Overcoming resistance and gaining buy-in are challenges faced by everyone. The education of design professionals rarely includes the critical skills of communication and negotiation. We can and should learn these valuable skills that make us more successful and less frustrated: skills that support all aspects of our life, sustainability in particular.

This session will compare energy-modeled results to actual utility consumption data from a set of multifamily buildings, discuss results of recent energy audits, and examine major design elements: envelope, HVAC, renewables.

In 2006, a group of industry leaders collaborated on an ideal for the future of homebuilding in the Northeast, focusing on affordability, sustainability, replicability, and beauty. Their project, the BrightBuilt Barn, won the LEED Innovative Project Award in 2008 and has been net-positive ever since.

New this year, Lightning Rounds pack as much information into one session as possible. You’ll hear succinct, to-the-point, and practical presentations on a variety of data-focused topics, including: Extracting Value from Data: How energy management can help save millions of dollars a year by bringing down energy bill costs significantly while improving productivity.

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) has radically reworked its Net Zero Energy Building certification to be significantly more straightforward and user friendly, at the same time as improving energy performance data and case study information.

Systems Thinking invites us to observe and propose the "boundary conditions" that will ultimately define every project's design goals. By extending that conversation to include our responsibility to be stewards of the project's "Place" we invite our clients into a fundamentally different evaluation of what matters to them, us, our community, our environment, and most essentially, the place that we will be making together.

Most firms claim to practice integrative design, but that’s not reliably the case! With LEED’s new “IP” credit and increased demand for NZ buildings, it’s time to get real. Transforming the design process is not simply adding a kick-off charrette – it’s a systemic transformation that even can help overcome the typical dysfunctional dynamics between architects and engineers. In this roll-up-your-sleeves session, participants will dig in, deconstruct what they do on a “typical” project, and “ReDesign” the future to achieve a desired performance outcome. Participants leave with actionable items to put into practice immediately.

We know how to design and construct net-zero and living buildings that are healthy, responsible, beautiful, durable and financially prudent. So why aren’t clients demanding this? How can we clearly demonstrate that this is in their best interest?

The AIA 2030 Commitment has impacted not only how we design, but also how firms practice. It has changed the way firms work by integrating performance information into the design process. This session is relevant to both those interested in learning more about the Commitment as well as current signatories, and will cover new tools and developments, such as the online performance tracking tool, the Design Data Exchange.

An inspirational educational session illustrating the methodologies nature uses to optimize. Through storytelling, discussions with the audience, and use of prezi as background, we will learn about biomimicry, biophilia and bio-utilization and learn to employ the clues in those realms to processes supporting project planning, business management and workflow.