Program || EEBA Summit 2023

Heat, Humidity, and High Winds: Details for the Intersection of Resilience and Energy Efficiency

Changing climates and increasingly severe weather demand adaptation in the delivery of high-performance homes. For nearly 30 years, Auburn University Rural Studio has been designing and building homes in West Alabama. Through the Front Porch Initiative, Rural Studio has also been working with not-for-profit housing providers, supplying designs and technical assistance to construct high-performance homes around the Southeast. This presentation will examine design and construction details of multiple homes built in the southeast United States, with a particular focus on resistance to high winds as well as energy efficiency for mixed-humid and hot-humid climates. Differentiating between guidelines for protection of the occupant versus protection of the asset, we will discuss tornado safe rooms built to FEMA P-320 guidelines as well as homes pursuing FORTIFIED Home certification in high wind and hurricane zones. After understanding the basics of resilient construction, we will examine how to incorporate resilient details without sacrificing energy efficiency. Case studies will examine homes that achieve FORTIFIED certification while simultaneously achieving a beyond-code energy certification, such as ENERGY STAR or even Passive House US (PHIUS).

Learning Objectives

Evaluate and differentiate between resilience objectives for protection of the occupant versus protection of the asset. Define criteria for selecting between various resilience strategies.
Understand the primary methods for implementing resilient construction.
Identify potential challenges and opportunities in incorporating multiple third-party certifications into a single home and strategies to mitigate conflicts during the planning process.
Evaluate successes and lessons learned from case studies built across the southeast.

Presenters

Betsy Farrell Garcia, Assistant Research Professor, Auburn University
Mackenzie Stagg, Assistant Research Professor, Auburn University

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Room 355B

Green Builder Magazine Zero Carbon Vision Home by Thrive Home Builders

Thrive Home Builders has completed its first zero carbon home at Sonders in Ft. Collins, Colorado. This home is a DOE Housing Innovation Award entry and a Vision Home featured by Green Builder Magazine. See how Thrive designed the home in a BIM model, evaluated the carbon footprint, purchased a carbon offset and is selling and marketing carbon neutrality with its Thrive Carbonwise© brand. Learn from a production builder’s journey from building high performance homes to zero carbon.

Attendees will learn:
1. The goals for the VISION House Sonders Project and how the project partners came together to support the project goals.
2. Consumer trends and insights that are driving demand for all-electric, healthy, resilient, connected, solar powered homes and net zero carbon communities.
3. The planning and prestart steps required to achieve zero carbon.
4. The tools available for zero carbon calculations, which ones were chosen for this project and why.
5. What challenges the team encountered in the planning, construction, and certification process for this home.
6. How Thrive Home Builders positioned this zero-carbon project for sale against its competition.

Presenters

Stephen Myers, Thrive Home Builders
Sara Gutterman, Green Builder Media

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Room 251

Trading Up to Triple Panes: A Code Trade-Off Option that Might Get You Higher Performance for Less

With builders looking for lower cost ways to achieve the higher efficiency requirements of newer codes, triple-pane windows might be starting to make sense from a first-cost perspective. The latest versions of the energy codes have seen a big uptick in prescriptive insulation requirements making it more challenging to comply using some conventional building practices. However, IECC, like ENERGY STAR and DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home programs, does offer performance path options where builders can determine a target for the home’s overall energy usage and make tradeoffs in insulation, equipment, and window efficiency (within limits) to achieve the target. The increased availability of affordable triple-pane and thin triple windows offers an appealing tradeoff option for builders, providing flexibility in envelope design while helping ensure that standards are met without complication. Since windows account for nearly half of the thermal losses in new homes, the increased comfort and noise reduction of higher performance (U factor <20) windows can be a selling point with home buyers as well. In his presentation, we’ll discuss new incentives for triple-pane windows and new high-r windows on the market. We’ll also share the latest research results from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory including cost-performance analyses; measurements of the affect thin triple-pane windows have on whole home HVAC energy usage, condensation potential, occupant comfort, and sound reduction and field observations related to cost, delivery, and installation of thin triples. These findings are based laboratory studies conducted at PNNL’s test homes as well as field studies conducted across the country with new and existing single-family, multi-family, and manufactured homes. You will also hear about the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliances (NEEA)’s High-Performance Window Volume Builder Initiative, which is a pilot study focused on engaging new home builders to install high-performance windows in new homes in the Northwest.

Learning Objectives

Understand the function, energy efficiency benefits, and installation options (and costs/benefits) of thin triple-pane windows.
Identify wellness, comfort, and acoustic benefits of triple-pane windows.
Learn about IECC Energy Code and DOE Zero Energy Ready Home tradeoff benefits that come with installation of high-performance windows.
Learn about program and utility opportunities focused on promoting high-performance windows.

Presenters

Katherine Cort, PNNL
Patti Gunderson, PNNL

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Room 355C

Let's have an Honest Discussion on IAQ and Healthier homes. What Are We Doing To The Air Our Clients are Breathing?

Let's eliminate the hype and myths about Indoor Air Quality and what can make a home healthier and discuss the known "facts" based on valid 3rd party evidence or that which is assumed to be valid resources. This session is intended to be a “What Every Builder Should Know About IAQ and Healthier Homes.”

This session will provide an overview on IAQ Consumer grade devices - "seeing the invisible or nothing at all." Where should they be located and how many per occupant or size of the home? These “trend indicators” can provide great benefits to the occupants and the builder, someday soon these devices will be evaluated /rated from HVI like exhaust fans. Speaking of exhaust fans, can smaller connected ventilation systems provide an improvement in IAQ and thus make a home healthier?

Let's discuss on a high level the installations that are being installed in air handlers - either Eliminating (filtering) or Adding (altering) the air. This includes UV, bipolar ionization, Hydroxyl, Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) and filters that are properly sized and measured static pressure.

You should have a basic understanding of what is installed and what the occupants are breathing.

Learning Objectives

How can consumer grade devices be beneficial in new homes
How to make sure the filter is the right size and “type”
The difference in Eliminating vs. Additive in indoor air
Where to go for defensible information on IAQ “systems”
Can integrated ventilation strategies improve IAQ?

Presenters

Joe Medosch, Client Success Manager, measureQuick
Brett Singer, Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
9:00 - 10:00 AM
Room 355E

Ventilation and IAQ in New US Homes: Results from the Building America Field Study

"Build tight, ventilate right" is a building science rubric that describes the approach of combining airtight envelopes, whole-house mechanical ventilation (WHMV), and effective and quiet kitchen and bathroom exhaust to achieve energy efficiency while promoting good indoor air quality (IAQ). ASHRAE Standard 62.2 specifies minimum airflow rates with sound limits and requires verification, but there is a lack of data on installed system performance and operation and their relationship to indoor air quality in occupied homes. This session will present findings from the Building America research study that has gathered data on mechanical ventilation systems, indoor air quality parameters, and house and household characteristics from 180+ occupied homes in CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, OR, and SC. A subset of homes were sampled for one week each with/out WHMV running to isolate the effect of ventilation on IAQ. In many homes the WHMV systems did not meet airflow requirements of Standard 62.2-2010 and many with adequate capacity were not operating as found or not labeled correctly. The complexity of system design, installation errors, and unaware occupants appear to be the key factors. Indoor concentrations of air pollutants (particulate matter, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide, and radon) varied greatly among homes with and without WHMV, though notable differences were found, which will be presented.

Learning Objectives

Learn about the installed capacities and as-found operational conditions of whole-house and exhaust ventilation systems in recent year homes in five different areas of the US.
Learn about the types of whole-house mechanical ventilation systems that have been installed in homes in recent years, including variations by climate zone.
Gain awareness of the elements of ASHRAE’s 62.2 ventilation standards that were met and the compliance deficiencies.
Learn about the impacts of whole-house mechanical ventilation on indoor air quality parameters and occupant satisfaction.

Presenters

Brett Singer, Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Chrissi Antonopoulos, Senior Analyst, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Dr. Iain Walker, Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
10:30 - 11:30 AM
Room 355E

Beyond the Envelope: IAQ and Whole House Performance

The Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing natural disasters have served as a "trigger point" for indoor air quality and occupant health. For years, energy efficiency and savings on utility bills led the movement for higher-performance construction. Now that we have learned more about air circulation and its correlation to the spread of airborne hazards and the link between our health and our interior environments, buyers are demanding components and practices that support their wellbeing. Builders are now tasked with building healthier homes in answer to this demand for health-based, sustainable housing. Learn how defining the goals and verifying the outcome affects the results. Customers will pay for better IAQ and the need to communicate this effectively is essential. The building blocks discussed in this session will help you understand, implement, explain and sell the benefits and features of healthy homes so you can become a trusted advisor to your clients.

Learning Objectives

Learn why an increase in health-conscious consumers has triggered an interest in the connection between occupant health and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is important to home builders and remodelers.
Learn the key building science elements of a home that circulates “breathable air,” improving the health and wellness of the occupants.
Learn how properly implemented ventilation systems help reduce risk for home builders and remodelers.
Determine when and how to introduce health and wellness benefits, features and practices into home building and remodeling, especially those supporting
“breathable air.”

Presenters

Mark LaLiberte, Co-Founder and President, Construction Instruction
Bill Hayward, CEO, Hayward Lumber; Hayward Score
Marla Esser Cloos, Green Home Coach, LLC
Jillian Pritchard Cooke, Founder & CEO, Wellness Within Your Walls, Inc.

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
1:30 - 2:30 PM
Room 355E

Do incentives incentivize? Lessons from the Marshall Fire Rebuild

Boulder County Colorado lost 1200 homes on December 31st, 2022. Xcel Energy has stepped up and is offering tremendous incentives to rebuild a range of energy efficient, all electric, and passive homes. With incentive dollar amounts ranging from $7500 to $47,500, you would think it’s a no brainer. Robby Schwarz, the New Homes Advisor for the Marshall Fire Rebuild, will discuss lessons learned, what the reality is, and whether people are taking advantage of the offer.

Learning Objectives

Understand the pros of incentive programs.
Learn about the cons of incentive programs.
Recognize a reality check
Learning from others

Presenters

Robby Schwarz, Founder, BUILDTank, Inc.

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Room 355E

The Carbon Impact of Air Sealing the Building Envelope

The carbon emissions and embodied carbon in single and multifamily homes are a growing area of interest and concern in the housing industry and can be used as an advantage in marketing and sales. Air leaks in the building envelope account for the most significant portion of wasted energy in the heating and cooling of homes, thereby creating a major source of carbon emissions throughout the life of the home. This session will explore the reductions in carbon emissions that can be achieved through a more airtight building envelope. Analysis will be presented that reveals carbon emissions reductions for different levels of air tightness across the different climate zones in North America. The embodied carbon impact of air sealing materials will also be presented and discussed.

Learning Objectives

Understand the impact of heat loss and gain due to air leaks in homes.
Understand the impact that air sealing a home’s exterior envelope can have on reducing the operational carbon emissions throughout the life of a home and in different climate zones.
Understand the embodied carbon impact of air sealing materials.
Understand how an air tight envelope can contribute to a net zero carbon home.

Presenters

Bill Shadid, Strategic Marketing Leader, AeroBarrier
Andy Oding, Building Knowledge Canada

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
10:30 - 11:30 AM
Room 355F

Electrification and Geothermal HVAC: Or how I learned to love the ground under my feet.

This presentation focuses on the value and advantages of Ground Source Heat pumps (Geothermal Heat pumps) in the new electrified environment. A thorough explanation will be provided from the builders’ point of view. This includes first cost, logistics, ground loops, and installation. It will touch on myths and truths about how it works, and where. And how it makes domestic hot water—Almost free! It will quantify reduced energy use resulting in lower utility bills for home and building owners. Additionally, The Inflation Reduction Act Federal Tax Credits will be explained. Supporting metrics and actual installations will be discussed and shown throughout. There will be time for Q & A.

Learning Objectives

Understand how geothermal heat pumps work
Recognize the energy savings with geothermal
Learn the Myths and Truths about geothermal
Identify why home buyers love geothermal

Presenters

Ed Davis, VP of Sales, Enertech Global
Justin Jobe, Sales & Field Applications Engineer, Enertech Global
Tim Wright, Chief Strategy Officer, Enertech Global

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
1:30 - 2:30 PM
Room 355F

The Solution to Pollution is Dilution Distribution

Tight homes require mechanical ventilation and the ideal way to accomplish that from both an energy efficiency and indoor air quality standpoint is balanced ventilation. Without guidance, however, balanced ventilation can be as ineffective as a fish without water. This session details designs for residential balanced ventilation from developing a ventilation plan, distribution, integration with forced air systems, and duct installation to system testing and balancing, commissioning, maintenance, and consumer appreciation. A commitment to including balanced ventilation in a residential project requires more than just buying a box of fans. Balanced ventilation is more expensive, more complicated, and more effective, but it must be treated with the same care that is applied to a conditioned air system. The point of this session is to alert participants about the complexity and qualities of a well designed, balanced ventilation system. If it doesn’t work, it’s not worth squat!

Learning Objectives

Understand the variety of issues in a comprehensive, effective balanced ventilation system.
Be introduced to fundamental balance ventilation design, installation, and commissioning.
Gain an understanding of the impact of balanced ventilation on indoor air quality.
Learn where more information is available.

Presenters

Paul Raymer, Senior Advisor, ICF

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Room 355F

Off Site Construction - A Great Way to Get to Zero Energy Ready

While offsite construction holds much promise, the reality of factory-built housing over the past few decades has seen a focus on least cost, not best performance. Meet four builders who are bucking that trend, using off-site construction to create exceptional building envelopes that help these builders meet the rigorous performance criteria of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home program. This panel of award-winning builders will share their experiences with these systems, including costs, benefits, challenges, and tips for achieving near-zero energy and low-carbon performance. Hear from a company selling disaster-resistant custom kit homes with open-stud wall panels, a production builder using open-stud wall panels for single-family and multifamily development, a company using structurally insulated panels (SIPS) for an all-ZERH development, and a modular home company delivering everything-factory-installed market-rate and affordable homes to urban infill and suburban locations. You’ll also see the data on what these and other off-site builders in DOE's Zero Energy Ready Home Program are doing to achieve as good, if not better, performance results compared to site-built homes in the DOE program.

Learning Objectives

Review the different types of off-site construction methods used by DOE ZERH builders and others.
Compare the performance of ZERH home builders using off-site construction techniques to the performance of ZERH builders overall.
Identify cost-saving measures in equipment purchasing, supply chain, construction techniques, labor, and scheduling that can be achieved with off-site construction.
Learn from real world experiences the unique challenges and considerations for construction models using off-site construction techniques.

Presenters

Leigha Dickens, Green Building and Sustainability Manager, Deltec Homes
Rob Howard, President, Howard Building Science
Ankur Dobriyal, Module Housing
Kevin Brozyna, VP of Operations, Insight Homes

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 251

An Overview of Indoor airPLUS Version 2

Join this session to learn about Indoor airPLUS Version 2 and when you will be able to use it! Since 2008, new homes and low-rise apartments meeting advanced requirements for indoor air quality (IAQ) have been able to earn the EPA's Indoor airPLUS (IAP) label. In late 2021, IAP eligibility was expanded to include mid-rise and high-rise multifamily buildings, and during that same year EPA explored public comment on the first draft of "Indoor airPLUS Version 2" specifications. Based on that feedback, a second draft of Version 2 was released for comment in early 2023, along with an overarching Certification System and a newly proposed framework for quality assurance. This session will provide an overview of IAP Version 2, which includes new opportunities in a two-tiered model of IAP Certified and IAP Gold labels, with oversight through a Home Certification Organization (HCO) structure. Join us to hear how your company can help bring IAQ advancements to the market with EPA’s most recent update to Indoor airPLUS.

Learning Objectives

Learn about EPA's new certification framework for Indoor airPLUS Version 2.
Understand the implementation timeline of the Indoor airPLUS Version 2 program.
Discover fundamental IAQ strategies for residential buildings and how EPA intends to encourage their adoption with this new program structure.
Learn about the "two-tiered" certification model and identify follow-up trainings to gain a deeper understanding of the technical requirements of the two tiers.

Presenters

Nick Hurst, Program Manager - Indoor airPLUS, EPA
Gayathri Vijayakumar, Principal Mechanical Engineer, Steven Winter Associates
Karla Butterfield, Sustainability Director, Steven Winter Associates

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 251

Building Envelope Performance and Electrification of Small Single Family Homes

Small single family units (<1000 sqft) are an ideal target for home electrification, even in very cold climates, due to the potential to achieve low heating loads that can be met with small heat pump equipment. In this session, we will walk participants through a case study involving the design, construction, and operational costs of two duplexes comprising 4 identical units build by Midland Country Habitat for Humanity (HFH), part of the international HFH network working to provide safe and affordable housing for low income individuals and families. From the very beginning of the design stage, a high performance building envelope comprising effective air and thermal barriers was a critical factor to enable properly sized, highly efficient electric HVAC systems. During construction, careful attention to transitions, penetrations, common wall, and other common air leak points helped produce <1.5 ACH50 air leakage numbers, and key areas to look at for improving air tightness will be shared. Actual heating energy costs for the completed units are used to validate the building envelope design and electrification strategy. In addition, we will look at various measures of indoor environmental quality (e.g. noise and temperature consistency) to quantify commonly cited comfort benefits from tight building envelopes and electric appliances.

Learning Objectives

Share principles and practical tips of achieving an air-tight envelope in small single family attached units, including air sealing common walls, attics, and walls constructed on a frost-protected slab-on-grade foundation.
Highlight link between constructing a high performance building envelope and sizing energy efficient HVAC heat pump equipment.
Demonstrate real-world performance of HVAC equipment and heating costs compared to designed / modeled performance.
Compare electric and fossil fuel heating for low-load, energy efficient small homes, including cost, comfort, indoor environmental quality, etc.

Presenters

Andrew Kosick, Creative Rebuilding Co.
Erich Ostrander, Midland County Habitat for Humanity
Adam Broderick, Lead Scientist, DuPont Performance Building Solutions

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
11:00 - 12:00 PM
Room 251

"Connected Communities" in North Carolina: Lessons Learned from the Field

IBACOS and the Advanced Clean Communities Collaborative (AC3) will be implementing a "connected communities" project of up to 1,000 new and existing single-family and multi-family homes in Duke Energy's North Carolina service territory. These homes will be equipped with distributed energy resource (DER) devices connected through the EnergyHub DERMS platform to serve utility peak capacity and resource adequacy needs at the bulk system and local transmission and distribution level in the Duke Energy service territory. Data on aggregated grid impacts and value across a range of buildings, end uses, and technologies will be collected to help identify best approaches to delivering flexible distributed capacity at scale. This session will present the latest findings and lessons learned from the project, which will be performed over a four year period from 2022-2026.

Learning Objectives

Understand the relationship between buildings, distributed energy resources, clean energy, carbon emissions, and the electric grid
Explore potential business models between homebuilders, utilities and their customers to achieve a clean energy and decarbonization agenda
Learn which DER technologies are available today and how these can be utilized in your business
Gain a greater understanding about the challenges and opportunities to implement "connected communities" at scale

Presenters

Tom Hines, Principal, Tierra Resource Consultants
Ari Rapport, IBACOS

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Room 251

Sooner Than You Think: ENERGY STAR v3.2

National Version 3.2 of the ENERGY STAR Single-Family New Homes program was developed last year in response to the 2021 IECC. When it was released, the expectation was that its adoption would initially be limited to just the most progressive states.

Then came the Inflation Reduction Act. With the revised 45L federal tax credit tied to this most stringent national version for homes acquired beginning in 2025, partners are already beginning to assess what it will take to comply.

This session will provide a deeper dive on National v3.2: how it’s different from National v3.1; what climate-specific efficiency measures might be needed to meet the more stringent ERI targets and thermal backstop; and when it may become relevant to you – for core certification, for ENERGY STAR NextGen, for DOE's Zero Energy Ready Homes program, and for 45L tax credit compliance.

Learning Objectives

Hear why National Version 3.2 was created and how it differs from National Version 3.1.
See samples of compliant packages of efficiency measures for a variety of climate zones.
Understand what flexibility you have to trade-off 2021 IECC insulation levels for improved windows.
Learn which states are likely to adopt National v3.2 first for the core program, and how this new version will be leveraged by other above-code programs and the 45L federal tax credit.

Presenters

Dean Gamble, Technical Manager, EPA
Asa Foss, Technical Director, EPA ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction Programs

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
1:30 - 2:30 PM
Room 355C

Winning in the Complex World of Data, ESG, Rebates and Incentives

There are more opportunities than ever before to build value using HERS Ratings via incentives, rebates, ESG reporting, quality control, etc. Capturing this value requires understanding the landscape and managing your data. Each HERS Rated home has hundreds of data points, ranging from insulation and mechanical values to estimated energy savings and CO2 output. Builders can use the data on their HERS Rated homes to help tell their sustainability / ESG story and access numerous incentives. The incentive landscape has changed immensely in the last year with many new and updated incentives at the start of 2023 such as ENERGY STAR, 45L, Fannie/Freddie Rebates, and utility rebates. Builders are anxious to capture these incentives, while Raters and Building Product Manufacturers are trying to provide practical suggestions to Builders on how best to do so. This session will unpack the incentive programs available, the data behind HERS Rated Homes and how to use them both to your advantage.

Learning Objectives

Understanding what type of data is collected for a HERS Rating and how to use it to tell your sustainability story.
Understanding incentives and rebate opportunities for 2023 and beyond.
Basic strategies and tradeoffs to meet requirements efficiently.
How to maximize the value of your HERS Ratings and the data collected.

Presenters

Cy Kilbourn, Co-founder and Vice President of Engineering, Ekotrope
Ryan Meres, RESNET

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
10:30 - 11:30 AM
Room 355C

Building Net Zero Carbon Homes with a Deeper Dive into (Hot) Water

Darrel and Gary met on an NGBS water efficiency committee. Their shared interest in water and energy efficiency is reflected in the homes that Darrel has built in the past 14 years. Homes which use the environment for 100% of all inside utility needs, including the owner’s electric car. Darrel will discuss the six components needed to make the claim of Net Zero Carbon which are applicable to all sizes of homes. The presentation will discuss the energy embedded in water and the water embedded in energy, particularly in power generation. Then Darrel will discuss how collaborating with Gary has improved the measured water efficiency of his homes by focusing on improving the hot water distribution systems. Fast forward to the 2020s, where Gary will present information on bringing the Hunter’s method for sizing water supply piping into the 21st century, on the pressure loss through modern pipe, fittings and tub/shower valves. He will share how to save $500-$1,000 in first costs per apartment or $1,000-$2,000 in first costs per detached home, and why right-sizing the plumbing is the second domino.

Learning Objectives

Building Net Zero Carbon Homes is being done today and we don't have to wait till 2050
Understanding that Conservation far exceeds Creation as a Nation and the building community
That we MUST look at ALL utilities used on the property to reach a net zero carbon goal not just electricity
Learn about the benefits of using the IAPMO Water Demand Calculator as the basis of design.
Gain an appreciation for the 1st domino: the archtectural compactness of the hot water system.

Presenters

Gary Klein, Gary Klein & Associates
Darrel McMaster, Sustainable Homes Inc.

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
9:00 - 10:00 AM
Room 251

A High Performance Builder Meets the ESG Challenge

Thrive Home Builders has completed its first ESG report. ESG reports are a federal requirement of publicly traded homebuilders. Learn why and how privately held Thrive Home Builders took on the task and the challenges and opportunities it encountered along the way. How did Thrive complete the first report as a special project and how is it “operationalizing” ESG in its departments?

Attendees will learn:
1. Why a private home builder who is not required to have an ESG report made the decision develop one.
2. How a builder worked through the process of developing an ESG report and what challenges were encountered.
3. What lessons were learned by a builder during the process of writing their first ESG report.
4. Learn how the builder is moving forward with their ESG program and how they plan to keep reporting on an annual basis.

Presenters

Stephen Myers, Thrive Home Builders
Bill Rectanus, VP of Operations, Thrive Home Builders

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 355B

How to Immediately Improve Your Negotiations Using the "Formula of the 3 R's"

Based on her bestselling book, Lynn will teach you how to apply the }Formula of the Three R's" - a quick and effective way to see positive results with your negotiations, at all levels. You'll learn when you should negotiate, how to overcome negotiation fears, and how to avoid common pitfalls. You'll develop the confidence to defend your position, respond to pushback, and negotiate both strategically and efficiently. You’ll be able to confidently adopt the "Don't Ask, Don't Get" philosophy so you are always encouraged to "Make the Ask."

Learning Objectives

Learning why you should negotiate.
How to identify fears associated with negotiation and how to overcome them.
The "Formula of the 3 R's" and how to apply it to all your negotiations.
Additional tools and strategies to utilize during your negotiations as well as low-risk environments to practice the skill.

Presenters

Lynn Price, Lynn Price Consulting

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 355B

Mentorship: A Guide for Elevating Workforce Performance

Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by someone not just from a title or experience. It primarily comes from their commitment to continuous improvement while inspiring their team to be their best in their role and duties. They are leaders by example who understand the process to create healthier and better workforce performance through their action. They inspire their team to be responsible and accountable for their own tasks so they can come together and form an interdependent workforce environment, Teams fully engaged lead to better performance and higher levels of communication to build rapport with clients for more sales. Come learn to apply the methodology of how mentorship to be an effective leader by example can create an highly engaged and effective workforce along with increase in sales.

Learning Objectives

Attendees will know how to use the principles of mentorship to lead by example while impacting others in a productive and efficient manner with their workforce that leads to a higher level of performance
Attendees will learn how to use effective communication and active listening principles as mentors to forge stronger team engagement while creating better experience for clients.
Attendees will know how through mentorship for their team to better own their role and duties for improved performance, satisfaction with their role, and a positive impact on clients
Attendees will know and understand the value of having daily huddles whether virtually or in person to increase communication and engagement to effectively win as team

Presenters

Christopher Salem, Christopher Salem

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
11:00 - 12:00 PM
Room 355B

Improving our Built Environment ~ From a Woman's Perspective

If being a woman in a male dominated field wasn’t enough of a challenge, the past two years tested women like never before. The USGBC surveyed women in the workforce and found that 62% agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted workplace equity. A United Nations report also cautioned that aftermath could undo decades of meaningful progress around gender equality.

In the US, participation of women in the workforce is at a 33-year low, with women of color feeling these impacts more acutely. Economic, social, and environmental challenges are ahead, making women in sustainable design and construction positions more important than ever. Join this panel of esteemed professionals to learn how healthy people in healthy places is one of the fastest ways to rebuild a healthy economy. Rebuilding that economy will require different perspectives, new ideas, and the courage to challenge ourselves. We’ll share personal experiences and celebrate achievements on the path to improving our built environment – from a woman’s perspective.

Learning Objectives

Understand some challenges of being a woman in the sustainable construction field
Recognize the importance of mentoring and supportive work environments
Learn how a woman’s perspective can facilitate change
Share in the achievements of these inspiring panelists

Presenters

Gayathri Vijayakumar, Principal Mechanical Engineer, Steven Winter Associates
Claudette Hanks Reichel, Louisiana State University AgCenter
Theresa Gilbride, Building Energy Efficiency Researcher, PNNL
Danielle Younger, Younger Homes
Leigha Dickens, Green Building and Sustainability Manager, Deltec Homes

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
3:30 - 4:30 PM
Room 355B

Five High-Performance Innovations That are Faster, Better and Cheaper

It's easy to keep building homes the same way. It's comfortable. You don't have the time to learn something new. You're overwhelmed with all the burdens producing the ultimate consumer product. I could keep going but will stop here and suggest it's time for change when it comes to high-performance homes.

Specifically, there are five compelling innovations that provide shorter cycle time, superior user experience, and substantial cost savings. Given the historic affordability crisis in the housing industry, more than ever we need solutions to deliver zero for lower cost. Join the discussion.

Learning Objectives

Learn how to build high-performance homes faster.
Learn how to build high-performance homes better.
Learn how to build high-performance homes cheaper.
Learn about new tools to help assess the true cost of innovation.

Presenters

Sam Rashkin, Chief Architect of the Building Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, TruHome Facts & Retooling the Housing Industry

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 355C

Breaking myths & exploring movement toward all-electric homes

This presentation will explore the movement toward all-electric new home construction. We will present on three angles of this movement, including 1) presenting about the results of studies that evaluate the economics of all-electric construction, 2) highlight actual data of heat pump installations in Utah, and 3) share actual case studies of two all-electric homes. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the presenters and each other through the use of real-time audience engagement tools.

Learning Objectives

General understanding of how heat pump technology works - even in cold climates
Recognize that many misconceptions about heat pumps are based on past experiences with older technology that are no longer accurate
Understand that energy efficient materials and construction practices are an essential component of all-electric homes
Realize all-electric homes can be built cost-competitively with standard construction and also have operational cost benefits as compared to standard construction.

Presenters

Shawn LeMons, Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC
Kevin Emerson, Director of Building Efficiency and Decarbonization, Utah Clean Energy

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 355C

Using HERS Ratings for Easy ESG reporting

Most large builders provide ESG reporting. An ESG report disclosures data about the company's environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives. Often a residential home builder's environmental initiatives focus on building energy efficient homes and they need accurate and reliable data. By HERS rating their homes, builders have the data available to not only report on their results, but identify where they are falling short and how best to close the gap. In this presentation Ekotrope, Meritage and Rater ABC will review the type of data that is available from HERS rated homes and key strategies to collect it, analyze it and meet the builder's environmental initiatives.

Learning Objectives

Understand the basics of ESG reporting and common ESG initiatives
Tips for tracking, reporting, and meeting ESG initiatives
Learn what data is available to stakeholders in the new residential contrusction market.
Learn how to leverage this data to support ESG initiatives.

Presenters

Cy Kilbourn, Co-founder and Vice President of Engineering, Ekotrope

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
11:00 - 12:00 PM
Room 355C

Are You Leaving Money on the Table? Guide your Trades’ Priorities to Earn the 45L Tax Credit!

In this session, we will guide homebuilders in your pursuit of the 45L Tax Credits via ENERGY STAR or Zero Energy Ready Homes (ZERH) certification. We will highlight the requirements that need to be met for your homes to earn ENERGY STAR and ZERH. We will discuss what your trades may have to do differently, who is responsible, and when to address. And we will highlight how RESNET HERS Raters can be your resource for you as homebuilders to earn the 45L Tax Credit. Your HERS Rater can help you realize how close you already are to earning these tax credits, and what else you may need to do to get there cost-effectively.

Learning Objectives

Learn about the 45L Tax Credit for homebuilders.
Identify what your trades may have to do differently to help your homes earn ENERGY STAR and ZERH certifications.
Learn which trades are responsible for which items, and when to address each of these items.
Understand how HERS Raters can be your resource to earn the 45L Tax Credit.

Presenters

Billy Giblin, Quality Assurance Field Specialist, RESNET
Scott Doyle, Technical Director Quality Assurance, RESNET

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Room 355C

The Road to Carbon Neutrality - A High-Performance Builder's Journey

The Paris Agreement requires the US to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and to be halfway there by 2030. Many local governments have adopted even more aggressive carbon reduction goals. With residential buildings contributing close to 20% of carbon emissions, carbon reduction regulation is inevitable. Is there an opportunity to shape regulation, attract capital and capture a growing market for carbon neutral homes? Thrive Home Builders began to move towards carbon reduction two years ago and hopes to reach carbon neutrality of its business and products by 2024. Learn about the steps this builder has taken, the allies it has found and the lessons learned along the way.

Learning Objectives

Attendees will learn:
1. Why is focusing on carbon reduction in the home building industry important?
2. What changes are being seen in the market that will drive a focus on carbon for the industry.
3. How towns and municipalities are addressing climate concerns and why it’s important to be part of the process.
4. Examples of how a privately held homebuilder addresses carbon and tries to be part of the solution.
a. Explore the various carbon calculators available for assessing embodied carbon and their features and limitations.
b. Identify the key components of a Single-Family Home that contribute to its embodied carbon footprint.
c. Identify the factors that influence the choice of carbon calculator for a Single-Family Home construction project.

Presenters

Gene Myers, CEO of Thrive Home Builders, Thrive Home Builders, Inc.
Dr. Eric Holt, Assistant Professor, University of Denver - Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 355C

EPA WaterSense Labeled Homes: A strategy to mitigate the impact of new development and build climate resiliency

The EPA's WaterSense Labeled Homes program provides builders, developers, and communities the opportunity to meet their housing goals while mitigating the impact of new development through water efficiency and carbon savings. Watersense labeled homes save at least 30% more water than typical new construction. They also contribute to the energy & carbon savings profile of each home through their efficient water use.

This session will provide an overview of the requirements to achieve certification as well as a deeper understanding of how WaterSense Homes can play a central role in a community’s ability to achieve their drought mitigation/ environmental impact plans, while still having the ability for new development.

Learning Objectives

Understanding of technical requirements to achieve certification
Identify appropriate water efficiency strategies
Gain insight on how program can support local water efficiency efforts
Understand the relationship between water savings and energy/carbon savings.

Presenters

Olga Cano, Environmental Engineer, EPA WaterSense Program
Jonah Schein, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 355E

A Preview of the 2024 IECC Residential Provisions

The session will provide an overview of the Residential requirements that will be in the 2024 IECC and the adoption process that led to them! It will provide insights into the new development process of the IECC, which includes the voting process and the consensus process. Participants will learn about the key measures which will frame the next version of the code and which measures failed to reach a consensus this cycle. Come join this session to learn how the model code is evolving to get to zero by 2030!

Learning Objectives

Learn about the IECC shift from a code process to a standard process.
Gain Insight into consensus development process
Peek into the next version of 2024 IECC Residential and the key measures
Insight into the measures with significant energy savings and more

Presenters

Shilpa Surana, 2050 Partners, Inc.
Gayathri Vijayakumar, Principal Mechanical Engineer, Steven Winter Associates

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Room 355E

Energy Code Compliance Training Based on DOE Field Studies Results

Proper training of trades professionals, such as insulation installers and HVAC installers is not only critical to high performing homes, but also to just achieving energy code compliance. Two field studies of nearly 200 randomly sampled homes under construction across Utah and Arizona evaluated seven energy code compliance elements with the greatest direct impact on residential energy consumption. Findings show that residents in these two states living in homes built fully in line with the current energy code would collectively cut their energy bills by $2.5 million each year. Carbon emissions savings would be cumulatively 52,000 metric tons annually. Program participants in each state developed energy code training to address the most expensive compliance gaps identified in the study. Utah developed a series of face-to-face workshops for Building Officials, HERS Raters, Builders and Trades Professionals delivered over a year, while Arizona created on-demand, on-line training with fewer face-to-face workshops throughout the state. This Session discusses the findings of the study and responses of the workforce building and inspecting homes to the training opportunities.

Learning Objectives

Recognize common code compliance failures.
Understand strategies for connecting with the workforce making those failures, then getting them to care about complying.
Learn training techniques that result in correct installations.
Identify resources available for creating in-house training.

Presenters

Kirsten Shaw, Principal/Owner, Advanced Energy Efficiency
Kevin Emerson, Director of Building Efficiency and Decarbonization, Utah Clean Energy

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
3:30 - 4:30 PM
Room 355E

Tackling Decarbonization with Passive Building

Passive building is a design methodology that utilizes passive conservation strategies to dramatically reduce energy use in buildings while also improving comfort, air quality, durability and resilience. Designing to Phius’ design standard and achieving Phius Certification is a critical first step toward decarbonization in the building industry, providing cost effective, future-proofed, quality assured low emission buildings. Phius sets a stringent baseline for net zero. Passive building loads are inherently flexible, making them great candidates for GEB-technology and facilitating the grid transition to renewable energy.

Learning Objectives

Recognize the core design principles and control strategies used in passive building.
Learn the options for Phius Certification, their applicability, and how to apply passive building to your next project.
Identify the non-energy benefits that tenants and occupants of passive buildings experience.
Explain the role passive buildings play in both mitigation and adaptation to climate change, including providing resilience at the building scale and grid scale.

Presenters

Lisa White, Associate Director, Phius

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 355F

A Path to Climate Positive Buildings: Strategies for Residential Construction

This presentation will explore strategies for designing climate positive housing. We will examine case studies of single-family and multi-family construction systems to create homes that sequester more carbon than they use. These designs are optimized for cost, energy, and embodied carbon leading to healthy, comfortable homes.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to identify the major sources of carbon in residential construction.
Participants will identify low carbon enclosures and structures.
Participants will analyze different rating systems and their impact on residential construction.
Participants will develop strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of their buildings.

Presenters

Trey Farmer, Architect, Forgecraft Architecture
Joshua Leger, Architect, Forgecraft Architecture

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 355F

Utility Decarbonization & Electrification Panel

Utilities across the U.S. are preparing for decarbonization in ways both similar and distinct. Utilities face unique challenges characterized by differences in geography, grid conditions, regulatory regimes, climate zones, customer preferences, and the imperative to serve communities of diverse needs and values. But these challenges cannot get in the way of transitioning to a decarbonized economy in an intentional, inclusive, and purpose-driven way. Utilities agree; the speed and trajectory of this transition will be shaped largely by how we construct and power new homes. Moderated by ENERGY STAR, hear from a panel of utility representatives as we discuss what utilities are doing to prepare for decarbonization. Program design, long term grid strategy, industry partnerships, and more. Learn what utilities are doing to support home builders on our collective path to zero. Attendees will hear perspectives from utilities in the West, Midwest, and Mid Atlantic.

Learning Objectives

How are utilities working with builders to accelerate decarbonization?
What are utilities doing to prepare for an increasingly electrified building stock?
How do these strategies differ in response to shifting policy, grid, and market conditions?
What are the different regional considerations utilities are finding as they help the market tackle decarbonization?

Presenters

Ben Schott, Senior Energy Efficiency Program Manager, BGE
Paul Campbell, Director, Energy & Sustainability Marketing, ICF International
Violeta Ryman, Sr. Program Manager, ComEd
Charles Kim, Sr. Engineer - Energy Codes and Standards, Southern California Edison
Curtis Bonn, Regulated Business & Market Development, SPAN

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
11:00 - 12:00 PM
Room 355F

Beyond Zero Energy - Reaching for Zero Carbon Homes

We've all heard about zero-carbon buildings, but what does that actually mean, and how do you get there? When it comes to homes, there are two kinds of carbon – operational carbon and embodied carbon. Operational carbon is the carbon emitted from the energy sources used to power the building. Homes built to modern energy codes are already reducing the operational carbon or carbon emissions due to a home’s energy usage for heating, cooling, and plug loads. And some above-code programs, like the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home Program, are aiming to eliminate operational carbon completely by greatly reducing loads and offsetting what energy consumption remains with onsite power generation and storage. But to truly get to zero-carbon, you have to address embodied carbon too - the carbon emissions related to the manufacture, transport, construction processes, and installation of all of the materials that go into constructing the home. In this presentation, we’ll explore embodied carbon and ways builders can reduce embodied carbon in their homes. We’ll look at embodied carbon assessments and talk about how builders, designers, and contractors can use them in building materials selection, construction processes, and waste reduction on site to help reduce a home’s embodied carbon We’ll discuss building designs that reduce both operational and embodied carbon emissions. And we’ll look at ongoing zero-carbon research supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, including an innovative effort to design a cradle-to-grave "Circular Home".

Learning Objectives

Define embodied carbon related to residential construction
Discuss ways construction professionals can minimize embodied carbon
Identify best practices for assessing building materials for carbon intensity
Identify where to find programs and resources to track operational and embodied carbon

Presenters

Chrissi Antonopoulos, Senior Analyst, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Patti Gunderson, PNNL

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Room 355F

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home–Leveraging Version 2 for Superior Efficiency, Market Recognition & 45L

DOE's Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) Version 2 program responds to the advancement of energy codes, the influx of innovative building technologies, and the urgency to reduce emissions to raise the bar on ZERH efficiency and performance. "V2" was released in late 2022 and will be available for use later this year. Beyond significant increases in efficiency, performance, and electric readiness, the arrival of V2 also includes refreshed marketing resources for builders to effectively communicate why these homes are so special. In this session the ZERH team will cover the updated V2 program requirements, marketing and communications resources for partners, and how ZERH certification can qualify a project for the 45L tax credit.

Learning Objectives

Summarize the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Version 2 program requirements
Communicate and market the benefits of Zero Energy Ready Homes
Discuss how to certify homes under the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Version 2 program
Describe how a ZERH certified home could qualify for the 45L tax credit

Presenters

Jaime Van Mourik, US DOE
Eric Werling, National Director, Building America
Jamie Lyons, Newport Partners LLC

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 251

Diving Deeper into ENERGY STAR NextGen New Homes and Apartments

EPA is releasing a new certification label for homes and apartments built with key next-generation features that advance operational decarbonization. ENERGY STAR NextGen starts with ENERGY STAR Single-Family New Homes v3.2 or Multifamily New Construction v1.2, and adds connected space-conditioning heat pumps, connected heat pump water heaters, electric cooking, and electric vehicle charging capability.

Learning Objectives

Understand the key features of the new program requirements and why EPA has included them.
Find out who is already using ENERGY STAR NextGen, including program sponsors.
Learn how to verify compliance with this specification.
Recognize how this label complements the current ENERGY STAR and DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes program.

Presenters

Asa Foss, Technical Director, EPA ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction Programs
Ben Park, Research Engineer, NREL

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 251

Tools & Tips for Balancing Operational and Embodied Carbon

When it comes to the impact of buildings on the environment, considering both operational and embodied carbon is critical. Balancing these can be a complex task, sometimes with conflicting outcomes. This session will provide multifamily case studies comparing modeled versus actual operational energy use and embodied carbon accounting. The presenter will share tools and resources to assess environmental performance of materials and systems and provide tips for making informed decisions to lower both operational and embodied carbon.

Learning Objectives

Examine the impact of buildings in relation to operational vs. embodied carbon
Determine which strategies to use when assessing materials and systems
Review case studies to determine predictions vs. actual energy usage and emissions
Understand how codes and standards are implementing embodied carbon accounting

Presenters

Karla Butterfield, Sustainability Director, Steven Winter Associates

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 355C

Builder Sustainability Leader Roundtable

Join builder sustainability leaders Corey Self with PulteGroup and Gene Myers with Thrive Home Builders in a conversation on sustainability initiatives and goals, ESG reporting and high-performance home building standards they are currently undertaking across their organizations. This panel will be hosted by Aaron Smith, CEO, Energy and Environmental Building Alliance.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand factors that are driving more sustainable home construction and builder commitments to running more sustainable operations.
2. Discover lessons learned in creating a Sustainability report across environmental, diversity and inclusion, workplace culture, community engagement, and governance practices.
3. Learn about key sustainability issues gleaned from stakeholders including shareholders, investors, federal and state government, employees and homeowners.
4. Learn about the process of reporting Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions under the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) protocol.

Presenters

Gene Myers, CEO of Thrive Home Builders, Thrive Home Builders, Inc.
Corey Self, Director – Corporate Sustainability and ESG Reporting, PulteGroup
Aaron Smith, CEO, EEBA
Joel Abney, Vice President of Operations, Woodside Homes

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
3:30 - 4:30 PM
Room 355C

Air-Source Heat Pumps in Cold Climates: Soup to Nuts

Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) can be fantastic systems that meet all of a home’s heating and cooling needs in cold climates. ASHPs can also deliver poor efficiency and poor comfort through poor design, installation, or operation. This session will focus on achieving excellent performance by following a holistic approach:

Be clear about goals
Consider the envelope
Calculate loads accurately (enough)
Design, configuration, distribution
Select right-sized, climate appropriate equipment
Use proper controls
Install well
Operate & maintain

The session will include many best practices and examples (both good and bad).

Learning Objectives

Consider the entire process for effective ASHP implementation
Design ASHP systems based on project-specific goals, loads, and configurations
Select best equipment to optimize comfort and efficiency
Install systems to meet project goals efficiently and reliably

Presenters

Robb Aldrich, Principal Mechanical Engineer, Steven Winter Associates

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 355F

Homebuilders Leading Decarbonization: A Reality

In this session, zero-carbon building expert and homebuilder, Chris Magwood, will present a comprehensive and positive message about decarbonization for new home builders. His presentation will focus on the industry's ability to mitigate or eliminate embodied carbon emissions (or even build homes to be net carbon storing) without impacting ongoing efforts to bring operational emissions to net zero. In fact, homebuilders can take immediate steps to achieve 30-50% emissions reductions at cost parity with currently available tools and code-compliant materials. He will introduce several active initiatives including a national standard to measure embodied carbon emissions in new homes developed by RESNET/ANSI, a climate commitment program designed for homebuilders, and a published paper describing the current state of embodied carbon emissions of low-rise homes and strategies to reduce them. The presentation will help provide attendees with clear directions for fast, practical, and cost-effective changes. The audience will walkaway understanding the major opportunity to meet current climate goals by reducing cradle-to-gate emissions from new homes and renovations, and how up-and-coming tools like the RESNET Standard and Commitment Program are shaping the market and policies to set up the homebuilding industry for success.

Learning Objectives

Identify four main material categories in residential construction that are the largest drivers of embodied emissions.
List three key strategies homebuilders can undertake to reduce the cradle-to-gate embodied emissions of their existing and future housing stock.
Explain the importance of addressing both embodied and operating emissions for holistic sector decarbonization.
Identify major initiatives and potential funding sources for addressing decarbonization.

Presenters

Chris Magwood, RMI & Builders for Climate Action

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 355F

Advanced Solutions for Air & Thermal Control Layers

Builders and designers seek ways to improve homes' airtightness and thermal performance. The need to improve envelope performance presents a solvable challenge and a significant opportunity to increase their projects' overall health, comfort, durability, and energy performance. Utility incentive programs and energy code pathways reward installing building envelopes with lower heat losses and gains, reductions in air leakage / thermal bridging, and greater resiliency, leading builders and tradespeople to evaluate new wall designs and strategies. This presentation will provide field-tested recommendations on the best practices to achieve advanced exterior air barriers and exterior insulation.

Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives:

1. Attendees will gain tangible design principles and construction practices that can be integrated directly into the design/building process.
2. The session will also cover energy code pathways and other policy drivers so that attendees can be informed of ways to future-proof their building designs, consider different benefits of these approaches, and make well-informed decisions.
3.This information will help attendees keep pace with the building code trajectory and stay ahead of homebuyer expectations.
4.Builders will learn how to cost-effectively increase home energy efficiency, air quality, comfort, durability, and resilience.

Presenters

Alex Boetzel, Head of Residential Innovations, Earth Advantage

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
9:00 - 10:00 AM
Room 355F

Cracking the Code: Compliance Paths and Climate-Right Building Assemblies for Meeting 2021 IECC

The goal of this presentation is to take the mystery out of energy code compliance and equip you with the context and tools for comfortable, repeatable success. The first part of this presentation will focus on five distinct IECC 2021 residential envelope compliance path options: THREE prescriptive approaches under R402 (the R-value table, the U-factor table, and the UA Alternative) and TWO performance path options: R405 Total Building Performance and R406 Energy Rating Index. Most builders will find they can rely on one of these five paths for the bulk of their residential projects, developing a reliable template for inclusion in construction documents that can clearly convey design intent with the entire team and speed documentation for punch lists and building department reporting requirements. We’ll also introduce a new 2021 IECC tool for builders with over 70 climate-specific building assembly drawings showing energy code-compliant roof, wall, foundation, and window details prepared by Building Science Corporation. This new "Climate Packages" tool is housed in DOE's free online builder resource, the Building America Solution Center. Prescriptive requirements of the 2021 IECC are presented in an easy-to-follow, climate-specific format with requirements linked to Solution Center how-to guides. Case studies show how real-world builders meet the 2021 IECC in various climates. We’ll also touch on key differences between the 2021 IECC and previous code versions and discuss potential savings. There are many good reasons to start building to the 2021 IECC now - code compliance if your state has already adopted it, certification through DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home program, qualification for the $5,000 per-home 45L tax credit, reduction of carbon emissions, or even “future proofing” your designs to compete with next year’s new homes. Whatever your motivation, we hope this presentation can get you started on the right path.

Learning Objectives

Understand the opportunities and benefits of each of five distinct approaches to validating an IECC-compliant design.
Develop a list of handy tricks and methods to make code compliance planning and documentation easier, including developing a relationship with ASHRAE standards that REALLY IS easy and helpful!
Learn about resources like code-compliant construction assembly details for every climate zone and real-world case studies of builders who are already meeting the 2021 IECC.
Learn the difference between theory and practice as it relates to energy code compliance, and how not to get bogged down in the lack of "perfect" products
Identify key differences between the 2021 IECC and previous versions of the code.

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
11:00 - 12:00 PM
Room 355E

Break

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
10:00 - 10:30 AM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Registration & Check-in

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
7:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 255

Break

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
11:30 - 11:45 AM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Opening Keynote with Will Sarni

Presenters

Will Sarni

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
11:45 - 1:15 PM
Room 251

Break

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
1:15 - 1:30 PM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Break

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
2:30 - 3:00 PM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Networking Reception

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
4:00 - 5:30 PM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Solar Decathlon Student Reception

Details Coming Soon

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
5:30 - 6:30 PM

Registration & Check-in

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
7:00 - 8:00 AM
Room 255

Break

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
9:00 - 9:30 AM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Break

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
10:30 - 11:00 AM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Break

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
12:00 - 12:30 PM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Break

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
1:45 - 2:00 PM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Networking Lunch

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Room 251

Break

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
3:00 - 3:30 PM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

Networking Reception

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
4:30 - 6:00 PM
Manufacturer's Showcase, Rooms 255 B-G

EEBA Building Excellence Awards Banquet - Ticketed Event

Ticketed Event

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
6:30 - 10:30 PM

Registration & Check-in

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
7:00 - 8:00 AM
Room 255

Winning Residential Student Designs with Solar Decathlon

Presenters

Holly Carr, Director, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 355B

Greywater 101 - Navigating the Residential and Commercial Space

From low rise to high rise, from grey, black, rain or storm, the reuse of water has never been more important. Whether it's irrigating, flushing toilets or direct potable reuse, the opportunity to reuse water is an emerging space, that has technology providers evolving their solutions while adapting to code changes and regulations, with the ultimate goal, building water efficient communities. Hydraloop and Greyter Water Systems will provide a roadmap of the water savings opportunities available for both residential and commercial buildings.

Learning Objectives

1. From linear to circular water management; why we need to adopt water recycling systems
2. Importance of building smart water sustainable homes with decentralized water recycling technologies
3. Low maintenance water recycling systems as an additional amenity to the smart home
4. Best practices - learn strategies and solutions that have the biggest impact on water savings (i.e. graywater recycling, leak detection)
5. Understanding land development and entitlements and how water offsets are becoming important part of site plan approvals
6. The future of water indexes and potential code requirements where water ratings and certifications assist in building permit approvals

Presenters

Melissa Lubitz, Director of Business Development, Hydraloop
John Bell, Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Founder, Greyter Water Systems

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
8:00 - 9:00 AM
Room 355E

Winning Build Challenge Design with Solar Decathlon

Presenters

Holly Carr, Director, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 355B

Networking Break

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
10:30 - 11:00 AM

Networking Break

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
9:00 - 9:30 AM

Heat Pump Water Heaters: Are They Efficient for All Homes Including New and Existing?

Heat pump water heaters are replacing gas and electric resistance water heaters as the most efficient way of heating water, reducing a home's carbon footprint, and saving homeowners money on their utility bills. With efficient electrification being promoted through incentives and mandates both nationally and regionally, the market sector is expected to achieve exponential growth this decade. But there are many installation and design considerations to take into account to ensure successful adoption of this technology in single and multifamily new construction. The object of this panel is to discuss how builders can successfully incorporate the game-changing technology into their homes and profile important considerations including design, siting, water distribution, installation and on-demand features, necessary for making heat pump water heaters a success. As Paul Harvey would say, "now for the rest of the story!"

Learning Objectives

Learn how effective heat pump water heaters are in a residential home and what the options are.
Discover whether every home consider a Heat Pump Water Heater, even though they only have access to 110/120 Amps.
Understand if plumbing design is necessary for Heat Pump Water Heaters.
Describe how controlled distribution of hot water is important for the efficiency of Heat Pump Water Heaters.
Identify how solar will work with Heat Pump Water Heaters.

Presenters

Larry Acker, CTO & Founder, ACT, Inc. D'MAND Kontrol Systems
Jay Epstein, Health-e-Community
Darrel McMaster, Sustainable Homes Inc.
Paul Campbell, Director, Energy & Sustainability Marketing, ICF International

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 355E

Closing Plenary

Presenters

Eric Amyot, Oliizoi

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
11:00 - 12:00 PM
Room 251

Summit Closes

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
12:00 - 12:30 PM

Invitation Only: Builder Benchmark Group & Board Luncheon

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
12:15 - 1:30 PM
Room 254B

Builder Benchmark Group Invitation Only: Tour of Woodside Homes

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
1:30 - 4:30 PM

Builder Benchmark Group Reception at Woodside Homes Design Center

460 W 50 N, STE 200
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Day 3: Oct 12, 2023
5:00 - 7:00 PM

Addressing Changing Energy Needs for Homeowners Today & Tomorrow

The homeowners’ relationship with energy is undergoing a dramatic shift. People are spending more time than ever in their homes resulting in greater energy use, while at the same time environmental challenges, an aging infrastructure and a global energy crisis are making that power both less reliable and more expensive. Homeowners are looking for new solutions to address these challenges and the industry is reexamining home electrification to create smart, sustainable homes that meet their needs. Using real-world examples from the country’s top builders, we’ll share how embracing new strategies and technologies can help companies differentiate themselves and grow their businesses.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to:
• Explain the need for greater home energy resiliency
• Understand the impact of increasing home electrification
• Assess opportunities for new business strategies to address changing customer needs
• Incorporate new strategies and technologies to address these challenges

Presenters

Bradford Wills, Director: Strategic Customers & Programs, Home & Distribution U.S.A, Schneider Electric

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
3:30 - 4:30 PM
Room 355F

Advancements in Solar and Battery Deployment for Builders

Join Dirk Korte of Sunnova as he hosts a panel discussion with Kirk Hammersmith of Pulte, Bill Rectanus of Thrive Home Builders and Joel Abney of Sekisui House Residential Holdings on how homebuilders are adopting solar and battery technology at scale across their developments, helping provide net zero and resilient offerings to today's home buyers.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn about no upfront cost solar programs for homebuilders and the states where this program is deployed.
2. Understand the scale of projects required to deploy no upfront cost solar.
3. Compare the benefits of offering net zero and resilience to your consumer through solar and battery programs.
4. Learn about the warranty options for your homeowners for programs like this.

Presenters

Joel Abney, Vice President of Operations, Woodside Homes
Bill Rectanus, VP of Operations, Thrive Home Builders
Dirk Korte, Sunnova
Kirk Hammersmith, PulteGroup

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Room 355E

Perfecting IAQ with Automation & Ventilation Strategies

The high-performance home continues to become more automated and how consumers interact with systems has changed drastically over the last few years. Let's discuss how the automation of indoor air quality integrates into the homeowner's experience and provides the high-performance builder peace of mind. We all know in order for a home to be high performing all of the systems must work efficiently together, but unfortunately the living habits of the homeowner moving in are ones we cannot control. This is where automation helps us define thresholds and remove the burden from homeowners when it comes to keeping the high performing home at its peak. Whether we will admit it or not, we're all guilty of forgetting to turn on the exhaust fan during a long hot shower or using the kitchen range hood before the fire detector goes off. It's these simple activities among many others where an automated indoor air quality system can actively mitigate the pollutants these types of events produce and provide peace of mind to a high-performance builder the integrity of the home they built remains intact regardless of what the homeowner is doing in their daily lives. This session will provide an overview of what automation's role is in indoor air quality and how it can be integrated into a high-performance home.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand what's in the air and the impacts to daily life.
2. Learn about the ventilation strategies and which is best in a high-performance home.
3. Discover what automation's role is and how it is implemented in high-performance homes.
4. Understand how we account for periods of poor outdoor air quality.

Presenters

Taz Khalil, Director - Overture Division, Broan-NuTone
Travis Rasch, Senior Product Manager, Broan-NuTone

Day 1: Oct 10, 2023
9:00 - 10:00 AM
Room 355C

Modeling Operational CO2 Emissions: RESNET®’s New Carbon Index

In 2022, RESNET published the third edition of its ANSI/RESNET/ICC Standard 301, which now includes a new CO2e Index. This first-of-its-kind index is based on hourly forward-looking CO2 emissions data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Cambium Database. The CO2e Index combines hourly energy simulations in RESNET®’s accredited software programs with Cambium’s hourly emissions data to provide a new metric that values when energy is used. This session will provide an overview of how the CO2e index works and show examples of how HERS® Index scores compare to CO2e Index scores.

Learning Objectives

Attendees will be able to:
• Describe the importance of rating the CO2e emissions of homes.
• Explain how CO2 emissions are calculated in Standard 301.
• Understand how CO2 Index scores compare to HERS® Scores
• Describe how homes are modeled for CO2 emissions

Presenters

Cy Kilbourn, Co-founder and Vice President of Engineering, Ekotrope
Ryan Meres, RESNET

Day 2: Oct 11, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Room 355B

Joel Abney

Vice President of Operations, Woodside Homes

Joel Abney is the Vice President of Operations at SH Residential Holdings, LLC and a proven executive with over 20 years of experience directing operational and procedural improvements across industries for maximum quality and efficiency.

He has demonstrated skill devising business growth strategies and identifying opportunities for streamlining, cost savings, and profitability. He has expertise recruiting, developing, motivating, and leading high-performance employee teams, and has a superb track record completing major projects to meet corporate requirements for schedule, budget, and accuracy. His specialties include management consulting, waste elimination, process improvement, claims administration, teambuilding & training, and lean process implementation.

Larry Acker

CTO & Founder, ACT, Inc. D'MAND Kontrol Systems

Larry K. Acker CTO (Founder) ACT INC. D’MAND KONTROL SYSTEMS Acker has been involved in the study and research of energy & water conservation products for the last 45 years. Acker has received over 20 patents on systems and electronics specifically on hot water distribution controls and is consider a leading authority on Hot Water Distribution Systems. Larry invented “ON D’MAND® electronic pumping systems and designed STURCTURED PLUMBING®” currently being applied to residential and commercial buildings. Acker has extensive experience of over ten years working in Asia, Australia and other countries on marketing procedures and sustainable programs. Acker has been a featured speaker at several national and international conferences such as ASHRAE, IAPMO, AWWA, ACEEE, PHCC and the SB-08 International Energy Conference in Melbourne Australia in 2008 and the Australian Master Green Plumbers Conference in Australia in 2005. Acker has written articles that have appeared in National Trade Magazines over the last 15 years on sustainability for residential buildings. His experience in the building industry includes being the past Chairman of the PCB (West Coast Building Conference). NAHB Codes Committee and CBIA Energy Committee are a few of the appointed committee’s positions. Acker has been involved with ACEEE Hot Water Forum from the inception of the group.

Robb Aldrich

Principal Mechanical Engineer, Steven Winter Associates

Robb Aldrich is a Principal Mechanical Engineer in Steven Winter Associates’ Connecticut office. He has been with the firm since 2000. Robb focuses on building energy systems: researching new technologies, monitoring performance of systems, and working with stakeholders across the country to create better, healthier, more efficient buildings.

Before joining SWA, Robb received a master’s degree from the Building Systems Program at the University of Colorado and worked for several years designing, commissioning, and repairing solar electric and solar thermal systems.

Eric Amyot

Oliizoi

Chrissi Antonopoulos

Senior Analyst, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Chrissi Antonopoulos joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Portland office in 2010 and has worked on a broad range of projects ranging from green buildings, residential energy efficiency, techno-economic analysis, appliance efficiency standards and smart grid development. Chrissi is currently Senior Analyst working with the Energy Technology Market Adoption Team to enhance the presence of green technologies in the commercial marketplace. Current work includes analysis of green building technology diffusion in the building sector, valuation of energy efficient residential homes, assessment of wall systems for residential deep energy retrofits, and residential indoor air quality.

John Bell

Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Founder, Greyter Water Systems

John Bell is Chief Commercial Officer and co-Founder of Greyter Water Systems (2012). Greyter Water Systems offers industry proven out-of-the-box water reuse management solutions, which reduce the water and wastewater demands of commercial and residential buildings. Bell has been actively involved in the water conservation and greywater recycling industry since 2009. A former sports broadcaster, Bell has over a decade of television experience, which included hosting World’s Greenest Homes, which featured some of the most sustainable builds around the world (HGTV Canada/Daily Planet Green U.S.A). Bell has worked in the construction industry for more than a decade, as an energy evaluator (HERS Rater) and project manager for renovations and new builds. Currently residing on Ocala Florida, Bell works with builders, land developers and municipalities, with the ultimate goal of creating water efficient communities.

Alex Boetzel

Head of Residential Innovations, Earth Advantage

Alex is Head of Residential Innovations at Earth Advantage and applies his 30 years of experience in sustainable design and construction to research and training, helping to make the benefits of high-performance building available to everyone. Alex has deep knowledge of building science and its real-world applications and is an expert in low-carbon building assemblies and systems. Since 2006 Alex has made meaningful contributions to some of the first LEED for Home, Passive House, and Zero Energy projects in the Pacific Northwest, including the first commercial Living Building in Oregon and ZE multifamily projects in the PNW.

Curtis Bonn

Regulated Business & Market Development, SPAN

Adam Broderick

Lead Scientist, DuPont Performance Building Solutions

Adam is a Lead Scientist at DuPont Performance Building Solutions, where his focus is on product innovation and new application methods to accelerate widespread adoption of improved air sealing techniques within the residential building community. After spending 10 years in the area of Materials Science and Engineering, Adam has worked for the past 5 years to apply a deep understanding of material design, combined with insights into current air sealing practices and Building Science, to deliver novel solutions in the air sealing product space. For the past 2 years, Adam has served as a building envelope consultant and regular construction volunteer / crew lead for the local Habitat for Humanity affiliates.

Kevin Brozyna

VP of Operations, Insight Homes

Kevin Brozyna is Vice President of Operations at Insight Homes of Bridgeville, Delaware, and previously served as Director of Operations for Insight from 2013 to 2019. Insight Homes has been certifying homes through DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home program since2018 and now has 510 homes certified. Insight has certified more homes per year than any other builder in the program the past two years. Before coming to Insight, Kevin cultivated his building science expertise while working for the high-performance construction consulting firm IBACOS in Pittsburgh, where he served 6 years as a Building Performance Specialist, then moved up to become the Program Manager for International Technology and Information. He started out his career as a construction manager for Arcadis Geraghty & Miller International from Mahwah, NJ.

Rebecca Bryant

Principal, WATERSHED

Rebecca Dunn Bryant, AIA is the principal of W A T E R S H E D, a sustainable design and consulting firm she founded in 2008 in Fairhope, Alabama. Rebecca is a registered architect and sustainability consultant, with over 24 years of experience in sustainable design and construction. Her experience covers a broad range of project types, from civic and educational to mixed use, commercial, and custom residential projects. Her passion is creating sustainable built environments that inspire a greater connection to the natural world. Rebecca is the first LEED Fellow and the first Living Building Professional in the state of Alabama. She lectures frequently, and divides her practice between architectural design, consulting, and education, in order to cultivate and grow the market for resilient, healthy, high performance buildings in the deep south.

Karla Butterfield

Sustainability Director, Steven Winter Associates

Ms. Butterfield has worked to improve the sustainability and energy efficiency of residential buildings for over 25 years. She is focused on delivering exceptional sustainability consulting services, program certification support, and implementation of high-performance building technologies. Working with architects, developers, builders, and homeowners, Karla develops tailored sustainability strategies for both new construction and renovations.
As a top expert in her field, Karla is frequently asked to speak at events and conferences nationwide, including the RESNET, WaterSmart Innovations, Northeast Indoor Air Quality & Energy, Passive House, and ENERGY STAR conferences, as well as Greenbuild and many others.
Karla is an integral part of the initial strategic planning sessions and stakeholder workshops based on program criteria; she verifies projects pursuing the LEED® for Homes, Passive House, ENERGY STAR, National Green Building Standard (NGBS), Zero Energy Ready Homes, Indoor airPLUS, and WaterSense programs. She is also one of only fourteen NGBS Master Verifiers, a voting member on the 2020 NGBS consensus committee and a technical advisor to Home Innovation Research Labs. Karla is a board member on the nationally recognized Team Zero group and member of the NAHB sustainability committee.

Matt Cable

Enbridge Gas, Inc.

In the Technology and Development group at Enbridge Gas Inc, Matt leads a group with a mandate to support the development of new technologies, innovations, and energy solutions that will help the company better serve its customers and contribute to Ontario’s climate change goals. Matt uses his skills with energy modeling, measurement and verification, thermal scanning, and building performance management to guide teams to low-energy solutions. He has a unique ability to explain complex technical concepts to design teams and facilitate the optimization of new and existing buildings. Previous to Enbridge - Matt was a Sustainability Consultant at several integrated design firms, collaborating with architects and engineers to make some of Canada’s greenest projects. He has a bachelor's and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Queen’s University.

Paul Campbell

Director, Energy & Sustainability Marketing, ICF International

Olga Cano

Environmental Engineer, EPA WaterSense Program

Olga M. Cano is an Environmental Engineer in the Homes Program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense® Program. She is involved in the development and implementation of the WaterSense Homes specification and certification system. She supports program implementation and leads educational efforts on water efficiency for industry stakeholders. Through this program, the EPA aims to promote water efficient system and practices in the residential sector. Prior to joining EPA in 2015, Ms. Cano worked as an architect in the hospitality and residential sector for 7+ years and then went on to serve in the Peace Corps as a Water & Sanitation Volunteer in Peru as part of the Peace Corps Masters International Program. Ms. Cano holds a B.A. in Architecture from Florida International University and a Masters of Science in Environmental Engineering from Michigan Technological University.

Holly Carr

Director, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

Holly Jamesen Carr is the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, a collegiate competition, comprising 10 contests, that challenges student teams to create highly efficient and innovative zero energy buildings. She also manages the Buildings Upgrade Prize, designed to support the transformation of existing buildings to run on clean energy. Ms. Carr has managed DOE’s Better Buildings Alliance and Green Lease Leaders program, both aimed at market transformation in the commercial building sector. While on detail to the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Ms. Carr developed the Build it Better program, incentivizing international development construction projects to improve energy and water efficiency and incorporate renewable energy. Previous to her work at DOE, Ms. Carr managed dozens of public, private and federal sustainability projects, assisting clients to implement environmentally preferable strategies for building design, construction, and occupancy. She is a LEED accredited professional.

Stefanie Coleman

Chief Sustainability Officer, Doug Tarry Homes

Stefanie Coleman is Chief Sustainability Officer of Doug Tarry Homes.

She started her career in construction in 2005 as a self-employed renovation contractor. Over the years she completed numerous building science training courses and earned a number of certifications including BCIN-House, Certified Energy Advisor (EnerGuide, ENERGY STAR for New Homes), HRAI Residential Air Systems Design Technician, Thermographer, and Radon Measurement and Mitigation. She is currently completing her Master of Environment and Business at the University of Waterloo. Before joining Doug Tarry Homes, she served as Marketing and Business Development Manager for Building Knowledge Canada, a leading building science consulting firm that helps Canadian home builders to design and construct sustainable homes people love to live in.

Stefanie has been a strong advocate and volunteer for the home building industry and served on numerous committees at the local, provincial and national levels of the association. She was a founding member of the CHBA Net Zero Council's Management Committee, served on the Building Code Conservation Advisory Council for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and currently sits on two CSA committees as well as a National Building Code sub-committee (Canada). She is the honored recipient of the EnerQuality Leader of the Year Award for 2019. Stefanie served on the Canadian Home Builders' Association Executive from 2015-2021 and served her term as CHBA National President in 2019/2020."

Gord Cooke

Partner - Professional Engineer, Construction Instruction

Gord Cooke is a Partner with Construction Instruction Inc. Gord is a professional engineer with over 25 years of experience in the low and high-rise residential building industry. As an educator, industry consultant and much sought after presenter, Gord has a unique talent for taking the building science issues that he sees in the field, and presenting them in an easily understood and practical real-world manner. Gord has particular expertise in applied building science, energy efficient housing initiatives, innovative HVAC systems, ventilation and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). He has developed and delivered a multitude of workshops in these fields, as well as sales and marketing courses for builders and real estate agents to help them best promote the features and benefits of high performance houses.

Katherine Cort

PNNL

Katherine Cort is an economist with PNNL and team lead of the Residential Windows Market Transformation program. Ms. Cort has over 20 years of experience analyzing energy-efficiency programs, technologies, and research and provides technical support for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Building Technologies Program. She manage research projects into high-R windows, window retrofits, and window attachments including storm windows, automated blinds, and shading devices.

Ed Davis

VP of Sales, Enertech Global

Ed Davis is the Vice President of Sales at Enertech Global. With over 25 years of experience within the HVAC industry, Ed manages Enertech's Sales, Customer Relations, and Field Training teams.

Leigha Dickens

Green Building and Sustainability Manager, Deltec Homes

Industry position: building/manufacturing
I majored in Physics and Environmental Science, because it was interesting, doing several undergraduate research projects that were focused on sustainable energy. I had no idea what to do with that, but it turned out building science was a good fit. I started as an intern at Deltec Homes in 2010 and stayed on to eventually become their head of building science. I got certified as a HERS Rater. I consult with custom home clients on building science, manage building science details for our in-house builder, and I work with company marketing, product development, and general strategy toward high performance homes and corporate sustainability.
I took a slight detour during the pandemic to manage the Green Built Homes program, my region’s local third-party verification program, for a local non-profit. I returned to Deltec, but still serve on that non-profit board.
I’m now on the ASRHAE 62.2 residential ventilation committee.

Ankur Dobriyal

Module Housing

Ankur comes from a background in civil engineering and architecture-engineering-construction (AEC) management. Leading Module's modular construction and supply chain efforts over the last few years has brought him great experience in the workings of a modular manufacturer and how the assembly line approach of modular construction is ripe for standardization. He has successfully led the team into adoption of standard modular designs and is now working on standardizing other components such as HVAC and building envelope. He is a big proponent of Zero Energy Ready Homes and sees adoption of energy-efficient technologies across the industry as the next phase in housing construction. Ankur is also currently leading three pilot projects with non-profit affordable housing providers in the City of Pittsburgh which will bring DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes within reach for income-constrained buyers. This includes 33 units in total, of which 25 will be sold at below 80% area median income (AMI). Module's next phase led by Ankur aims to bring a modular manufacturing facility to Pittsburgh. The facility will bring ~95 jobs to the region and build upwards of 200 homes a year. The facility is proposed to be fully operational Q1 2025.

Scott Doyle

Technical Director Quality Assurance, RESNET

Scott Doyle Scott Doyle is the Technical Director of Quality Assurance and Training for RESNET. Since earning Rater Certification in 2003, Scott has performed inspections on thousands of homes across a variety of construction types and climate zones. In 2007 he became a RESNET certified Quality Assurance Designee. As Primary QAD for multiple HERS Providers, he oversaw and mentored a large team of Quality Assurance Designees and Delegates. As an instructor, Scott has trained hundreds of Energy Professionals across the U.S. using a variety of formats including field, classroom, and e-learning. He has been directly involved in industry standard development through committee appointments and has served as a volunteer subject matter expert for multiple industry certification exams.

Rick Dunn

Senior Product and Market Transformation Manager, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)

Rick Dunn is a Senior Product and Market Transformation Manager with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) where he leads market transformation efforts focused on advanced and energy-efficient building design and construction practices. Rick has over 20 years of experience in a wide range of strategic roles, utilizing his small business acumen, analytical and technical competencies and creativity to unravel problems, create innovative solutions, develop markets, and overcome barriers to market adoption of advanced technologies and practices.

Kevin Emerson

Director of Building Efficiency and Decarbonization, Utah Clean Energy

Kevin is the lead for energy efficiency and building decarbonization programs, policy, and regulatory activities for Utah Clean Energy. Kevin has spearheaded efforts to pass local and state policies to enable innovative financing clean energy projects, improvements to energy codes for Utah homes and buildings, advanced energy transparency for residential, municipal and commercial buildings, and championed policies to expand electric vehicle incentives and infrastructure. He is a regular participant in Demand-side Management Advisory Groups for both Rocky Mountain Power and Dominion Energy. Previously, Kevin served as a public member of Utah’s Uniform Building Code Commission and a consultant on Salt Lake City’s Elevate Buildings initiative. He also co-chaired the Building Efficiency Committee for the State of Utah’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan, and served on the Energy Management Program Advisory Committee for Salt Lake Community College. Kevin graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Utah and an M.Sc. in Environmental Sustainability from the University of Edinburgh.

Jay Epstein

Health-e-Community

Marla Esser Cloos

Green Home Coach, LLC

Marla Esser Cloos is the principal of Green Home Coach with 15+ years working with green certified homes and projects and applying the knowledge gained through her accreditations - NAHB Master Certified Green Professional, LEED AP, NAR Green Designee and Wellness Within Your Walls Certified Professional.
Through Green Home Coach programs and partnerships, she helps people and businesses discover and create better homes to live in or work on for healthier, more comfortable lives. When she saw a need for more outreach about the benefits and value of green homes and living, Marla founded and hosts the Everyday Green Home podcast. Her curated collection of healthier and greener products comes from her years of research and experience with green homes. Find them online in her Everyday Green Home shop online.
Marla is president-elect of the Oklahoma Renewable Energy Council. She is a member of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Sustainability and Green Building Subcommittee, NAHB Knowledge and Innovation Subcommittee and the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association, as well as an affiliate member of the Edmond Board of Realtors. As a leader in the Professional Women in Building (PWB) of Central OK and Build My Future OKC she helps produce an interactive, hands-on construction career day, and Build My Future Online for high school students. She is also helping to produce Construct My Future – a day camp for middle schoolers. Although she works anywhere through the wonders of technology, she and her husband live in the Oklahoma City area with their dog, Mika.

Trey Farmer

Architect, Forgecraft Architecture

TREY FARMER, AIA received his M.Arch from The University of Texas at Austin and has 15 years of experience in sustainable design and construction. He came to Austin from New Hampshire via New Zealand and Northern California where he worked and studied English, architecture, permaculture and natural building. He is a LEED AP (BD+C) and a Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC) as well as a certified permaculture designer and teacher. Trey is on the Austin Passive House Alliance Board and the national Passive House Alliance Council. He spends his free time with his wife, son and fur-child on the greenbelt, in their garden or in their certified Passive House home.

Betsy Farrell Garcia

Assistant Research Professor, Auburn University

Betsy Farrell Garcia joined Auburn University's Rural Studio as Assistant Research Professor after twelve years in private practice. A registered architect in Massachusetts, her experience ranges from master planning and design to construction and delivery of award-winning projects. Her professional practice in high-performance arts, higher education, and K-12 facilities informs her work envisioning and designing efficient, resilient, and equitable housing for communities that need it most. As a research professor with Front Porch Initiative, Garcia leverages Rural Studio’s long history of collaborating with our West Alabama neighbors to address housing needs throughout the Southeast and beyond. Her strong belief in Rural Studio’s community-driven mission motivates her in furthering its valuable research. She is a LEED Accredited Professional familiar with a number of sustainability metrics who seeks to integrate passive systems seamlessly into architecture.

Asa Foss

Technical Director, EPA ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction Programs

Asa Foss joined EPA’s ENERGY STAR Residential Branch in 2020, where he’s responsible for developing a decarbonization-focused new construction specification. He’s been in the residential efficiency industry since the early 2000s, including a decade at the US Green Building Council, where he was responsible for the development of the LEED for Homes rating systems. He renovated and lives in a designated-historic ENERGY STAR certified home in Washington, DC.

Leada Fuller-Marashi

Senior Project Manager, New Buildings Institute

Leada Fuller-Marashi is a Senior Project Manager in New Buildings Institute’s Leadership & Market Development Program. She leads the Getting to Zero Forum, a major industry conference co-hosted by NBI and RMI dedicated to building decarbonization. Leada also developed and manages Next Gen, NBI’s professional development program for college students designed to foster diversity in the building industry. The program is now in its second year and has doubled in size. In addition to her project work, she is champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion at New Buildings Institute and participates in the organization’s staff committee dedicated to DEI.

Dean Gamble

Technical Manager, EPA

Dean Gamble is the technical manager for EPA’s ENERGY STAR Single-Family New Homes program, which he has helped support, define, and implement for over 20 years. With over 2.2 million homes certified, ENERGY STAR is the nation’s largest voluntary residential market transformation program, delivering cost-effective energy-efficient homes while improving their durability, comfort, and quality.

Billy Giblin

Quality Assurance Field Specialist, RESNET

Billy Giblin is the Quality Assurance Field Specialist with RESNET. Billy Giblin has worked in the high-performance building and energy efficiency industry for almost 15 years. He started this work with a general contractor doing new and retrofit construction. Billy later earned a degree in Energy Management. He then went to work with Nexant, providing quality assurance for utility new home programs and state existing home programs. Billy has been an active HERS Rater since 2011 and is a RESNET Quality Assurance Designee. He has completed over a thousand QA field inspections and performance tests of HERS rated new homes. Billy played a prominent role in Utah in HERS Rater training, mentoring and technical support, as well as providing QA, training, and technical support to builders and trade contractors. As RESNET’s Quality Assurance Field Specialist, Billy travels around the country and works with the RESNET Provider and Rater network to mentor and create greater consistency in the delivery of HERS Ratings. He also provides technical assistance to RESNET’s Provider and Rater network. Billy is a regular presenter at RESNET conferences and appears regularly on RESNET’s podcasts, webinars, and on-demand virtual trainings. He also presented on an EEBA Webinar in 2022.

Theresa Gilbride

Building Energy Efficiency Researcher, PNNL

Theresa (Terri) Gilbride is a building energy efficiency researcher with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, where she supports the U.S. Department of Energy as a content manager for DOE’s Building America and Zero Energy Ready Home programs. Terri has authored or co-authored 28 reports and 35 articles on residential energy efficiency and related topics. She served as the lead editor and an author on the Building America best practice guides, a 17-volume series including climate-specific guides for high-performance home builders in all U.S. climate zones and retrofit guides on air sealing, insulation, and HVAC. She has given more than 20 talks on building performance topics at national and international conferences in the last five years. She has also published on building codes and emerging technologies such as window attachments, solid state lighting, and HVAC. Terri is the content manager for the Building America Solution Center, an online resource for home builders and remodelers that receives about 60,000 visits per month.

Patti Gunderson

PNNL

Patti Gunderson joined PNNL in 2021 and supports several projects on the Technology Integration team in the Building Systems group. A particular strength is collaborating with manufacturers, designers, builders, and the trades to understand and overcome barriers to adoption of optimized building technologies.

Patti most recently spent nearly six years at an independent research testing and certification lab in the Building Science division where she proposed, designed, and led research projects to study constructability, functionality, accessibility, energy efficiency, and durability of buildings.

Prior to that, Patti worked as a mechanical design engineer at an international AE firm, on numerous high-profile projects including embassies, medical centers, university law schools and the flagship Net Zero Brock Environmental Center for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a project which also earned the Living Building Challenge Certification.

Patti has a BA in Music, Literature and Philosophy and a BS in Architectural Engineering - achieved two decades apart, both from the University of Wyoming.

Sara Gutterman

Green Builder Media

As Co-Founder and CEO of Green Builder Media, North America’s leading media company focused on sustainable living, Sara has established a reputation as a visionary thought leader and passionate advocate for sustainability. She works closely with a diverse group of stakeholders in the building industry to develop impactful, long-term green strategies that are simultaneously sustainable and profitable.
A former venture capitalist, she has participated in a portion of the life cycle (from funding to exit) of over 20 companies. She graduated from Dartmouth College and holds an MBA in entrepreneurship and finance from the University of Colorado. She lives in Lake City, Colorado with her husband, where she is an avid long-distance runner, snowboarder, and CrossFit trainer. Sara runs the Rural Segment for Energize Colorado and served as a County Commissioner.

Kirk Hammersmith

PulteGroup

Claudette Hanks Reichel

Louisiana State University AgCenter

Dr. Claudette Hanks Reichel is a recently retired Professor Emeritus of Louisiana State University AgCenter Extension Service. She had spearheaded and served as Director of LaHouse Resource Center, a demonstration house on campus exhibiting multiple high performance housing solutions and the hub of Extension education programs to advance efficient, resilient and healthy housing for the southeast region climate and natural hazards.
Reichel developed numerous educational outreach programs and resources relating to housing and residential building science, including energy-efficiency, healthy homes, hurricane and flood resilience and others. She has authored more than 100 Extension publications, presented at numerous professional events (including EEBA), was twice a featured speaker at the National Building Museum in Washington DC and the Westford Building Science Symposium, and has received 12 national and state level awards for program excellence and impact.

Kevin Harris

Director, Sales & Marketing, AGS Stainless, Inc.

Since 2013 Kevin Harris has served as Director of Sales & Marketing for AGS Stainless, Inc. He is also the host of the radio show; "Designing and Building Your Dream Home" Mr. Harris has an extensive track record in business development, marketing, communications, and sales. Prior to his position with AGS Stainless, Mr. Harris founded 4 industry-leading firms including 2-information technology firms; one specializing in the creation of web-based process management tools for Fortune 100 corporations and one that specialized in building predictive modeling applications for federal agencies. He also founded a real estate development firm that spearheaded the restoration and redevelopment of a historic seaport community's downtown waterfront and he co-founded a state-chartered community bank, which at its founding, was the fastest bank to receive a charter in the history of Washington State. Two of the four companies he founded were sold to publicly traded corporations. Over the years he has served on the Board of Directors for numerous non-profit organizations including the Economic Development Council of Jefferson County (in Washington State), Centrum (an Arts and Education organization), and the Jefferson County Historical Society (in Washington State). Mr. Harris currently serves on the Board of Trustees for both the National Association of Home Builders Remodelers Council, the NAHB Single Family Builders Committee, the NAHB Leading Suppliers Council (made up of 120 of the leading architectural product manufacturers), as well as on the Executive Committee of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 3,000 member Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN).

Bill Hayward

CEO, Hayward Lumber; Hayward Score

Bill is the founder and CEO of Hayward Score, as well as the CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer of Hayward Lumber, a 100-year-old California lumber and building material supplier. Since 2008, when he, his wife and their newborn daughter became sick in their “dream home,” Bill has been focused on combining building science and medical science into a compelling strategy to transform home construction so that homes will no longer degrade human health. LMB Journal, the leading magazine for the lumber/building material distribution channel, named him Entrepreneur of the Year (2015). In addition, he was named “20 Most Influential Leaders in the Industry” and Hayward Lumber was named “Dealer of the Year” for their work in driving sustainability in the industry. On the non-profit side, he is Chairman Emeritus of FSC US and Chaired the Forest Stewardship Council US for 5 years. He received his BS from UCLA and graduated from the Stanford Executive Program (2006).

Randall Higa

Codes and Standards Program and Building Electrification Consulting Engineer, Southern California Edison

Randall Higa is the Codes and Standards Program and Building Electrification Consulting Engineer and is leading the building electrification codes strategies at Southern California Edison. Randall is also involved with buildings and grid integration issues including how buildings can better support the grid. Prior to working at SCE, Randall worked at Sempra Energy Utilities managing various customer programs, regulatory proceedings, and energy efficiency programs and including residential and commercial building new construction programs. He began his engineering and architectural career at CTG Engineers and Albert C. Martin and Associates prior to embarking on his current utility career. Randall graduated from UCLA, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences where he studied mechanical engineering and thermal sciences. Randall is a licensed mechanical engineer in California and Arizona. Randall is currently serving on the ASHRAE Task Force on Building Decarbonization Grid-Building Intersection working group and various other ASHRAE committees.

Tom Hines

Principal, Tierra Resource Consultants

Tom Hines is a residential energy efficiency expert with more than 15 years of experience working with over 30 utilities nationwide. He holds a masters degree in Environmental Planning from Arizona State University. Since 1998, Tom has managed residential energy efficiency programs for Arizona Public Service Company (APS), based in Phoenix Arizona. In this position, he works closely with local builders and contractors to help provide information and education on energy efficient practices and building science principles.

Tom promotes energy efficient heating/cooling contractors through the APS Qualified Contractor program, energy efficient lighting through the APS residential ENERGY STAR lighting program, and energy efficient homebuilders through the APS ENERGY STAR Homes program.

Dr. Eric Holt

Assistant Professor, University of Denver - Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management

Dr. Eric Holt is an Assistant Professor in the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver (DU). He teaches Construction Building Systems, Introduction to Architecture & Design Management, and Construction Estimating. He has 30 years of experience in the construction industry. His career includes construction material sales and marketing, plan reviewer and building inspector, custom/production home project manager, and small business owner and architectural designer for new homes and remodeling projects. Eric earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University in Construction Management. He serves on the NAHB Student Chapter Advisory Board at the national level and as the DU NAHB Student Chapter Faculty Advisor. His research focuses on the housing industry around alternative building methods, Carbon and ESG for SFH, workforce development, and the technology utilized in construction.

Rob Howard

President, Howard Building Science

Nick Hurst

Program Manager - Indoor airPLUS, EPA

Nick Hurst is an Environmental Protection Specialist with the US EPA and the Program Manager of EPA’s Indoor airPLUS label for homes. He’s been involved in the construction industry for over 20 years as a framer, a self-employed remodeler, a project manager for custom homes, and a green building consultant/trainer.
Nick earned a Master’s in Technology concentrating in Building Science from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and he later served as Education and Outreach Director for the NC Energy Efficiency Alliance at ASU’s Energy Center. Before joining EPA, Nick worked as a consultant at ICF in their Federal Energy Efficiency portfolio.
Nick has done training under numerous national certification programs (BPI, RESNET, USGBC, PHIUS) and participates with standard setting organizations and technical committees, including ASHRAE 62.2 and ANSI/AARST CCAH. Nick also serves as a technical advisor for the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) Board of Directors."

Justin Jobe

Sales & Field Applications Engineer, Enertech Global

Justin Jobe is the Sales and Field Applications Engineer at Enertech Global. He travels throughout the US, assisting with advanced installations for geothermal and air-to-water heat pumps. Additionally, Justin is the territory manager for the west coast and supports geothermal contractors with any needs they have.

Christian Kaltreider

PNNL

Christian Kaltreider joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2022, with 15 years of prior experience working in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and residential construction. His primary work at PNNL currently includes the development of Extreme Heat content for the Disaster Resistance tool of the Building America Solution Center.
Before joining PNNL he worked as an engineering consultant on energy savings performance contracts, net-zero energy projects, and high-performance HVAC design efforts. He holds a master’s degree in building systems engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Prior to his university studies Mr. Kaltreider worked in residential construction for 5 years, gaining hands-on experience with every phase of the construction process. His interests and expertise include building science, HVAC systems and controls, renewable energy, passive solar building design, biomass heating, and low-tech innovation. He was awarded U.S. Patent #11026500 as sole inventor in June 2021.

Taz Khalil

Director - Overture Division, Broan-NuTone

Taz Khalil is the Director of the Overture division at Broan-NuTone, a leading manufacturer of residential ventilation products including ventilation fans, supply fans, H/ERVs, range hoods and Automated air quality systems. Taz has been with Broan for 3 years with the majority of that time spent in product development/marketing management. In his current position, his responsibilities include leading sales, engineering and marketing as it relates to the Overture Indoor Air Quality System. Taz brings both a technical product development mindset along with a solid foundation of building science to design and implement Automated indoor air quality systems around the country.

Cy Kilbourn

Co-founder and Vice President of Engineering, Ekotrope

Cy Kilbourn is co-founder and Vice President of Engineering at Ekotrope, a software company that makes HERS Rating software solutions and utility program solutions used by 1 in 4 new homes, as well as business intelligence solutions for Builders and Building Product Manufacturers. He spent time at Brown University and M.I.T. developing the patented algorithms behind Ekotrope software and led the development effort to establish Ekotrope as a RESNET accredited HERS Rating software. Cy is also a member of the Board of Directors at RESNET, a leader in energy efficiency standards for new home construction. Throughout his career, he has worked with some of the largest utility efficiency programs, national home builders, and HERS Rating companies to streamline processes and improve energy decisions.

Charles Kim

Sr. Engineer - Energy Codes and Standards, Southern California Edison

Gary Klein

Gary Klein & Associates

Gary Klein, President of Gary Klein & Associates, Inc. has been intimately involved in energy efficiency and renewable energy since 1974. One fifth of his career was spent in the Kingdom of Lesotho, the rest in the United States. Mr. Klein has a passion for hot water: getting into it, getting out of it and efficiently delivering it to meet customer's needs. After serving 19 years with the California Energy Commission, he has provided consulting on sustainability since 2008, with an emphasis on the water-energy-carbon connection. Mr. Klein received a BA from Cornell University in 1975 with an Independent Major in Technology and Society with an emphasis on energy conservation and renewable energy. The International Association of Plumber and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) recognized his efforts in 2014 presenting him their Green Professional of the Year award. In 2015 the Department of Energy awarded him the Jeffrey A. Johnson Award for Excellence in in the Advancement of Building Energy Codes.

Dirk Korte

Sunnova

Andrew Kosick

Creative Rebuilding Co.

Andrew is a home performance contractor in Midland Michigan and a certified HERS Energy Rater. He holds a BA in Construction Management from Central Michigan University. As a licensed residential builder, he spent years remodeling homes and discovering the many underlying problems affecting the comfort and durability of existing housing. He now works to improve the performance of new and existing homes through verification testing, performance analysis, HVAC design, and home retrofits. He also teach building science fundamentals as adjunct faculty member at Delta College. Presentation experience includes presenting at Habitat of Humanity of Michigan’s HOMES Summit on the benefits and challenges of all-electric homes in cold climates

Mark LaLiberte

Co-Founder and President, Construction Instruction

Joshua Leger

Architect, Forgecraft Architecture

Josh Leger, NCARB, AIA was born in the Ozarks, lived in the desert of Arizona, and now resides in Austin, Texas. He received degrees in Architectural Studies and Sustainability from Arizona State University. After a short stint coaching basketball, he moved to Texas and received his Master of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked at Lake Flato Architects and McKinney York Architects. He is currently an Architect at Forge Craft Architecture + Design, Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, and Chair of AIA Austin Committee on the Environment.

Shawn LeMons

Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC

Shawn LeMons is a Performance Construction Manager (CO, AZ, UT, WY)
Shawn is part of the Performance Construction Team with Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC, focused on efficient cooling and heating system for residential new construction. He has held certifications as a LEED Green Rater, PHIUS+ Verifier, HERS Rater, BPI professional, ICC Residential Energy Inspector, Level 1 Thermographer, and earned a BS in Business from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has 25 years of experience in the residential building industry with small and large companies, non-profits, and volunteer work. Since 2009, he has completed analysis and advising on over 6 million square feet of residential and commercial buildings. Shawn strives to expand his building science knowledge and skills at every opportunity. He enjoys sharing that knowledge through hands-on training and mentoring for all levels of building professionals.

Dr. Markus Lenger

CEO and Co-founder, CleanBlu Corporation

Dr. Markus Lenger, a water physicist, is CEO and Co-founder of CleanBlu Corporation, an organization dedicated to inspiring an environmental revolution in wastewater management. A 35-year wastewater professional, Markus is well known in the industry for testing the limits of science and technology, developing solutions to problems and innovating ways to help improve water quality and availability. Currently, Markus is developing the BluSENSE Building Performance Analyzer that maximizes the performance of a building to create water and energy savings. Using CleanBlu’s in-house production and manufacturing facility, he develops open source IoT software and custom controllers for water reuse. Markus also developed, patented, and marketed the CleanBlu FOG-DS, an at-source, in-situ FOG Disposal Reuse System allowing commercial food establishments to reuse kitchen wastewater for the first time ever. He has designed graywater systems, specifically one for Whirlpool’s ReNEWW House, and a blackwater (toilet) reuse system for the Navajo Indian Nation reducing water usage by over 80%. Markus serves on many committees and is a voting member of the IAPMO WE-Stand (Water Efficiency Standard) Committee, chairs the Residential Direct Potable Reuse Standard Committee, is an ASME plumbing code member and an ARCSA (American Rainwater Catchment Association) board member.

Thomas Loughlin

Executive Director, Engineers for a Sustainable World

Executive Director, Engineers for a Sustainable World, Sustainability & Green Jobs Expert, Not-for-profit Association Executive, Advisor, Board Member Thomas works to advance green jobs sustainability and climate initiatives through communication and collaboration with social enterprises and non-profit organizations. He is currently the executive director for Engineers for a Sustainable World. ESW is a growing, student-based non-profit comprised of 1,500 Engineering and Technical students leading community-based sustainability projects on 45 University campuses in the US and Canada. Previously, he was the Executive Director and CEO of ASME (the American Society of Mechanical Engineers), a global membership, standards and educational organization. A leader in association management, Thomas has served as the President/Board Chair of CESSE (Council on Engineering & Scientific Society Executives), an advisor to the digitalNow conference, and co-author of the Digital Transformation Readiness Assessment research report. He is a frequent blogger and speaker on trends in green jobs. Thomas has acted as advisor and board member for several private companies and non-profit organizations. Thomas holds five patents in the field of physical security. He is a Fellow of ASME and member of the Pan-American Academy of Engineering.

Melissa Lubitz

Director of Business Development, Hydraloop

Water has always been Melissa's passion. She studied Environmental Biology at Western University in London Ontario and then went on to complete her diploma in Environmental Technology at Fanshawe College with her focus being on water. She began her career working with one of the leading UV disinfection manufactures heading up warranty, technical support, moving into validation coordinator to Corporate trainer and onto Municipal Sales in the water treatment market. The entire water technology picture is her passion so she moved onto the Net Zero Water sector, focusing on rainwater harvesting, stormwater treatment, drinking water packages and greywater recycling. Today she is the Director of Business Development for Hydraloop based out of the Netherlands. Working with the North American team, she is able to touch on certification standards, municipal regulations, and business development. Melissa is a certified engineering technologist with OACETT and a water technology specialist with the WQA.

Jamie Lyons

Newport Partners LLC

Jamie Lyons of Newport Partners conducts research and analysis on building performance and energy efficient design. He supports builders, raters, architects, building owners, utilities, and code officials to help them achieve solutions for high performance homes and buildings. As part of this work he serves as the Technical Director for the US DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program. He has degrees in Mechanical and Environmental Engineering and is a Certified Energy Manager.

Chris Magwood

RMI & Builders for Climate Action

Chris Magwood is obsessed with helping reverse climate change by making carbon-storing buildings that are also healthy, beautiful, efficient and inspiring and assisting others to do the same.
In 2022, Chris joined the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Embodied Carbon initiative within RMI’s Carbon-Free Buildings team.
From 2011-2022, Chris was a director and teacher at The Endeavour Centre, a not-for-profit sustainable building school in Peterborough, Ontario.
In 2019, he helped to establish Builders for Climate Action, and has been leading development of the BEAM carbon estimator tool for low- rise construction. He is working closely with many levels of government to develop embodied carbon benchmarks and regulatory programs, and helping developers and builders figure out how to reverse climate change with their buildings.
Chris has authored seven books on sustainable building. His new book, Building Beyond Zero: New Ideas for Carbon-Smart Architecture, is co-authored with Bruce King and will be available in June, 2022 from Island Press.
In 1998 he co-founded Camel’s Back Construction, a design-build firm focused on straw bale construction and renewable energy.
Chris has completed an MA at Trent University. His thesis, Opportunities for Carbon Removal and Storage in Building Materials which was published in the fall of 2019.
Chris is an active speaker and workshop instructor in Canada and internationally.

Eric Martin

Program Director, FSEC Energy Research Center

Eric Martin is a Program Director with the FSEC Energy Research Center at the University of Central Florida. Mr. Martin leads a variety of research projects focusing on comfort systems for high performance homes, ventilation and indoor air quality solutions, and other building science topics.

Darrel McMaster

Sustainable Homes Inc.

Darrel McMaster, Master builder. Darrel has been building homes for 46 years coming from a family that started building homes in 1945. He has been a licensed GC in 3 states and has built homes in 2 others. Over that time frame he has built thousands of homes in production, multi-family and custom formats. In 2005 they set course on building only homes that could generate all of their own utilities from the environment. By 2009 they built what they called a Point Source Home™, a home that could generate all of it's utility needs from the environment and power the owners transportation. Recently they completed the first of the GEN 6 Point Source Homes™, a home with better performance, resilience and healthy environment for the owners. Always willing to push the performance and inside health quality has made Sustainable Homes an example for other industry professionals.

Joe Medosch

Client Success Manager, measureQuick

Joe Medosch {med-osh} - Client Success Manager for measureQuick, Owner of Energy & Environmental Consulting. He is an Industry Master Trainer, national presenter, and his diverse background in multiple trades provides a unique understanding of “The House as System.” Joe has been evaluating homes for 20+ years and has been a Comfort Consultant /Trainer for over 15+ years providing solutions on Healthier/Energy Efficient Home Performance and co-creator of Retrotec rCloud app.

Ryan Meres

RESNET

Ryan Meres has 15 years of experience in energy and water efficiency, energy policy and building energy codes. As the Program Director for RESNET, Ryan currently leads numerous programs, including implementation of RESNET’s HERSH2O whole-house water efficiency rating; as well as initiatives on energy codes, HERS data and real estate. Ryan got started in the energy efficiency industry as an EarthCraft House Technical Advisor, working with builders in the Atlanta metro on EarthCraft House and Energy Star Certifications. Ryan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the Savannah College of Art and Design and lives in upstate New York with his wife and their three children.

Gene Myers

CEO of Thrive Home Builders, Thrive Home Builders, Inc.

Gene is owner and CEO of Thrive Home Builders (formerly New Town Builders), Denver’s leader in building green, energy efficient production homes and recent winner of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Housing Innovation Award.

Gene has served on numerous state and local housing groups and currently serves as a member the board of directors of Denver Civic Ventures and the Challenge Foundation. He has served on the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel for Housing, the Boards of Housing Colorado and the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver and co-chaired Denver’s Housing Task Force. His company is Denver’s largest builder of for-sale affordable housing.

As a production builder in the Stapleton community, Thrive has logged a number of firsts in Colorado and the Denver Area including:

First to offer standard solar panels
First to construct all of its homes with Colorado beetle-kill lumber
First to offer a Zero Energy option on all its single-family homes
First production homes with Zero Energy as a standard feature
First Department of Energy Challenge Home, which broadens criteria to include indoor air quality and water conservation

Nationally, Thrive has been recognized as EPA’s Millennium ENERGY STAR® Builder, EPA’s Leadership Award for Indoor Air Quality, Green Building Magazine’s Green Home of the Year and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grand Winner for Innovation in Housing.

Stephen Myers

Thrive Home Builders

Stephen Myers is the Chief Operating Officer at Thrive Home Builders. He began his career in media relations and marketing & communications, working in the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Stephen obtained a master’s degree in Finance at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver in 2010. Immediately prior to joining the Thrive team, he worked in mergers & acquisitions for Dish Network, working on more than $2.8 billion in transactions.

Joining the Thrive team in 2014, Stephen ran the Sales and Marketing department, helping to achieve revenue growth of 80% from 2014 to 2016. In 2016, he was named Vice President of Process Control and Improvement, tasked with the additional responsibility of implementing organizational change initiatives throughout the company. Thrive was awarded the Professional Builder of the Year award in 2017 in part because of Stephen’s continued drive to improve processes.

In 2018 he was named Chief Operating Officer and in the same year Thrive was awarded a National Housing Quality Bronze award. Stephen was also selected as one of Professional Builder’s “40 Under 40” for 2019.

Andy Oding

Building Knowledge Canada

Andrew Oding is a Building Science Associate with Building Knowledge Canada with over 23+ years of experience in the residential construction industry. Andrew’s extensive background as a Framer, Builder, Construction Manager, Purchasing Director, and Director of Operations brings a unique, insightful and real-life practicality to building science principles and their in-field applications. Andrew possesses the unique ability to engage and educate people regarding building science principles and the practical, clear application in real-life field conditions Andrew is Chair of the CHBA Net Zero Council, Chair of the OHBA/EnerQuality Technical committee and 2013 Chair for Natural Resources Canada’s ENERGY STAR for New Homes Technical Committee. He is also a Certified Energy Evaluator (CEE), Building Science Specialist (UofT), LEED Accredited Professional (AP) and certified HRAI/HVAC designer. As Operations Manager with one of Canada’s largest privately owned homebuilders (13 years), Andrew spearheaded the builder’s passionate approach to sustainable project development. This initiative resulted in becoming Canada’s very first Energy Star Partner of the Year 2012 . As well, it included the construction of Canada’s 1st LEED H certified residence and 1st LEED ND project (Pilot Project Preston Meadows in Cambridge Ontario). Andrew also Co-Chaired the LEED H Technical Steering

Lew Oliver

Principle, New Town Solutions

Lew Oliver, an Atlanta-based, urbanist, master planner, and designer, has advanced New Urbanism for a decade. He and his company, New Town Solutions, have been involved in developing land use plans for a number of prominent developments including Pinewood Forrest, Fayetteville, Georgia; Hartness, Greenville, South Carolina; Serenbe; and Town of Vickery, both in Atlanta.

He will share experienced gained from dozens of projects that focus on creating walkable neighborhoods that respect the land and incorporate well-designed, high performing homes.
His neighborhood designs incorporate a European flair to create a lifestyle make it easier to interact with neighbors and reserving about half the land as natural landscape that can be used for passive parks and recreational parks.

Erich Ostrander

Midland County Habitat for Humanity

Erich has been in the residential and commercial construction trades for 30 years, including 25 years as a licensed contractor. Since 2017, Erich has been with Midland County Habitat for Humanity (MCHFH) as Construction Manager, leading on-site construction activities with volunteers while working behind the scenes to drive improvements in the energy efficiency and carbon footprint of new construction affordable housing. This includes contributing to a state-wide carbon footprint study led by Habitat for Humanity Michigan, and leading and moderating panels at the Habitat for Humanity Michigan HOMES Summit where he also served on the organizing board. Erich has also presented on energy-efficient building practices at the Habitat for Humanity Michigan conference Affiliates in Motion. Erich is an instructor at Greater Michigan Construction Academy instructing students in Carpentry I and Carpentry II on proper building techniques. He is certified in lead abatement, project management, volunteer coordination, and is a NCCER course instructor. Erich resides in Midland, MI with his wife Kimberly and two daughters. Lillian and Haley. In his spare time, Erich enjoys camping, hiking, and boating.

Ben Park

Research Engineer, NREL

Ben Park is a research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He is dedicated to enhancing the energy efficiency and sustainability of residential environments. He earned his Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2016. Throughout his career, he has been actively involved in the development and refinement of building energy modeling software. His areas of expertise include building energy modeling and the development of building energy simulation tools.

Lynn Price

Lynn Price Consulting

E. Lynn Price is a speaker, author, and attorney with over twenty years of experience providing creative business solutions to clients and executives. Over the last two decades, she has successfully negotiated over 11,000 agreements and counting. She is the author of the bestselling book “Negotiate It! How to Crush Your Fears, Develop Your Negotiation Muscle, and Gain Power in the Workplace” which was highlighted in the Forbes article “The Best Books That Will Make You A Master Negotiator” as well as landing as #24 on BookAuthority.com’s list of “100 Best Negotiation Books of All Time” and “11 Best New Negotiation Books to Read in 2019.” Lynn is currently listed as #14 on Global Gurus' "World's Top 30 Negotiation Professionals for 2023.” Lynn was a Principal with Terracon Consultants, a national engineering firm where she managed the legal department and served as corporate secretary. As the leader of the corporate legal department, her department was awarded the “Top Corporate Department” multiple times by the company’s business leaders. Lynn adopted a “Be a Resource, Not a Roadblock” philosophy for both herself and her department. In 2014, Lynn was selected as a “40 Under 40” by Ingram’s Business Magazine in Kansas City. She currently resides with her family in the Black Hills of South Dakota. You can learn more at www.lynnpriceconsulting.com

Jillian Pritchard Cooke

Founder & CEO, Wellness Within Your Walls, Inc.

Founder and CEO, Wellness Within Your Walls, Inc. - With more than 40 years of experience in the home building and design industries, Jillian Pritchard Cooke is the founder of Wellness Within Your Walls® and has gathered and analyzed health and wellness data about building industry materials, products and systems for over 15 years. Jillian guided the evolution of WWYW’s ground-breaking program designed to reduce toxins in living environments and identify sustainable and technologically-advanced materials, products and systems. The protocols also include behavioral strategies to ensure sustained wellness. Seeking to move the needle on global wellness initiatives, Jillian has focused on numerous partnerships for WWYW. WWYW partnered with Mothers and Others for Clean Air, an organization dedicated to improving air quality for all, to create a public resource for indoor air quality: The Healthy Indoor Breathing Toolkit. For consumer education, WWYW has partnered with Hearst Design Group’s House Beautiful Whole Home project. Jillian is an ambassador for Global Wellness Institute, focusing on residential environments. Jillian is a much sought-after speaker and board and committee member, including NAHB, ASID and SFC. Jillian has spearheaded initiatives with the Global Opportunities Board and Sustainability and Green Building and Healthier Homes and Communities subcommittees, the latter of which Jillian will chair in 2023. Jillian is participating in an NAHB Consensus Group, which is overseeing proposed changes to NGBS.

Ari Rapport

IBACOS

Ari leads IBACOS’ Homes That Give BackSM initiative, which is focused on changing the way homes are designed, constructed, and delivered. This vision is based on IBACOS’ fundamental belief that all homes must be safe, healthy, durable, comfortable, efficient, responsible, connected and affordable.

Ari has eight years of experience performing Home Energy Rating System (HERS®) home energy ratings per Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) standards, and he is a champion for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program. He works with homebuilders to certify homes under the U.S. Department of Energy's ENERGY STAR® for New Homes program. He also works directly with national and regional homebuilders to employ construction practices and technologies to reach the DOE’s Building America program performance targets in occupied test houses and community scale activities in both new and existing construction.

Ari consults with building product manufacturers regarding technologies that will result in improved energy savings, evaluating these technologies in the field under “real world” conditions.

Travis Rasch

Senior Product Manager, Broan-NuTone

Travis Rasch is the Senior Product Manager for Broan’s Fresh Air Systems segment, a leading manufacturer of residential ventilation solutions. Travis’ customer-focused approach and product engineering background have contributed to the innovative products Broan continues to bring to market. He collaborates with several industry stakeholders including builders, engineers, energy raters, and installing contractors to identify their key pain points to develop the right product to deliver better quality air for a better quality of life to the homeowner.

Sam Rashkin

Chief Architect of the Building Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, TruHome Facts & Retooling the Housing Industry

Sam Rashkin is Chief Architect of the Building Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, where he leads the development of high-performance home innovations through the Building America and DOE Zero Energy Ready Home programs. Sam is a registered architect and has served on the national steering committees for NAHB’s Green Builder Guidelines, USGBC’s LEED for Homes, EPA’s Water Sense label, and on the development team for EPA’s Indoor airPLUS label. He has served as the national director of ENERGY STAR 1994-2011. Sam has delivered hundreds of presentations, articles, technical papers, reports, and seminars, and books on energy efficient and green construction.

Paul Raymer

Senior Advisor, ICF

Paul H. Raymer has been working with building science for more than forty years. He is a Senior Advisor with ICF and the Chief Investigator for Heyoka Solutions. He is the author of the Residential Ventilation Handbook V2 (2017), Recalculating Truth (a novel) (2014), and Death at the Edge of the Diamond (2020). He was a member of the LEED EA Technical Advisory Subcommittee, BPI’s Standards Technical Committee, and is Subcommittee Chair for Heating, Cooling, and Ventilation of the NREL SWS. He is BPI Envelope, Building Analyst, Heating Professional, AC/Heat Pump, and Healthy Home Evaluator certified and a certified HERS Rater. He is an IREC assessor, a former IREC Certified Master Trainer and he is a full member of ASHRAE (a voting member of the 62.2 SSPC). And he was the lead SME for the NREL/IREC QCI micro-credential development project.

Bill Rectanus

VP of Operations, Thrive Home Builders

Bill Rectanus, COO at Thrive Home Builders. Bill is a dynamic leader and experienced manager with business to business sales, account management, project management, and sustainability experience. Recognized as a dedicated self starter skilled at managing multiple projects in tandem. Outstanding trainer who continually creates excitement and interest while effectively presenting complex information. Passionate about the advancement of energy efficiency, building science and renewable energy.

Katie Rothenberg

Vice President of ESG, AvalonBay Communities

Katie Rothenberg has been executing sustainability initiatives in the built environment for nearly 15 years, and has held multiple sustainability roles on the construction, operations, consulting and non-profit sides of commercial real estate. As Vice President of ESG for AvalonBay Communities, Katie is responsible for leading their best-in-class ESG platform and directing strategy and stakeholder engagement. Significant focus areas include environmental initiatives such as carbon reduction targets (SBTi), renewables, climate related risk management, material health and building efficiency, in addition to guiding inclusion & diversity programs and strategic philanthropy for the organization. She is a LEED Fellow.

Violeta Ryman

Sr. Program Manager, ComEd

Violeta Ryman has been in the utility industry for the last 10 years, managing Energy Efficiency programs for residential New Construction for 3 years. Currently managing Electric Homes New Construction incentives program in the ComEd territory in Illinois.

Victor (Rob) Salcido

Senior Research Engineer, PNNL

Rob Salcido is a senior research engineer in the Building Energy Codes Program. His work focuses on the development and implementation of advanced residential energy codes including renewable energy technologies, decarbonization and equity. In addition, he leads the software development team responsible for the REScheck and COMcheck software. Rob serves as a member of the International Code Council (ICC) Residential Consensus Committee as well as the RESNET SDC 300 Calculations subcommittee and the RESNET Software Consistency Committee. Prior to joining PNNL, Rob spent five years as the Principal with Salcido Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in software design, building science, energy modeling and building energy analysis and residential energy code development. Rob holds a MS in civil engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is also a registered Professional Engineer in Colorado.

Christopher Salem

Chris Salem is an accomplished CEO, business executive coach, world-class speaker, corporate trainer-advisor, award-winning author®, certified mindset expert, and radio show host & media personality mentoring business leaders and organizations to scale their brands and business by raising their level of influence as trusted advisors. In addition, he mentors business leaders and organizations toward solutions for enhancing corporate culture, improving workplace communications, increasing sales, and increasing employee engagement for maximum production. His book Master Your Inner Critic / Resolve the Root Cause – Create Prosperity went international best seller in 2016. He also co-authored the recent edition to "Mastering the Art of Success" with Jack Canfield. His weekly radio shows, Sustainable Success is part of the Voice America Influencers Channel and Business Influencers with Tal Radio, part of the Touch-A-Life foundation.

Will Sarni

Jonah Schein

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Jonah Schein is the National Program Manager for Homes & Buildings at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense® Program. He has overseen the technical development and implementation of the WaterSense labeled homes program since its inception in addition to numerous efforts to better understand and influence water use in the field. In addition to the WaterSense labeled homes program, these have included the EPA Water Score for multifamily properties as well as several standards, research reports, and papers focused on modelling, quantifying, and understanding water use. Mr. Schein holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees from Indiana University as well as a Master of Science in Environmental Science from the Johns Hopkins University.

Ben Schott

Senior Energy Efficiency Program Manager, BGE

Ben got his start in the field conducting home energy audits and retrofitting old homes for a contracting business in Maryland. Today, Ben is a Senior Energy Efficiency Program Manager at BGE overseeing implementation of residential DSM programs, which includes BGE's Residential New Construction Program. Previously, Ben managed energy efficiency programs for utility clients in the Mid-Atlantic and led industry engagement activities as a consultant supporting U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR Program. Ben received his Master of Science in Environmental Planning and Management from Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, and a B.S. in Environmental Studies from the College of Environmental Science & Forestry in Syracuse, NY.

Robby Schwarz

Founder, BUILDTank, Inc.

Robby Schwarz has been a champion of the applied building science industry for over 25 years. He Founded BUILDTank, Inc. in 2020 to be a practical building think tank whose mission is to use what we learn by applying building science in the field to affect meaningful change in the construction industry. To chase issues that hold the industry back and generate ideas and innovations that move sustainable building into mainstream building. Robby is a sought-after trainer and routinely presents at RESNET®, EEBA, the Colorado Chapter of the IECC®, Educode, and local Home Builders Associations, Colorado Energy Office, Xcel Energy and more.
Robby works with industry partners and builders offering a complete set of research, training, consulting, energy modeling, code and program compliance, inspections and diagnostics services designed to help clients build homes that perform.

Corey Self

Director – Corporate Sustainability and ESG Reporting, PulteGroup

Bill Shadid

Strategic Marketing Leader, AeroBarrier

Bill Shadid leads marketing for AeroBarrier and is also an architect. He brings relevant experience across his dual career background to AeroBarrier, with over 25 years in marketing, product management, and new product innovation in his current career in addition to over 9 years in his first career as a sustainable architect. Bill has extensive experience with new, innovative sustainable and energy efficiency building technologies – including several years with air sealing and building envelope products.

Kirsten Shaw

Principal/Owner, Advanced Energy Efficiency

Kirsten Shaw is a Residential Energy Inspector/Plans Examiner and HERS Rater, who has also served as a Provider and QAD. She taught HERS certification classes, as well as BPI certification classes. Additionally, she is an Arizona licensed contractor for residential and light commercial buildings. While earning a master’s at Arizona State University, she was a Faculty Associate and taught plant biology classes. Prior to teaching at ASU, she taught Jr. High and High School Science and journalism. She is also a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant, who has testified as an expert witness in over 50 cases. As the principal/owner of Advanced Energy Efficiency she has performed Energy Code, ENERGY STAR and LEED for homes tests and inspections on over 800 single family and midrise multifamily homes; managed teams who provided energy audits and code compliance verification inspections and testing on over 2,500 homes and completed major renovations of dozens of homes and businesses.

Brett Singer

Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Brett Singer is a Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Head of the Sustainable Energy and Environmental Systems Department. He has conceived, conducted, and led research studies of air pollutant emissions and physical-chemical processes in both outdoor and indoor environments, aiming to understand real-world processes and systems that affect air pollutant exposures. High performance homes are a major focus of his recent work, aiming to accelerate new building standards and retrofits to improve energy performance, resilience, and indoor environmental conditions. His research also addresses low-energy systems for filtration, smart ventilation, and mitigation approaches to indoor pollutant sources including cooking.

John F. Slater

Energy Vision Homes, LLC

John F. Slater is a Passive House Institute US Certified Builder and is trained in Zero Energy Home designing and building. He is the owner of Energy Vision Homes, LLC of Hollis, NH who specialize in building high performance homes. John holds a doctorate degree in Environmental Chemistry and is an Adjunct Instructor in the Earth Science Department at the University of New Hampshire where he teaches about Sustainability and Global Climate Change.

Aaron Smith

CEO, EEBA

Aaron Smith is the CEO of the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) which represents a community of over 50,000 builders and their stakeholders across North America that are truly the early adopters and innovators in driving sustainable transformation of the homebuilding industry.

Aaron has over 25 years of experience in home construction, building products, sustainability and non-profit board leadership. He has worked for companies including Kohler, Uponor and ASSA ABLOY as well as startups in Silicon Valley and his own building and remodeling company. Aaron previously served on non-profit Boards for Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, Health Product Declaration Collaborative (HPDC), CT Sustainable Business Council, and co-founded the CT Collaborative - Living Building Challenge.

Aaron completed his undergraduate studies at West Point and St. Cloud State University and is a 2016 graduate of the Yale University MBA program with a focus on Sustainability. He loves green building and sustainability as well as hockey, hiking, skiing, gardening and spending time with his wife, Jennifer, 3 boys and 4 cats and chickens at their home in Minneapolis.

P. Allen Smith

P. Allen Smith Companies

P. Allen Smith, 20-year host of the P. Allen Smith Garden Home program on PBS, conservationist, designer, creator of Moss Mountain Farm, and author of 6 books has been a prominent advocate for sustainable living and design. In 2020 he advanced his professional and environmental interests with the acquisition and expansion of structurally insulated panels manufacturer Extreme Panel Technologies. For over 30 years, Extreme Panel Technologies has enabled net-zero building construction for a wide diversity of building types, while vastly reducing the burden construction has on the planet. Allen’s expertise lies in the essential components of successful sustainable communities, including net-zero building, walkable neighborhoods, and design that is rooted in place and context. Working within the development field, Allen and his industry partners are crafting eco-friendly buildings and landscapes that foster a deeper connection with nature while reducing the environmental impact that typifies construction.

Mackenzie Stagg

Assistant Research Professor, Auburn University

Mackenzie Stagg is an Assistant Research Professor focused on housing affordability and building technology. Mackenzie’s research explores the products, policies, and partnerships that facilitate the development of high-performance housing. Through the Rural Studio Front Porch Initiative, Mackenzie engages with external housing providers and stakeholders to increase equitable access to homeownership in underserved communities. A graduate of Auburn University, Mackenzie has collaborated with Rural Studio in a variety of capacities: first as a student, then as outreach instructor, and now as a research professor. Mackenzie’s work at Rural Studio has been intertwined with design work at organizations in Birmingham, AL; Christiansburg, VA; and New Orleans, LA.

Shilpa Surana

2050 Partners, Inc.

Shilpa Surana is a green building professional with over a decade of experience ranging from sustainability consulting to advancing building codes and appliance standards. She has deep knowledge of design and construction process, modeling high-performance and net zero buildings, and providing technical consulting to support voluntary certification programs. She leverages her consulting experience in advancing both codes and standards at the state and national levels. Shilpa currently leads the advocacy effort for 2024 IECC Residential on behalf of the California Investor-Owned Utilities. She is a voting member of the 2024 IECC Residential Economics, Modeling, and Whole-building Metrics Subcommittee. She has Bachelor in Architecture from India, Master of Science in Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University and Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

Doug Tarry

Doug Tarry Homes

Doug Tarry is the President of Doug Tarry Homes, one of North America's Leading Net Zero Homebuilders, having built and labeled more Net Zero / Net Zero Ready homes than any other builder in Canada. Doug is the Author of the book "From Bleeding Edge to Leading Edge: A Builders Guide to Net Zero Homes." The book explores the philosophy of building Net Zero Homes, why Net Zero might not be the right goal, “The Four Principals of Modern Design”, how customers have changed, and why LifeARK™ will be a part of our future.

Jaime Van Mourik

US DOE

Jaime Van Mourik, Associate AIA, LEED AP, is an ORISE Science, Technology, and Policy Fellow in the Building Technologies Office of the Department of Energy supporting the Residential Buildings Integration program working towards a zero carbon emissions future for all homes. Jaime is passionate about educating people of all ages about the impacts of the built environment on their lives. She believes that providing knowledge and opportunities for action will result in true transformation. Prior to coming to DOE, she served as the Vice President for Education Solutions at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) where she led a team to create and deploy education solutions for every learner whether that be a young child, a student pursuing a post-secondary degree or a professional looking to advance in their career path. She collaborated with higher education institutions and advocates across the country to develop and deliver innovative learning platforms that integrate sustainability and green building concepts into curriculum and create pathways to professional credentials. She has extensive experience leading colleges and universities looking to “go green,” guiding them through the planning and implementation process and advising on how the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system can help shape sustainability initiatives in teaching, research and practice.

She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech and Master of Architectural History from the University of Virginia.

Gayathri Vijayakumar

Principal Mechanical Engineer, Steven Winter Associates

Gayathri Vijayakumar is a Principal Mechanical Engineer at Steven Winter Associates, Inc, with over 17 years of experience supporting high-performance multifamily buildings. She graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Engineering Science and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a MS in Mechanical Engineering and a Graduate Certificate in Energy Policy and Management. Gayathri currently provides technical support to the EPA's Indoor airPLUS program and ENERGY STAR Multifamily New Construction programs. She currently is the Chair of RESNET’s Standards Development Committee, SDC300, and a voting member of the 2024 IECC Residential Consensus Committee.

Dr. Iain Walker

Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Dr. Iain Walker Dr. Iain Walker is a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and leads Residential Building research in the Whole Building Systems Department. He has more than 30 years of experience as a building scientist and his current work focuses on residential buildings: developing smart ventilation technologies, indoor air quality scoring and rating, deep energy retrofits, design and construction of zero/low energy homes and HVAC system diagnostics. He is an ASHRAE fellow and is Executive Editor of Home Energy magazine. He leads and contributes to many standards and technical committees for ASHRAE (Standard 62.2), ASTM (E779, E1554), RESNET (Standard 380), ACCA and other state and national agencies. Dr. Walker has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University Of Alberta.

Eric Werling

National Director, Building America

Eric Werling is national director for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building America program and oversees the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program. He is a recognized expert in residential energy efficiency, indoor air quality (IAQ), and the building sciences. Since 2011, he has worked with more than 20 Building America partnership teams and four DOE national laboratories to transform building science knowledge and innovations into proven best practices for the housing industry. Prior to his DOE service, Eric served the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he launched the Indoor airPLUS program in 2009.

Lisa White

Associate Director, Phius

Lisa White is the Associate Director and a technical lead for Phius. Ms. White has been with Phius since 2012. She led the building certification review team for seven years and is an instructor for Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC®) training and WUFI® Passive energy modeling software training. She holds a degree in Environmental Sustainability with a minor in Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master’s in Energy Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ms. White has a strong understanding of high-performance building design and how this is integral to the transition to a renewable energy grid. Her Masters’ thesis posed the question “What do Net Zero Buildings Cost the Grid?”, combining the concepts behind how building loads are shaped, how design techniques can alter that shape, and how that ultimately impacts the electricity generation resources needed to meet the load – all while considering the shift to more intermittent, renewable energy resources. Ultimately, this research concludes that energy conservation and demand response in buildings is a critical up-front investment to facilitate this transition. At Phius, White works on the development of new and existing professional training courses and has delivered professional training to more than 800 students. She has taught introductory and advanced seminars at professional conferences and universities nationwide, including guest lecturing at the Harvard Extension School. She is a longtime member of Phius’ technical committee and was instrumental in the development of the Phius+ 2015 Climate-Specific Passive Building standard, followed by the 2018 and 2021 updates. Alongside standards development and research, White works directly with the Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics to develop and implement new key features into the WUFI Passive energy modeling software that Phius uses for passive building certification. While in her previous role as Certification Manager, Ms. White reviewed and provided feedback on energy models, drawings, details, planned mechanical systems, etc. to more than 500 project teams working on passive building designs across the world. Ms. White has written and co-authored many publications, the most recent being a cover-featured article in the ASHRAE High Performing Buildings magazine. She has presented at numerous national and international conferences on topics related to grid-friendly buildings, assessing resiliency and passive survivability, measured data for high performance and net zero buildings.

Bradford Wills

Director: Strategic Customers & Programs, Home & Distribution U.S.A, Schneider Electric

Bradford Wills is the Director for Strategic Customers & Programs for the US Home & Distribution segment at Schneider Electric where he is responsible for strategic development and execution of go-to-market and business programs. In his more than 25 years with the company, Brad as held numerous roles of increasing responsibility across sales and marketing, including market research, product management and development, segment sales management, channel management and other groups.

Tim Wright

Chief Strategy Officer, Enertech Global

Tim Wright is the Chief Strategy Officer at Enertech Global. With over 30 years of management and energy efficiency experience, Tim oversees all customer-facing departments at Enertech. He serves on the board of directors for the California Geothermal Heat Pump Association, International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, and the Virginia Geothermal Heat Pump Association.

Danielle Younger

Younger Homes

Danielle grew up in the Texas Hill Country, where her love of the outdoors as a child instilled a deep respect for the environment, and a strong desire to preserve our natural surroundings. Danielle’s vision of preserving the Texas Hill Country, and building beautifully sustainable homes eventually took hold.

It was during her studies and research at Texas A&M University, Danielle began to hone her innate desire to be a part of making a real difference in creating a sustainable world for future generations. She received her Bachelor of Science in Bioenvironmental Science with a Minor in Agronomy, as well as a Master of Public Health with an emphasis in Environmental and Occupational Health. Through national and international research in Public Health and Environmental Toxicology, she began to understand the impact of the environment on human health, and the importance of protecting public health through educating individuals to make informed choices. She began a fulfilling and successful career working for a major Oil and Gas company, where she helped others better understand the impacts of Environmental Health and Safety to deliver safe operations offshore. In 2017 Danielle and Jesse formed the now award-winning, Younger Homes, building custom and semi-custom homes in Austin, Texas achieving Energy Star, EPA Indoor AirPlus, and Zero Energy Ready Home Certifications. Younger Homes is actively engaged in the EEBA Builder Benchmark Group and Danielle currently serves on the EEBA Board of Directors.
The home is where families spend the most time, energy, and resources, and it is in this place where we can all make a difference. Danielle’s background shaped beliefs that through education and awareness, environmentally sustainable and healthy homes will become standard building practice. She is confident the vision of Younger Homes will protect the health of individuals, communities, and create a sustainable and healthy world for her children and future generations."

Program

Track Color Key

Day 1: Tuesday, October 10, 2023

7:00AM

9:00AM

10:00AM

10:30AM

11:30AM

11:45AM

1:15PM

1:30PM

2:30PM

3:00PM

4:00PM

5:30PM

Day 2: Wednesday, October 11, 2023

7:00AM

8:00AM

9:00AM

9:30AM

10:30AM

11:00AM

12:00PM

12:30PM

1:45PM

2:00PM

3:00PM

3:30PM

4:30PM

6:30PM

Day 3: Thursday, October 12, 2023

7:00AM

8:00AM

9:00AM

9:30AM

10:30AM

11:00AM

12:00PM

12:15PM

1:30PM

5:00PM

Ten Essential Components for Building Successful Sustainable Communities

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Kicking the Lunch Bucket: Why We Need a LifeARK

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Building for the New Normal: Disaster-Resistant Construction

Learning Objectives

Presenters

How to Successfully Communicate the Benefits of a High-Performance Home to Your Buyer

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Heat, Humidity, and High Winds: Details for the Intersection of Resilience and Energy Efficiency

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Green Builder Magazine Zero Carbon Vision Home by Thrive Home Builders

Presenters

Trading Up to Triple Panes: A Code Trade-Off Option that Might Get You Higher Performance for Less

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Let's have an Honest Discussion on IAQ and Healthier homes. What Are We Doing To The Air Our Clients are Breathing?

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Ventilation and IAQ in New US Homes: Results from the Building America Field Study

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Beyond the Envelope: IAQ and Whole House Performance

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Do incentives incentivize? Lessons from the Marshall Fire Rebuild

Learning Objectives