Today’s climate crisis requires us to bring innovation to every part of the construction process, including our use of existing building stock. Where older buildings can be retrofitted rather than replaced, we can reinvest embodied energy and drastically reduce first costs in building energy and carbon.

There’s been a surge in interest in Passive House multi-family new construction in the Northeast. So what kind of differences are we really talking about from conventional projects? Can we educate our design and engineering teams to get there? Hear from two of Massachusetts’ first Passive House affordable projects: Beacon Community’s 55-unit Old Colony and POAH’s 135-Unit Mattapan Station. Find out changes in design and construction both projects had to make. Learn about incremental costs and savings.

Maine Passive House (MPH) has used two different strategies in retrofitting existing homes. One strategy involves adding insulation to the outside of the building; the other strategy is to add insulation to the inside of the building. Most projects involve a mix of the two strategies. Along with added insulation and eliminating thermal bridging, MPH increases air tightness, installs high performing windows and doors, and adds mechanical ventilation systems in their projects.

This session will provide concrete tools and answers on how to draw down carbon in our buildings starting today. We’ll focus on low-rise buildings, where most new construction and renovations happen and which are currently under-represented in embodied-carbon design and analysis. We will present critical construction details such as band joist insulation selections and sloped ceiling retrofits, as well as whole-building design strategies.

Central ventilation systems in multifamily buildings are a vital building system with significant implications for energy, sustainability and occupant health and safety. In this session, we compare and contrast the building stock in Boston and NYC and explore a variety of techniques for restoring and improving these systems.

Boston’s pledge to become carbon neutral by 2050 will require deep energy reductions in 86,000 buildings. Among the challenges of reaching this goal are the feasibility of retrofitting at scale at a realistic cost, financing this work, maintaining affordable operating costs, and crafting incentives and requirements to make all this happen. This panel of experts in design, construction, operations, finance and regulation will discuss both the technical and policy sides of these issues, provide updates on current policy, and share lessons and real data on actual projects.

This session will explore both high level monitoring protocols and in-depth performance results of energy and indoor environmental quality measurement within PHIUS+ multi-family buildings to outline opportunities and lessons learned. The presentation team will discuss findings from a detailed monitoring study comparing two nearly identical affordable housing multi-family buildings in Chicago, one meeting EnergyStar® Multi-family requirements and the other PHIUS+ standards.

The number one obstacle to Zero Energy (ZE) buildings is the perception of increased cost. This session will debunk this myth. Utilizing readily available products, practices and technologies, Zero Energy buildings are being constructed in increasing numbers across Massachusetts. And with the help of state and utility rebates for energy efficiency and renewable energy measures, these projects are being delivered at little or no additional first costs.

In today's climate crisis, it's imperative to change the way we design and build in order to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions. However, some of these changes to building design can introduce unanticipated side effects. We can minimize these side effects on future projects by learning from each other - we all have insights that we've gleaned from our own projects. This presentation is a collection of lessons learned on the path to better performing buildings. Let’s share! Topics include wood vs.

Air-to-water heat pumps have generated a lot of excitement for their enormous retrofit potential. This case study details one home’s retrofit to an AWHP system, which was developed by hydronics experts to be simple and repeatable. The project encompassed distribution systems, domestic hot water and backup heat, as well as a ventilation system upgrade from exhaust-only to high-efficiency fresh air (balanced) ventilation.