Capital planning has always been an integral part of a building owner’s strategy, but with NYC’s Local Law 97, state and city carbon reduction goals, gas moratoriums, and a shift towards electrification, it is more important than ever to have a long-term strategy based on the specifics of a building, property, or portfolio. This session will provide an overview of different integrated solution options and technologies for both commercial and residential buildings, including geothermal, thermal storage with energy sharing, and VRF.

Climate change will have significant impacts on indoor cooling needs in New York City, particularly for vulnerable communities who will see disproportionate health, economic, and other effects. This session will describe the key findings and recommendations from a recent NYSERDA-sponsored project. The project investigated how current cooling usage patterns will change based on climate change and committed building energy efficiency goals, and evaluated the impacts of different technology and policy options to meet future residential cooling needs while minimizing increases in energy use.

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.

While certifications are crucial to pushing the limits of sustainable construction, validating investments, and providing quality assurance, they sometimes risk a narrowed viewpoint, shifting priorities towards meeting a prescribed matrix and away from big picture values better benefitting building occupants and the environment. This presentation showcases individual projects and lessons learned from pursuing single and multiple certifications (LEED, Living Building Challenge, Passive House and WELL), and how they can be leveraged to create truly regenerative 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.

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.

With climate change resulting in increased heat and precipitation, coastal flooding, and other hazardous events, the built environment is experiencing increased vulnerability and disruption. The goal of resilient design is not only to protect critical project components from current climate hazards, but also to reduce downtime following a hazardous event and to prepare for and adapt to future challenges. This session will review three Passive House case studies, evaluating design solutions that incorporate the results from both passive survivability and climate resilience assessments.