Betsy Ames
Username
Betsy Ames
Proposer First Name
Betsy
Proposer Email
betsy@nehers.org
Proposer Last Name
Ames
Proposer Company/Organization
Northeast Home Energy Rating System Alliance (NEHERS)
Proposer Phone
(978) 633-3013
Proposer Job Title
Executive Director
Boston 2023 Areas of Focus
Proposer Additional Info
I sit on the RESNET Standard Development Committee 1500 for the new RESNET Standard on Embodied Carbon, which NEHERS has been advocating for since we saw the 2019 NESEA keynote with Chris Magwood, Jacob Racusin, and Ace McArleton on Carbon Drawdown Now.
Proposed Session Description
Combined, RESNET standards: 1) operations (HERS Index), 2) the grid (CO2 Index) and 3) embodied carbon provide capacity to analyze Carbon Usage Intensity. We’ll explore time-of-use, load reduction and carbon sequestration in buildings at both the single-family and multi-family (500 units) scale to show cumulative impact. And discuss policy benefits of energy labeling and decarbonization for advancing energy equity, so that vulnerable populations can make informed housing opportunity decisions.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
This presentation will provide information about the importance of and the challenges that exist in achieving and the steps that individuals and organizations can take to promote energy equity. Depending on each audience member’s role in the industry, we will identify the steps that can be taken to support the development and use of these standards, either as a consumer, a policymaker, an industry professional, a manufacturer, or a utility professional.
Attendees will understand the Whole Life Cycle Alanysis (WLCA ) impacts on both residential construction and grid usage using the HERS platform, including how time-of-use analytics are a key driver for energy equity and grid parity. This combination when adopted at local and state levels will create opportunities for resiliency, equity, and Zero Carbon Communities.
Learning Objectives
Understand how the RESENT Carbon “Trifecta” allows calculation and analysis of blended metrics like Carbon Use Intensity.
Understand how such a blended metric facilitates a Whole Lifecycle Analysis at the residential scale and how close are we to being able to do this.
Understand the critical role that RESNET HERS Raters can play in building resiliency, especially in EJ neighborhoods, through the evolution of dynamic grid electrification, load management / reduction, and carbon sequestration in buildings.
Understand the cumulative impact of simple materials substitutions at the scale of a residential development of 500 units.
Has this session been presented before?
Yes
When and Where?
NESSBE November 17, 2023
Additional Comments
We are basing this presentation on a slide deck we are working on for the NESSBE conference, but the presentation will evolve as we continue our embodied carbon work between now and next spring. New insights, perspectives and data will be included, so it will not be the same presentation. And the emphasis will be on embodied carbon and less on theCO2 index for this presentation.
Target Audiences Level of Expertise
Level 2 - Some prior knowledge helpful.
Session Format
Presentation followed by facilitated discussion or breakout groups
Recommended Length
90-minute session
Strongest Content Connection - Boston 2023
Comments about your speaker roster
This is a dynamic team of experts in the field of embodied carbon who are actively engaged in evolving the work and the new standard in real time.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about your session proposal?
It would be a great honor for us to present at NESEA with Jacob, after having been inspired by his 2019 NESEA keynote to pursue a RESNET standard on embodied carbon, which is now in development.
Reviewer 1
Howard, Meg
Reviewer 2
Guerrieri, Alex
Proposal #
178
Committee Decision
Being Considered
Presenters
Full Description
While the content is technical in nature, the presenters will draw a direct relationship to equity in the context of who has access to low carbon housing, and how carbon reduction strategies in both operational and embodied phases can be scaled to the housing industry at large through the standards and programs being developed through RESNET. While the early adoption of low carbon strategies have been pioneered in large part by well-funded custom single family construction, the approaches being discussed in this presentation are designed to bring much broader access to the industry at large and in so doing, increase resliliency. Further, we will explore equity from a climate justice lens to understand of which communities are most directly impacted by the climate crisis that the residential housing sector is currently contributing to and provide the context and motivation for why building resiliency through these initiatives is so critical.