This Lightning Round will pack as much information into one session as possible, with succinct, practical presentations on a variety of topics including B-corp; Iterative Daylighting Analysis Tools; Aerial Thermal Imaging, 3D Modelling and Orthographic mapping; EcoFAST.

Learn about cold climate heat pumps from an expert in HVAC and Building Science. This session will focus on the real world performance of Air Source Heat Pumps monitored from past projects, including the presenter’s own house. We’ll discuss a range of heat pump applications, installation practices that affect efficiency, and some key issues and resources to consider when specifying and sizing heat pumps. After attending this session, practitioners who use this technology will know how to use it better. If you have questions about Heat Pumps, bring them with you! There will be time for Questions and Answers.

The status quo of traditional project delivery requires continual review and improvement. Although the value of the Integrative Design Process (IDP) has been established, it is not widely used or fully embraced. Even its most ardent supporters make mistakes in timely team engagement and short-circuited design process, often lacking a clear path to project completion. Despite these challenges, Integrative Pre-Design empowers early collaborative and iterative techniques critical to creating ultra-high performance buildings. This session will focus on the value of Integrative Pre-Design as a vital component in the IDP process. Following ANSI guidance principles, we will reinforce the basic concepts and principles of IDP and highlight how IDP provides a means to effectively explore and implement sustainable design principles on a project.

Architects, designers, builders and facility managers are often in the dark about environmental and especially climate change impacts as they look at exterior material choices for new construction, cyclical recladding, and overcladding. Cost and appearance are important parameters that usually drive the final choice. Cladding materials used in construction are critical to carbon reduction goals and loom larger as operational energy use diminishes. This session will provide tools, rules of thumb, and sources of information and will look at methodologies available to sort through climate impacts of cladding choices in North American residential and commercial markets.

Affordable housing offers a huge opportunity to refinance and rehab to the Passive House standard. The project team from Chris Benedict, R.A. and RiseBoro Community Partnership will show construction details from their ground-breaking tenant-in-place rehab project designed for Passive House. CBRA will discuss the construction challenges (and successes!) to date, and RiseBoro will outline the financing and development approaches that should motivate all stakeholders to pursue this path.

Williams College has established the goal of 35% campus wide carbon reduction of 1990 carbon emissions by 2020. In this session we will present the development of a methodology (i.e., Green Gauges) for design and construction teams to communicate strategies with the owner early in the process, and to provide consistent information regarding operational energy and the resulting carbon savings. What is the cost per metric ton of avoided carbon over the operation life of that strategy? We’ll find out.

Incorporating quantitative tools throughout each stage of the design process empowers architects to evaluate and understand the complex environmental implications of their design decisions and to make deliberate, informed choices. We will discuss the rapidly expanding arsenal of tools available to designers, including energy modeling, thermal modeling, LCA, and solar analyses. The presentation will focus primarily on how to deploy thermal and energy modeling early in the design process for both preservation and new construction projects.

This session will focus on applying Passivhaus/Passive House standards to large buildings: recent research on the impacts of tall buildings, from architectural enclosure detailing, mechanical systems, zoning, code, marketability, and constructability; and optimal management of internal loads.

What do People and Planet decisions cost, what are they worth, and how do they affect our employees, our neighborhoods, our planet? Declan Keefe, Strategic Director of Placetailor, an architecture, construction and development company, will share some of Placetailor’s live company budgeting spreadsheets, development proformas and sample projects.This session offers an analysis of the business models of Architecture, Construction, and Development. We examine the similarities and differences of how each type of business functions, how design-build, architect as developer, builder as developer, and designer-builder developer models might impact the bottom line of a business or project. Once we understand the levers available to us that affect the "Profit" bottom line, we’ll consider how to invest in the “People” and “Planet” bottom lines.

Do you want to hear how to drive energy efficiency in renovation projects and new buildings beyond expectations? Welcome. Our exceptional panel members have learned from many educational projects including high energy intensive science facilities.