Each 90-minute track session receives 1.5 continuing education units from the following professional organizations: AIA, BPI, GBCI, InterNACHI, NAHB, and NARI. To receive your credits, you must sign in at the beginning of each session
Track co-chairs: Mark Price, Sustainable Energy Analytics; Marie McMahon-Meehan, National Grid
Construction Matters: Enclosure Design and Commissioning Through Construction
Session 1: Wednesday, March 6, 11:00am-12:30pm
Note: This session had to be moved after the Invitation to Attend was printed. This was formerly Session 4 of this track.
Session Chair: Christine Cronin, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Session Speakers: Chris Benedict, Chris Benedict R.A.; Fiona Aldous
Description: How does a tough New York architect collaborate and contend with a tough New York contractor to implement the design of her beautifully detailed Passive House apartment buildings? How does building enclosure commissioning help achieve quality during the design and construction process? Join accomplished designers Chris Benedict and Fiona Aldous as they present on the challenges of achieving quality, high performance and energy efficient designs.
Advanced Water Issues: What the Pros Can Teach You
Session 2: Wednesday, March 6, 2:00pm-3:30pm
Session Chair: F.L. Andrew Padian, The Community Preservation Corporation
Session Speakers: John Tooley, Advanced Energy; Gunnar I. Baldwin, LEED AP, TOTO, USA Inc
Description: Water usage and management is not just a building decision, but as we saw in recent widespread droughts, it’s a statewide and regional issue. The water that we use and often do not reuse in our homes is small in comparison to some of the other water we don’t consider in our daily consumption, such as washing cars and watering lawns. Lifestyle choices can negate all the savings you get from your 1.1 gallon shower head. Learn both ends of the water use and conservation balance with these two professionals who live and breathe water.
Measured Retrofit Results: 10 Simple Things That Work, 10 Simple Things That Don’t
Session 3: Wednesday, March 6, 4:00pm-5:30pm
Session Chair: Ian Finlayson, MA Department of Energy Resources
Session Speaker: Michael Blasnik, M. Blasnik and Associates
Description: Measured results from common energy efficiency retrofits and energy savings actions are hard to find. This session will summarize the results of many large scale impact evaluations based on billing data as well as smaller scale research projects that demonstrate the real world savings from a range of efficiency measures. Many commonly recommended measures and actions have a poor track record of savings while others work as expected. Potential explanations for the results will be discussed, while claims of rebound effect will be exposed as mostly scapegoating.
How Much is Too Much?
Session 4: Thursday, March 7, 8:30am-10:00am
Note: This session had to be moved after the Invitation to Attend was printed. This was formerly Session 1 of this track.
Session Chair: Mark Price, Sustainable Energy Analytics
Session Speakers: John Straube, Building Science Corporation; University of Waterloo
Description: Used to be that the answer to “How do I increase building energy performance?” was to add insulation and do more air-sealing, just about every time. Now with growing code minimums, lower renewable energy costs, and an acceptance of super insulation, a more careful analysis may be justified. Building component insulation, airtightness, window performance, renewable energy costs, occupant life style and mechanical system efficiencies all need to be considered. When is “more insulation” too much? What are the best mechanical and renewable systems? How should occupants be factored in? This session will revisit some popular assumptions about how to design the optimal energy efficient home.
Should Building Codes Regulate Humidity and Moisture in Buildings? What’s Important, What’s Not… and How To Decide.
Session 5: Thursday, March 7, 10:30am-12:00pm
Session Chair: Tom Riley, MA Department of Public Safety
Session Speakers: Lew Harriman, Mason-Grant Consulting; Bill Rose, University of Illinois
Description: The cost of moisture-related problems in buildings has exceeded billions of dollars in the last ten years. According to credible research, dampness-related health effects has cost the public tens of millions of dollars in financial terms, not to mention the emotional cost of financial pressures and building disruption. On the other hand, was any of this necessary? What do we really know about the effects of moisture in buildings? How can we be sure they are as bad as we think? …And if they really cause such expensive and disruptive problems, shouldn’t we prevent them through building codes? What code requirements would prevent the observed problems? This presentation will explore the issues and suggest ways to proceed with respect to managing humidity and moisture in buildings. Read Conference Chair Paul Eldrenkamp’s thoughts on this session.
Heat Recovery Devices: Evaluation Criteria for Equipment Efficiency and Heating in a Passive House
Session 6: Thursday, March 7, 2:00pm-3:30pm
Session Chair: Andy Shapiro, Energy Balance, Inc
Session Speakers: Eberhard Paul
Description: For Passive House practitioners and others involved in high-performance buildings, evaluating the actual efficiency of heat- and energy-recovery ventilators has been a source of ongoing confusion and bewilderment, especially when trying to compare North American and European units. Eberhard Paul, one of Europe’s top authorities on Heat Recovery Ventilators, will delve in to their key elements in order to understand the parameters of efficiency and effectiveness. Understanding what makes an HRV or ERV efficient, as well as the requirements for Passive House (PHI) certification, will help to understand how and why the amount of energy recovered translates in to energy saved. Eberhard will also relate efficiency and design to the impacts of comfort and health in energy efficient homes.
Closing Forum: What will be the hot topics at BE25?
Session 7: Thursday March 7, 4:00pm-5:30pm
Session Chair: Paul Eldrenkamp
Session Speakers: TBA
Description: The final session of the day will wrap up everything we learned at BE13 by forcing us to think out loud about where all our new-gained knowledge is taking us. The format: six NESEA thought leaders will work within the pecha kucha framework to offer their predictions regarding what we’ll be grappling with in the sessions and workshops at BuildingEnergy in March, 2025. This will followed by a period of quick-paced audience discussion. The 90 minutes will then wrap with a compelling preview of NESEA, 12 years hence. This closing session will offer an engaged response to the too-rarely asked question: “Just where are we going with all of this?“
