Massachusetts is at the forefront of transportation technology with a pilot project that put the nation’s first electric school buses on the road at the end of 2016. We’ll hear from the pilot implementers working with public schools in Amherst, Cambridge, and Concord MA about the pilot goals and technology. From the Massachusetts Dept. of Energy Resources, we’ll learn about operations and data on fuel efficiency, consumption, and costs. Together we’ll consider the future impact and challenges of electric bus fleets. This session takes place on an electric school bus: walk through the hotel lobby, past the front desk, and down the escalator. The bus will be parked at the corner of Fargo Street and D Street. Seating is limited.

With the effects of climate change at our shores, and the federal administration’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement, the time for local action is now. In order to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change, GHG emissions must be addressed rapidly and comprehensively. This session will focus on holistic approaches to planning for net zero and tools to help cities and towns set and achieve ambitious climate goals. The audience will learn about tools and resources to help them accelerate their communities toward net zero, best practices from a local practitioner about how to get there, and insights into how to engage the private cleantech sector in supporting that work.

The city is an important scale for holistic innovation that can play a major role in global decarbonization. Practitioners can learn to optimize this scale to integrate building-level, streetscape-level, and community-level clean energy ingenuity. Audience members will interact with: a community psychologist who has used a whole systems approach to shape our culture and places for decades; a regional practitioner who helps to usher in smart-city innovation; and a state agency that is working to foster community public-private microgrids. Each participant will leave with 3 action steps to implement a city-scale measure in their ecosystem.

Parking creates numerous environmental impacts, including excess energy consumption, urban heat island effect, stormwater runoff, traffic congestion, and pollution. This presentation will illustrate how well-designed and efficient parking structures can dramatically improve a property's carbon footprint by minimizing natural resource use and incorporating green design. Best-in-class parking sustainability standards, including the USGBC's Parksmart Certification, benefit neighborhoods and communities, while maximizing the bottom line. Topics covered will include low-carbon strategies, electric mobility, stormwater management, and green infrastructure.

Months after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, much is unsure about the future of electricity there. We'll offer two perspectives on efforts to deploy renewables in the post-2017-hurricane-season landscape. Will photovoltaics make a large impact in grid-rebuilding? There has been a lot of talk and a lot of on-the-ground hard work. Clearly, islands and regions are following vastly different pathways toward resilience and sustainability. Caribbean islands and nations already on pathways to PV may now be accelerating their efforts. Much work still lies ahead. All in the BuildingEnergy community need to be enlightened as to these efforts and emboldened to participate in ongoing deployment.

This session will provide a unique opportunity for sea-level rise to be discussed at three various scales by experts approaching this timely issue in different ways. Shaun O’Rourke, Chief Resiliency Officer for the State of Rhode Island will discuss his on-going efforts at the state level by focusing on sea-level rise, urban heat and flooding. Barnaby Evans, founding-artist of internationally acclaimed WaterFire, will share his work at the city level by touting sea-level rise mitigation as an economic development tool. Stephanie Zurek, of Union Studio Architects will highlight on-going work at the neighborhood level by sharing the impact of sea-level rise on historic Newport, RI from previously published “Keeping History Above Water.”

Acadia Center’s EnergyVision 2030 analysis explores how the Northeast can reduce carbon emissions to meet 2030 targets that put it on the path to meet 80% by 2050 mandates, which exist in most states. The analysis sets numerical targets in four categories—energy efficiency, electrifying buildings and transportation, greening electric supply, and modernizing the grid.

The floods and hurricanes of 2017 and the winter weather of 2018 all highlight the need for buildings and communities that can withstand natural (and human-made) disasters and continue to provide critical energy needs. The speakers will discuss (1) resiliency in general, (2) how building design professionals can incorporate resiliency into their projects, and (3) examples of communities that are starting to incorporate resiliency into critical infrastructure (microgrids).

As an increasing number of states legalize cannabis for not only medical but also recreational use, the energy consumption of indoor cannabis cultivation can no longer be ignored. Its relatively tentative legal state and its somewhat taboo status have stifled efforts to reduce the impacts of cannabis cultivation.