Sustainability in lighting is usually linked to energy use only, but it is time to face the real challenges of quantifying the impact of design decisions made throughout the product life cycle. While we may not have complete information on life cycle impacts, we cannot afford to wait until comprehensive information is available to inform our specification decisions. This presentation will provide a framework for weighing operational energy use, embodied carbon, and material impacts.

When an experienced builder does a whole-house upgrade of their own home, you know it’s going to be done right. When that builder is Jesper Kruse, owner of Maine Passive House, you know remarkable energy efficiency will be the outcome. And when that house is the one Kruse himself built 20 years ago - the first house he ever built - well, you know it’s going to be an especially interesting adventure in single family retrofits. Kruse will explain why he decided to undertake this project.

Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity, Simple City Studio, and VEIC present PV Habitat’s award-winning experiment in affordable net-zero housing. Using data from a recent build, PV Habitat compares build time, cost, and energy efficiency between modular and stick-built construction, focusing on the trade-offs between affordability and energy efficiency, and examining where design can simplify or complicate a build.

Current ventilation standards are based on odor instead of health. One cannot smell healthy air. Ventilation standards disfavor air quality in smaller residences and multi-family dwellings while excessively ventilating larger homes. Ventilation impacts our health, cognition, sleep, and disease transmission. This session provides background on today's ventilation standards and recommendations for creating healthy indoor environments. The Covid Safe Space IAQ calculator for reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission in buildings is introduced.

New York State’s carbon-neutral policies and on-the-ground programs are the leading edge in the Northeast and provide a model for all communities. Come be informed and inspired by NYSERDA’s upcoming Carbon Neutral Buildings Roadmap. As part of Governor Cuomo’s Green New Deal for New York, NYSERDA has been spearheading the development of an overarching framework for decarbonizing New York’s buildings by 2050. This presentation will outline the policies and programmatic areas that will achieve radical reduction in the carbon emissions of buildings.

Sheridan Small Homes is a project that originated in the classroom at the Rhode Island School of Design. The two passive house prototype student designs were created as a solution to increase affordable housing and make use of 200 undersized vacant lots in Providence, RI. The homes were funded through a combination of energy grants and incentive programs and were built by an apprentice training program that provides valuable work experience and career opportunities for low-income diverse community members.

SPONSORED BY DXS NEW ENGLAND