Collaborating for Community Decarbonization
How can the residents of “Energy Town, USA” meet their carbon emissions reduction goal in a way that lifts up their entire community? Working interactively and collaboratively in small breakout groups, participants in this workshop will develop innovative solutions to this challenge. As facilitators, NEEP staff will guide each group with best practices and deep knowledge from their own work in various communities across the Northeast. Context points from real towns will be shared regarding building stock, homebuyer markets, economic parameters, and more.
KEYNOTE - Small But Mighty: The Untapped Potential of Mid-Size Buildings
While regulations and policy discussions often focus on large buildings, much of New York City’s building stock is made up of mid-size commercial and residential buildings, both of which have a unique set of needs when it comes to electrification and decarbonization. This year’s keynote will focus on how to put the right tools and resources in the hands of building owners and contractors, enabling them to be real drivers of change in the market.
Rolling Out an Enterprise-Wide Building Management System
When looking to extend its success with its legacy control system, the New York City Housing Authority started with open BACnet communication as the center of its new BMS architecture, leveraging its fiber connectivity between campus buildings and including advanced graphics, alarms, exception reporting, and data analytics. Including these features has required NYCHA to work across its enterprise, from Operations/Maintenance to Capital Projects and IT, as well as with its business partners and consultants, to bring all the pieces together.
Decarbonizing Office Spaces: Case Studies and Interactive Discussion
In commercial buildings, tenants account for more than 50% of energy use. With the recent enactment of Local Law 97, tenant energy contribution becomes even more critical, as commercial landlords will not be able to comply with emission caps if tenants are not engaged. This session will highlight how two tenants collaborated with their building owner to implement advanced energy solutions and reduce building energy consumption.
Overcoming Barriers to Electrification: A Collaborative Approach
Electrifying existing buildings is easier said than done. There are numerous roadblocks to electrification, from first costs, to technical feasibility, to grid limitations, operating costs, and tenant education, just to name a few! Richard Gerbe will moderate this roundtable discussion with key stakeholders representing manufacturers, utilities, engineers, and building owners, to learn how cross-sector collaboration will help accelerate the decarbonization of New York’s existing building stock efficiently and equitably.
Retro-Cx: Working through Conflict with Collaboration
Even the most successful Retro-Commissioning projects encounter some level of conflict. Thoughtful collaboration with the building’s operating staff can help overcome these challenges and prove to be valuable to the entire project team. Using project examples, this session provides guidance on how to engage the operations team for a successful Retro-Cx program.
Performance-Based Ventilation Design for Healthy & Efficient Buildings
For decades, the drive for energy efficiency took priority over indoor air quality (IAQ). With COVID, the pendulum swung in the direction of IAQ, but as we emerge from the pandemic and prepare to meet ever more stringent building performance standards, we need to design and operate buildings for both IAQ and efficiency. The question is how to solve for these seemingly contradictory goals given the “energy penalty” associated with higher ventilation rates.
Operational Best Practices for Multifamily Passive Houses
Adjacent to each other in the flood-prone Rockaways in NYC and completed 2 years apart, Beach Green Dunes I and Beach Green Dunes II are two of the largest multifamily Passive House projects in the U.S. Although nearly identical in appearance, they are very different under the hood. Each has a different structure, envelope, HVAC system, resiliency strategies, and operational requirements.
How NYC Buildings Can Profit While Complying with the CMA
New York City’s Climate Mobilization Act (CMA) is viewed by many building owners as legislation thrust upon them, mandating unaffordable retrofits that benefit the environment at their expense. But for owners with the right strategy in place, these retrofits present a highly profitable investment opportunity, even with little access to capital.