Tuesday, March 5th 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Each full-day workshop is eligible for 7 credits 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 workshop.
Auditing Multifamily Buildings
Workshop Speakers: Heather Nolen, Steven Winter Associates; F.L. Andrew Padian, The Community Preservation Corporation
Description: Many people who have expertise in single family buildings run away from multifamily buildings, one of the most profitable, high occupancy, and shockingly, most energy inefficient buildings in the county, particularly the centrally heated ones in the Northeast. Learn from two experienced auditors how to look at larger buildings with an eye toward details that, when addressed, can generate massive energy savings. The morning will be spent discussing the science of multifamily building efficiency and in the afternoon we’ll head out to do an audit on a nearby building.
Biomimicry in Action: Applying Nature’s Lessons for Resilient Design
Workshop Speakers: Janus Welton, Eco-Arch Designworks; Dr. Anamarija Frankic, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Randall Anway, New Tapestry, LLC
Description: In this “hands-on, minds-on” workshop, participants will interface with practicing professionals who are actively working in the emerging field of biomimetic design. Providing just enough theory, we will explore cutting edge thinking about resilient design and what it means to look deeply into the natural world for lessons we can take back to the design studio. We don’t need to be rocket scientists to go outdoors and find clues we can use; however, it helps to have a sense of purpose and what we’re looking for, and to cultivate a passion for learning from nature’s genius.
Building an Air-Tight House*
Workshop Speakers: Mark Newey, Center for EcoTechnology; Paul Huijing, Paul Huijing, Inc.
Description: This workshop will focus on practical strategies for assuring building air-tightness. It will provide an overview of the basic building science that causes air leakage, identify typical air leakage paths, and describe best practices for preventing or sealing leakage points. This workshop will also cover how to manage the new construction process to assure that air leakage can be minimized at every stage because fixing air leaks when a building is finished is neither efficient nor cost-effective, and is sometimes not even feasible. Topics covered include: building code, checking air tightness, key building science concepts, ventilation and more.
*5.5 Massachusetts CSL credits (.5 Code / 5 Energy) Course code: CS-3507; certificate provided by Center for Eco-Technology
Building Passive House Homes – Details, Process, Lessons Learned
Workshop Speakers: Declan Keefe, Placetailor; Chris Corson, EcoCor Design Build; Matthew O’Malia, G O Logic, LLC; Alan Gibson, G O Logic, LLC
Description: Not long ago Passive House was an exotic, just-out-of-reach fantasy for us in the Northeast. But in the last couple of years, three New England home builders with dramatically different styles and approaches have embraced the mode of “all-Passive House, all the time.” And they’re doing it cost-effectively! How do they do it? Smoke and mirrors? Over the course of this full-day workshop you’ll have a chance to find out as you get the dirt-under-the-fingernails view of building homes to the Passive House standard in the Northeast: designs, details, materials, subcontractor push-back, costs, scheduling, and lessons learned about things these builders will never try again (which will be worth the registration price all by itself in money saved on your next project). An invaluable workshop for anyone interested in Passive House, whether you’re a builder, an architect, a supplier, an engineer, a prospective homeowner — or someone just generally trying to figure out how to light a fire under the building industry. These guys have the fire.
Building Science 101
Workshop Speakers: David Keefe, Vermont Energy Investment Corp.
Description: This overview of residential energy efficiency is appropriate for future auditors, would-be retrofitters, and anyone else who lives in a house. It starts with the basics of heat, air, and moisture flow. Various insulation and air sealing materials are discussed. We compare heating fuels, heating systems, and hot water systems. Common building performance problems and their solutions are outlined. There is a brief description of blower door testing and related diagnostics, along with suggestions for prioritizing recommendations. Condensation, indoor air quality, and combustion safety are briefly covered. No previous technical knowledge is needed.
Crash Course on Building Science for Military Veterans
Workshop Speakers: Henry Gifford, Chris Benedict, R.A.
Description: Energy efficiency, which navies call “Time on Station” and air forces call “Combat radius” is becoming increasingly important in civilian life. This session will help veterans start down the path to becoming energy professionals. Women and men in the service learn discipline, learn to perform technical tasks, and have to make decisions based on their observations in the field. Energy performance and renewable energy companies need people who can work independently on technical tasks, sometimes in unpleasant conditions and at odd hours, and who can learn to understand what’s going on in a building by observing often subtle signs. And there’s the issue of energy security – buildings use 40% of the energy in the country, and efficiency is the cheapest way to save energy. This session is first step toward helping veterans re-tool their technical skills to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Deep Energy Retrofits
Workshop Speakers: Linda Wigington, Affordable Comfort; Matt Berges, The Affordable Green Housing Center; Greg Pedrick, NYSERDA; Cador Pricejones, Byggmeister; Ken Neuhauser, Building Science Corporation; Kristen Simmons, Kristen Simmons Architects; Kerry Koskinen, RetroFuture Remodeling
Description: We could build all new construction to zero net energy standards and still have a major energy problem in the residential sector. We have no choice but to figure out how to make substantial reductions to the energy consumption of existing homes. That’s where deep energy retrofits come in: A DER is a comprehensive re-engineering of a home or building aimed at reducing its heating energy consumption by as much as 80% and its total energy consumption by 50% or more. DERs have been part of the high performance building movement for about 5 years now and we’re beginning to have a good handle on the sometimes harsh realities — not just the theory — of these projects. This workshop will feature Linda Wigington, mastermind behind the Thousand Home Challenge, and a small group of hand-picked field practitioners and DER consultants who have been thoughtfully and tenaciously making these projects happen in a variety of heating-dominated regions, from Massachusetts to New York to Ohio. Case studies will include low-income housing on a tight budget, market-rate retrofits, and a Passive House retrofit in Boston. Topics will include design strategies, construction details, mechanical systems, compromises made, hard lessons learned, and frank discussions of cost and payback. If you know nothing about DERs but are interested in learning more about the approach, this workshop will get you from 0 to 60 in the course of a day. If you have some experience with these projects and want to share experiences and lessons learned with fellow in-the-trenches practitioners, this workshop will be an unmatchable opportunity.
Net Zero Energy and Beyond
Workshop Speakers: R. Carter Scott, Transformations, Inc; Mike Duclos, DEAP Energy Group
Description: With a net zero energy home you solve your share of the 48% carbon emissions that come from the building sector–and you don’t have any utility bills to pay. We now have the technology go further and address another 33% of the carbon emissions from the transportation sector. Carter Scott will show cost-effective examples of both custom and production homes with Home Energy Rating System (HERS) indexes as low as -36. These homes are modeled to produce over 10,000 kilowatt hours more than they use in a year. This is enough energy to power a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt for 30,000 miles each and every year! Now you can also use your car to power a portion of your house when the grid goes down—with vehicle to home back up power. This workshop will take you through the components necessary to make buildings achieve net zero energy and beyond. It will go into detail about the cost-effective techniques that are available today and the incentives for both the shell as well as the renewable energy systems. Mike Duclos will present energy modeling, Passive House techniques to improve energy efficiency and passive survivability, monitoring, troubleshooting and more. This workshop is targeted to builders, developers, architects and others looking to regain a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace.
Skills for Building Resilient Communities
Workshop Speakers: Joel Gordes, Environmental Energy Solutions; Donald Watson, Donald Watson, Architect; Maureen Hart, Sustainable Measures; Alex Wilson, BuildingGreen
Description: Facilitated by four leading professionals, this workshop offers state-of-the-art design and planning strategies that directly link resilience with sustainability. Participants will acquire all the information and resources needed to understand the issues and broaden their professional practices. They will depart with a knowledge of how sustainability and resilience policies and practices can strengthen their businesses, their careers, and their communities.
The Master’s Guide to Designing Spray Foam Insulation Projects & Installing Them Right
Workshop Speaker: Henri Fennell, HC Fennell Consulting
Description: This master class workshop is a comprehensive study of spray foam project design, policies, procedures, installation, safety protocols and more. It begins with an overview of the foam industry, a review of foam plastic as a building enclosure technology and a discussion of the pros and cons of open and closed cell polyurethanes in specific building applications. Case studies provide illustrations of good and bad technique, common causes of problems in field-applied foam installations, and what to expect, look for, and test in a finished installation. (Download extended descriptions: PDF-1; PDF-2)
