Pursuing Building Energy Regulations: Energy Analysis Tools for Iterative Design
Advancing energy regulations and policies require rapid changes to help decarbonize the built environment in the face of impending climate change. In response, Massachusetts has emerged as a leader in this space. The commonwealth and its municipalities have adopted local regulations that challenge project teams to incorporate energy analysis and decarbonization into holistic design, requiring project teams to identify appropriate energy analysis in pursuing compliance. The Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code and Municipal Opt-In Specialized Code require building enclosure performance calculations and introduce compliance paths for various project types, including Passive House and net-zero certifications. Additionally, the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) challenges existing building owners to evaluate strategies that improve operational carbon, such as enclosure upgrades and electrification and decarbonization of HVAC systems. Integrative energy analysis tools have also evolved to have a greater impact on the collaborative design process.
In this webinar, building enclosure and sustainable energy consultants will share applications of various energy analysis tools to commercial buildings, including a new construction office building, a multifamily residential Passive House building, and a net-zero carbon-neutral existing office repositioning. The case studies will demonstrate the process for identifying opportunities and options for iterative design, challenges associated with achieving performance goals, and general takeaways that other project teams should consider when navigating building energy regulations.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Articulate key performance indicators for achieving building energy performance goals, such as energy code compliance and Passive House, net-zero, and carbon neutral certification.
- Recognize the distinctions between various benchmarking tools and their common applications across project types.
- Describe the general process and challenges associated with evaluating existing buildings and strategies that can improve operational carbon, such as enclosure upgrades and electrification and decarbonization of HVAC systems.
- Reflect on the lessons learned from the presented case studies that can be implemented by other project teams.
Participants will earn 1 AIA CES Learning Unit (LU/HSW) for attending the live webinar. Registration is free. Please note that space is limited – email events@sgh.com to join our waitlist if the session is closed when you register.
About the Speaker
enviENERGY Studio
Samira Ahmadi is the Founding Principal of enviENERGY Studio LLC, an energy and sustainability consulting firm, serving regional and national clients looking for sustainable solutions in the built environment. Her practice focuses on sustainability and energy performance analyses for new construction and existing building retrofit projects that are pursuing LEED certification and energy upgrades, occupant’s health and comfort in the built environment, post-occupancy evaluation, and measurement and verification. Samira has more than fourteen years of experience in energy modeling and sustainability consulting. She is an advocate of sustainability and energy efficiency in the built environment and has served on the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter Board of Directors.
Matthew Colturi is a Senior Consulting Engineer in SGH’s Building Technology group in Boston. His experience in building enclosure systems includes glass-and-metal curtain wall systems, windows, roofing, plaza and below-grade waterproofing, and cladding systems across a variety of project types, including investigation, design, rehabilitation, and new construction through all project phases. Matthew uses multiple computer software packages to simulate whole-building energy analysis and conduct thermal analysis of building enclosure systems and details. He executes building enclosure performance testing, including air-infiltration and water-penetration of fenestration systems, infrared scanning, and whole- and partial-building air leakage tests. Matthew is a Certified Passive House Consultant and has presented and published papers on thermal bridging, enclosure performance derating, and advancing energy code requirements.
View All Events