Home Performance Insights from Big Data at NEST
Connected devices like the Nest Learning Thermostat provide an unprecedented amount of data about home energy usage patterns. This data can be used to further our understanding of how homes really work, and to help us identify both opportunities for and barriers to improving home performance. This session will present insights gleaned from analyzing large-scale anonymized data collected by Nest thermostats, and discuss the significance of these insights for the home performance industry. Topics to be addressed include: variations in HVAC run times with weather, real-world sizing of heating and cooling equipment, indoor temperature and humidity variations by season, and heat pump performance characteristics.
How We Sleep at Night - Energy Metrics and Decision Making in Residential Design
PHI stands by 4.75kbtu/sq ft/yr for AHD. PHIUS has recently reworked its performance standard. Energy Star now has Version III. Living Building Challenge requires net zero. Green building standards require differing guidance on annual heat demand and peak load. Learn from long time practitioners with experience in climate zones 5, 6 and 7 as they discuss their sweet spots for appropriate metrics in peak load and AHD. Laugh while the moderator mocks, tugs and cajoles the experts while teasing out the answers to life’s persistent questions (according to energy geeks).
When You Come to a Fork, Take It. Residential Choices and Performance
Decisons, decisions. Residential design is always part education, part therapy, and part architecture. This panel will showcase the work of two designers and a builder who have climbed high on the residential decision-making tree. Architect Chris Briley will explore the challenges of two Passive House projects, in the same climate, with different clients, as he worked with each to come to different conclusions and different strategies for the same high performance target. Jesse Selman and Kent Hicks (architect and builder) will discuss the complex process of navigating the sometimes conflicting goals of high performance, thoughtful design, and the needs of a client with an existing building, a beautiful site, and multiple chemical sensitivities.
Widening the Circle in High Performance Residential Design
Every project is a learning experience. On some projects, we set out deliberately to learn new tricks. Mark Doughty, a luxury home builder near Boston, sought out Zero Energy Design to help him design his own home. With ZED's Jordan Goldman, he got first hand experience in high performance home design, and will discuss how what he learned may influence what he builds for others. Architect Hank Keating sought out Mike Duclos, of DEAP Energy Group, to help him through his first Passive House project. From concept, construction and certification, Mike and Hank worked together to develop passive house strategies for a working farm, and to walk the talk through the sometimes steep learning curve that is Passive design.
On Eggshells: Residential Retrofits in Tricky Situations
Seasoned practitioners tackle the difficulties of residential Deep Energy Retrofits. When an architect experienced with Net Zero and Deep Energy Retrofits (DERs) spends his own money on his house, things get tricky. Starting with a house that used 700 gallons of oil, Tom Hartman’s been working on it for fifteen years. Now it’s not quite super-insulated, pretty air tight, once haunted by flying squirrels, but now using almost no oil. With a young family whose financial priorities did not include a whole house renovation; this project is a case study of a DGR- damn good renovation. Outside Boston, David Foley and Paul Eldrenkamp ought to know better, but decide anyhow to attempt a DER on a 1928 home they thought WASN’T located in Historic Preservation District. This panel discussion will address the challenges – political, economic, and technical – of high performing renovations in existing housing stock.
BQDM: Retrofitting for Reliability
From Brownsville to Woodhaven, new policies and practices that are changing how we identify, finance, and implement energy conservation projects. This session will provide an overview of Con Edison’s Brooklyn Queens Demand Management (BQDM) program then dive into the innovative strategies that are improving grid reliability and savings dollars. From big to small, commercial to residential, we’re covering it all.
The Future of Homebuilding Can't Wait: Making Sustainable, Low Energy Dwellings the Norm
It is said that homebuilding can look back at 300 years of history unimpeded by progress. It’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the energy-sucking, defect prone truth is unacceptable. Homeowners, society, and even the health of our planet have been underserved by the quality standard of our homes. As the vicious cycle of climate change accelerates, we must achieve a home quality paradigm shift now. That will mean thinking differently, acting differently, and doing differently.
Speaker: Tedd Benson, Bensonwood & Unity Homes
Tuesday Workshop - Introduction to Building Science and Diagnostics
This overview of residential energy efficiency is appropriate for future auditors, would-be retrofitters, and anyone else who lives in a house. It starts with the basics of heat, air and moisture flow. Various insulation and air sealing materials are discussed. Heating fuels, heating systems, and hot water systems are compared. Common building performance problems and their solutions are outlined. There is a brief description of blower door testing and related diagnostics, along with suggestions for prioritizing recommendations.
Tuesday Workshop - Marc's Zero Net Energy Deep Energy Retrofit
A building energy geek gut-renovated a small house. Learn about the decisions made, and consequences thereof; about choices of construction assemblies, materials, windows and doors, and mechanical equipment. Successive blower door test data will illustrate how the building was tightened to exceed the Passive House standard. Detailed energy use data will be presented, and performance data of the solar electric system, heat pump, heat recovery ventilator, and heat pump water heater will be presented, and will be compared to the energy model. Lessons learned, opinions, and some less-than-obvious observations about various aspects of the project will be shared. As always, both mistakes and successes will be cheerfully presented, and there will be plenty of time for discussion.
Tiny Bubbles: The Deal With Spray Foam
“Is Foam Evil?”—that’s how this session was originally titled. Saner heads prevailed: foam is so highly insulating, so airtight, so slick on the jobsite, how could we ask such a question? Wait—it’s just those wonderful features that suck us in and make us love foam and forget about those toxic chemicals, occupational hazards, climate impacts, and faulty installations. Is that evil? Come discuss design choices, material options, and building science with our panel.