After completing many Deep Energy Retrofit projects (DERs) in the late 2000s early 2010s here in Massachusetts, our residential design-build remodeling company's approach to energy retrofit work has shifted towards lighter envelope improvements and a greater focus on getting homes off of on site fossil fuel consumption. While the DER approach was successful in substantially reducing energy consumption, among other improvements, it often came at a high cost both in terms of our clients investment and the embodied carbon impact of the work itself. In this presentation we will make the case for our current, more moderate approach to energy retrofit work, how we got here, and why we don't expect to be super-insulating many existing homes going forward.

Track

Boston 2023 Areas of Focus

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Room / Location
Harbor 1-3
Learning Objectives
Identify the pros and cons of the traditional Deep Energy Retrofit approach
Consider both the current condition of the home and the goals of the homeowner when developing an energy retrofit package
Assess and evaluate both the upfront and ongoing cost and carbon emission impact of energy retrofit measures
Help homeowners optimize their efforts towards reducing the carbon emissions of their homes
CEU Information

Approved for 1 credit hour toward AIA (LU), BOC, BPI, GBCI (BD+C), and NARI certification. Credit is offered for each full conference day toward MA CSL, PHI, Phius, and RESNET certification.

Session ID
BOS23-902
Session Documents
keynote_902_why_we_stopped_doing_ders.pdf (6.21 MB)
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