One of the biggest market barriers to net-zero energy retrofits is the incremental upfront cost. Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing overcomes this barrier, and it’s expanding with new innovations. Those innovations include resilience renovations, consumer protections, and the use of PACE to unlock Net-Zero Energy retrofits and new construction. Resilience renovations are on the rise following hurricanes, floods and power outages. Also, PACE for new construction can make Net-Zero Energy homes beat standard costs for home ownership. Come find out how to grow the market for efficiency and solar in your region from leading industry experts.

The products you specify--and how you structure your specs--have enduring impact on your building's occupants, the community where the product is made, and the workers who install it. We’ll share lessons learned about screening and choosing products employing the most rigorous material vetting standards in green building certifications. Where do you focus and where should you not? This session will coach designers in approaches and procedures to make any project healthier through careful materials selection. And while it's not designed to get you through the LBC Materials Petal, it will undoubtedly help.

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.

During the 2016-17 heating season, we tested the indoor air quality in the bedrooms of 22 Vermont homes spanning a wide range of size, age, airtightness, heating system type, and occupancy. Most exceeded twice the 1000ppm threshold for carbon dioxide (CO2) often targeted by energy and ventilation standards. An investigation of cause and effect led to a clear culprit. You will also learn about the latest research on the impacts of CO2 and other pollutants in our homes, see real-world data on the ability of centralized and distributed ventilation systems to tackle these problems, and hear about best practices for design and commissioning of ventilation in new and existing homes.

Rhode Island’s first PHIUS certified passive house was built for $160/sq. ft. In this session, builder Steve DeMetrick of DeMetrick Housewrights will walk through the entire construction process, from excavation to finish for this 1800-square-foot home. Steve will get down to real details, like how to airseal electrical boxes in zip sheathing and what to do with all those mini split lines. Steve’s approach blows away all the mystery (and $$$) out of high-performance construction. Grab a cup of coffee and come learn about what’s happening in Rhode Island.

A building or home cannot begin to be deemed healthy if its building blocks – both the material used for exterior construction and the elements used to build and decorate the interior – aren’t healthy to begin with. Identifying healthy products is made easier with a wealth of new tools and certification programs that are being implemented, but that variety also creates confusion over what each program brings to the table and how that meets the needs of the user. This session will review the different product certifications in use, identify their main priorities, and show how to search for them online.

In the real estate market, decisions about home purchase, construction, and upgrades suffer from lack of data and knowledge about energy efficiency or, worse, don’t consider energy efficiency at all. How do we change this? This session will point the way. Attendees will learn to be proactive – to prepare clients and lenders for the mortgage application and appraisal process and make energy efficiency count. We’ll share ways to be an advocate of sustainable building practices with local real estate professionals.

Two certified Passive House Consultants, an architect and a builder, will talk about the tremendous benefits of the Passive House building approach, and nostalgically lament what this means for our now limited friendships with the boiler maintenance guy! They will review the design and construction principles that are employed to achieve a super-insulated, air-tight envelope and the essential addition of continuous mechanical ventilation.

States across the Northeast expend significant time and effort in the pursuit of adopting the latest model energy codes from the IECC and ASHRAE. With the 2009 and 2012 model energy codes this resulted in significant improvements in the minimum building standards, but more recently national model codes have produced fewer savings at a time when the need for dramatic energy performance improvements has never been greater.

The current building codes let you build moisture-safe unvented roofs using spray foam or rigid board foam. But what about just using cellulose or fiberglass instead? Our team has been studying this issue over many climate zones for years. The current Building America/Department of Energy-sponsored research has a test hut here in Massachusetts, looking at a variety of assemblies, over the past two winters. Cellulose vs. fiberglass? Diffusion vents vs. no diffusion vents?