes, but is not limited to architects, engineers, designers, product developers, builders, manufacturers, policy makers, planners, educators, utility executives, green marketers, and activists. Associated audiences include students, the media, home and building owners, and interested consumers. We hope that all choose to become members of NESEA. Most are.

We want you to meet and connect with others attending Building Energy. The event is organized to encourage participation and interaction. We hope that new aquaintances will lead to expanded business relationships and opportunities. You'll make new friends and renew bonds with old ones.

Green Networking
Just as a building designed with the planet in mind turns out to be a better place to live or work, a environmentally conscious conference is a better venue to network and strengthen community. However you travel, Green Networking helps you travel using the lease resources, while making connections with the other Design enthusiasts in your own neignborhood. Carpool, sit next to your neighbor on Amtrak, share a ride to the airport and fly together, share a room at the Seaport Hotel. We hope everyone will try our SpaceShare Green Networking system, and come to the conference with people from your own hometown. Your journey is part of Building Energy!

How It’s Organized

The Planning Committee is assembled at each preceding year's conference and meets in person and online to plan and execute the next conference. The Committee is supported by an experienced staff working at NESEA home and headquarters in Greenfield, MA.

We welcome anyone willing to meet the responsibilities associated with planning each year's event and benefit from diverse participation. Think about joining us in planning next year's event!

Where It All Started

As what was learned grew to encompass the Practice of Sustainability the scope of the conferences focus and the breadth of interests attending grew. Then, as now, the work that members engaged in and the ideas that are explored at the conference remain a critical response to the environmental threats and dangerous policies that continue to motivate us all to demonstrate a more responsible way of producing and using energy.

Over the following three decades these conferences have continued to be organized by NESEA members and held in a regional location in the Northeast. Building Energy 2005 continues this legacy and is being celebrated as NESEA's 30th Annual Conference in this long tradition.

The aspirations of this movement are on the scale of cathedrals. We, the members of NESEA, continue to work with that level of dedication and devotion to the goal of serving the future through the Practice of Sustainability.