We're over ten years into the LED revolution, but mythology still motivates decision-making. Energy professionals need to know that "let's just go LED” leads to sub-optimal results. LED efficiency varies greatly, even within EnergyStar or DesignLights Consortium listings. As we’ll discuss, variance is at least 40% and up to 80%. Amazing federal programs that helped modulate the LED industry and track it are suddenly gone, so how do we judge? Smarter controls (and/or technicians) offer huge potential for commercial/industrial, but are still a challenge in residential.

Natural gas moratoriums, consumer demand for fossil-fuel-free homes, Passive House standards: these are among the many reasons why people are increasingly opting for domestic hot water systems powered by renewables. As improved energy codes drive down heating loads, soon the largest load in the home won’t be heating or cooling; it will be the domestic hot water system. This session will explore the options for fossil-fuel-free domestic hot water, achievable in nearly all projects, single family to high-rise, in both new construction and retrofits.

Triple-decker homes, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to house immigrant workers, are an important New England housing resource. However, their energy performance is typically poor: they are often leaky, under-insulated, and heated with outdated fossil fuel systems. In this session, three organizations will describe scalable, replicable models to upgrade these iconic buildings. ABCD, which retrofits triple-deckers that house low-income individuals, will present on cost and energy savings achieved and challenges encountered.

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.

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.

Urgent climate goals require state programs such as Mass Save to better target comprehensive decarbonization – applying efficiency, electrification, demand response, and solar+storage – in an equitable manner that addresses differences in local building characteristics. Meanwhile cities and towns, including low income/urban, suburban, and rural communities, are making commitments to local climate neutrality and social equity for their citizens.

Energiesprong and practitioners selected by RetrofitNY are developing standardized and scalable methods to achieve whole-building near-zero energy retrofits while maintaining multifamily tenants in place. Energiesprong, based in Europe, has successfully transformed 4,500 affordable units and RetrofitNY is currently in proof-of-concept phase.  The session will provide an introduction to standardized retrofits for multifamily housing, an overview of the best practices in Europe, and the practical implementation in the US market.

Should we be trying to electrify everything? Is it practical for existing and new buildings with the technologies we have now? Two engineers with different takes on these questions will debate electrifying residential buildings, from small single-family to high-rise apartments. Both speakers have years of experience with heat pump technologies (mini-splits, PTHPs, water-source HPs, VRF, and several types of heat-pump water heaters). They’ll present examples of buildings where these systems worked wonderfully, where performance was less than ideal, and a few absolute failures.