Networking Breakfast & Exhibitor Showcase

Opening Plenary Session

How Bold Goals Made the Empire State a Leader in the Climate Fight (1.25 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Westside Ballroom

New York is home to nearly 20 million people and the third largest state economy in the United States. It’s also leading in the fight against climate change with bold goals to reduce carbon emissions by 85% by 2050. We welcome Gil Quiniones, President and CEO at NYPA, and Doreen Harris, President and CEO, at NYSERDA, to open the 2021 Getting to Zero Forum and share about the State’s comprehensive plans to make building operations and materials carbon neutral, ramp up demand flexibility, green the grid, and decarbonize the customer. This is a no regrets approach that calls on all New Yorkers to do their part to curb the worst impacts of a warming planet and super-charge a new clean energy economy for the Empire State.

Special Guest: Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. Department of Energy

Moderator: Victor Olgyay, RMI

Speakers:

Ralph DiNola, New Buildings Institute

Doreen Harris, NYSERDA

Gil C. Quiniones, New York Power Authority

Networking Break & Exhibitor Showcase

Breakout 1 Sessions

Decarbonizing New York’s Built Environment (1.5 AIA LU |HSW CEUs)
Room: Westside Ballroom

New York State’s Climate Act looks to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 85% by 2050 across all sectors. With direct (onsite) emissions from buildings contributing ~30% of GHG emissions statewide – and additional emissions from the generation of electricity used in buildings and the embodied carbon associated with building construction – two Roadmaps are being developed to reduce demand-side GHG emissions in New York’s building stock: the Carbon Neutral Buildings Roadmap and the Building Electrification Roadmap. The first half of this session will be focused on presenting key findings from the two draft roadmaps, followed by a moderated discussion of industry actors exploring the implications of building decarbonization policy recommendations and other market development priorities centered on cost reduction, innovation, grid flexibility, equity, and societal benefits.

Moderator: Greg Hale, NYSERDA

Speakers:
Vanessa Ulmer, NYSERDA

John Lee, NYSERDA

Bret Garwood, Home Leasing

Donna De Costanzo, Natural Resources Defense Council

Molly Dee-Ramasamy, Jaros, Baum & Bolles

Transforming Traditional Project Delivery to Achieve Equitable Building Decarbonization (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Juilliard Complex

Our built environment sits at a cross section of the health, wellness, and equitable support of our communities. The technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness of carbon neutral new construction is well-established, however the feasibility and knowledge of decarbonization the existing building stock continues to be a challenge. Often, those most in need of an upgrade are those the most vulnerable to the negative health impacts of indoor and outdoor air pollution.  How are we able to design policies and programs to ensure our investments are prioritized for frontline communities of color and our most vulnerable populations. This session will discuss the language, tools, and approaches that disrupt traditional construction methods to achieve decarbonized buildings with a high standard of indoor health for occupants.

Moderator: Kathryn Wright, Urban Sustainability Directors Network

Speakers:
Lori Ferriss, Goody Clancy | Nakita Reed, Quinn Evans
Saving Buildings to Save the Climate – How to Leverage our Built Heritage to Meet Climate Goals

Amanda Markovic, GBBN Architecture | Derrick Tillman, Bridging the Gap Development, LLC
Transform Traditional Delivery to Reach Socially Just Outcomes

Alice Sung, Greenbank Associates
Indicators for Equitable Building Decarbonization towards Zero Carbon

Transforming the Market: Different Pathways and Programs to Zero (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Lyceum Complex

Utility and other incentive programs play a big role in providing the carrot for the market to transform to zero. In order to effectively transform the market at scale, programs must be developed, stakeholders must be continually engaged, and program elements evaluated on an ongoing basis to ensure program success. This session will discuss multi-state programmatic efforts to incentivize and drive high performance buildings to scale. Panelists from around the country will share experiences working to scale up market-based decarbonization of buildings. Learn from all three programs as they discuss from the value proposition, outreach strategies to connect with utility customers and design teams are leading market transformation.

Moderator: Donovan Gordon, NYSERDA

Speakers:
Michael Stoddard, Efficiency Maine Trust
Scaling Up Decarbonization of Heating: Challenges and Lessons Learned from Successful Programs

Elin Shepard, Energy Trust of Oregon | Forest Tanier-Gesner, PAE Consulting Engineers
Driving and Sustaining Innovation on the Path to Net Zero

Jennifer Green, Burlington Electric Department
The Role of Carrots and Sticks in Achieving NZE in Burlington, Vermont

The Carbon Value of Demand Flexibility (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Odets

The NY-based electricity grid is required to be 70% renewable based by 2030 and demand flexibility in buildings is an essential part of the solution. This session will share techno-economic analysis that spells out the four reasons why demand flexibility–the ability to shift building energy use based on different signals (cost or carbon primarily)–is key. RMI and WattTime recently completed the analyses which quantifies the carbon value of demand flexibility. Top findings include: demand flexibility could reduce emissions by 10% in the 2030 timeframe, can contribute 45% carbon reduction in a clean grid, and could cut demand by ~40% over a several hour period, reducing the need for dirty and expensive peaker plants, which negatively impact health.

Moderator: Sangeeta Ranade, New York Power Authority

Speakers:
Brett Bridgeland, RMI

Henry Richardson, WattTime

Michael Reed, NYSERDA

Breakout Strategies for Decarbonizing the Multifamily Sector (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Ziegfeld

Successful low-carbon and net-zero projects require and integrated approach to incorporating technologies and design strategies. This session will highlight the application of several design methods and technologies that seek to significantly reduce (and decarbonize) residential building loads. From a large multifamily passive house project in New York City, to the role central heat pumps play in decarbonizing hot water loads, to insights from a design team on how to put all the pieces together, this session will focus on how designers are leveraging design strategies and technologies to improve building performance by reducing and decarbonizing key residential energy loads.

Moderator: Jonathan Heller, Ecotope

Speakers:
Ryan Lobello, Handel Architects | Greg Maccarone, Cosentini Associates
Sendero Verde – America’s Largest Passive House Complex and a Model for Sustainable Affordable Housing

Jonathan Heller, Ecotope
Decarbonizing Multifamily Buildings at Scale with Central Heat Pump Water Heaters

Rosanna Lerma, EDesignC, Inc.
Multifamily=Net Zero

Finance and Development Programming Block, Part 1: Innovative Approaches to Net Zero Cost and Financing (1.5 AIA LU CEUs pending)
Room: O’Neill

A first look at financing zero energy and carbon neutral projects can seem expensive, but innovative examples are emerging that manage costs and deliver stellar spaces. This session will feature financing models that are delivering cost-effective projects including a deep dive into the costs of building a new Living Building on a system-by-system basis that will offer real-world feedback for other projects. In addition, presenters will share a unique bundling of high performance envelope with solar and battery storage that provides payback and profits for zero carbon homes with all of the energy upgrades wrapped into a 30-year loan. Finally, a look at new options for energy savings performance contract structures and financing that will open the doors for deeper energy retrofits, as well as new operational models that promise to take building energy reduction further.

Moderator: Danielle Donnelly, Community Preservation Corporation

Speakers:
Marc Brune, PAE Consulting Engineers | Jill Sherman, Edlen & Co.
Making it Pencil: Developer-Led Models for a Living Building

Timothy Unruh, NAESCO
Don’t Forget the Importance of Finance and Contract Structure!

Beau Engman, PACE Equity
Innovation to Provide Low Cost PACE Capital for Low Carbon Buildings

Luncheon Plenary Session

The Business of Getting to Zero (1.25 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Westside Ballroom

Survey after survey cite “Building the Business Case” as a critical need to advanced net zero buildings. Businesses are setting carbon reduction goals for their own buildings and operations, but more than ever are extending that aim all the way down the supply chain. This plenary session digs in on the Business of Getting to Zero and the need for low-carbon practices to span across industries. Speakers representing leadership from manufacturing, development and finance will share how decarbonization commitments are changing the way they do business, what that means for employees and customers, and why measuring outcomes matters.

Moderator: Patrick O’Shei, NYSERDA

Speakers:

Donny Simmons, Trane Technologies

Jonathan Flaherty, Tishman Speyer

Networking Break & Exhibitor Showcase

Breakout 2 Sessions

Ensuring Benefits to Disadvantaged Communities in New York’s Drive to Carbon Neutral Buildings (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Westside Ballroom

Getting to zero will require deeper engagement with disadvantaged community stakeholders than has typically been the case for energy efficiency programs. This session will highlight work underway in New York to transform stakeholder engagement efforts to ensure at least 35% of all benefits flow to disadvantaged communities. This session will review the equitable benefits framework being developed by the State’s Climate Justice Working Group, the new Regional Clean Energy Hubs and statewide Energy Equity Collaborative, as well as several innovative and groundbreaking case studies in which Environmental Justice communities are directly shaping New York’s clean energy future. Attendees will have the opportunity to provide NYSERDA feedback on existing avenues for public engagement and equity in the decarbonization transition underway.

Moderator: Zach Zill, NYSERDA

Speakers:
Summer Sandoval, UPROSE

Sonal Jessel, WE ACT

Samantha Pearce, NYS Homes and Community Renewal

Eric Walker, NYSERDA

Breaking the Cost Barrier Through Data and Design (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Juilliard Complex

In pursuing high performance, there are many potential financial pitfalls including improper investments that tip the balance away from achieving both energy and construction cost goals. For example, rules of thumb for HVAC system sizing when you have a high performance envelope can make low-energy targets seem out of reach. However, using data to question and inform optimal design decisions will achieve true high performance without driving up construction cost and extend benefits beyond energy savings to indoor environmental quality, thermal comfort and access to daylight. In this session, experts will engage attendees in a game that simulates the design decisions encountered on actual projects and guide them to solutions using real world experiences and case studies to showcase each scenario. In the game, teams compete to achieve high performance goals, while breaking the cost barrier.

Facilitators:
Jose Rodriguez, Thornton Tomasetti

Carolyn Day, Perkins Eastman

Jana Silsby, DLR Group

Jacob Knowles, BR+A Consulting Engineers

Embodied Carbon Block Programming, Part 1: Solving for the 11% of Embodied Carbon in Buildings (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Lyceum Complex

To drive change quickly and move the market, we need to demonstrate the economic benefits of low-embodied carbon materials. This session will demonstrate the business case for cost-effective materials that are widely available today. Presenters will share solutions-based information about the options for cutting the carbon footprint of steel, timber and cement; explore our ability to effectively consider, compare and evaluate comprehensive environmental impact- all carbon, and beyond carbon – as critical to achieving buildings that are “net zero” and more sustainable in a holistic way; and steps to select low carbon or carbon storing materials, how to balance carbon reduction goals and cost, and how to implement all this knowledge on their projects. Attendees will have the opportunity engage with presenters on this important topic.

Moderator: Pallavi Mantha, Arup

Speakers:
Matt Jungclaus, University of Colorado Boulder
The Economics of Embodied Carbon: Driving Change Quickly

Victoria Herrero-Garcia, Ambient Energy | Greg Kingsley, KL&A Engineers and Builders
Getting the Fish to See Water

Anna Lasso, Building Transparency | Jeffrey Zeman, TrueNorth Collective
Uncovering Hidden Carbon: The Role of Embedded Carbon in Net Zero Calculations

Busting Barriers to Net Zero in Multifamily Housing (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Odets

To achieve our net zero and zero emission goals within the residential building sector, numerous hurdles must be overcome. This session will focus on a number of these hurdles, including barriers specific to affordable housing, achieving decarbonization through building renovation, and how to sustain net zero operations in multi-tenant buildings. Taken together, this session will provide key insights into how specific barriers were addressed and look to developing policies and practices that can scale for maximum impact.

Moderator: Arlis Reynolds, Opinion Dynamics

Speakers:
Katie Ackerly, David Baker Architects
When Zero Emissions and Affordable Housing Collide

Peter Turnbull, Peter Turnbull and Associates LLC | Ram Narayanamurthy, Electric Power Research Institute
Real World Lessons for Taking Multifamily Decarbonization to Scale: Action Plans Based on What Works, What Doesn’t, and What’s Needed

Marta Schantz, Urban Land Institute
It Can Be Done: Multi-Tenant Net Zero Landlord-Tenant Collaboration

Local Governments Leading the Way on Climate Policy (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Ziegfeld

Too often, examples of climate actions and solutions are from major global cities. While the progress these pioneers make is important, the actions and solutions may not be directly relatable to medium- and small-local governments in terms of staff capacity, budget, and social and economic contexts. Many exemplary and early-adoption cities have made progress even if on their own have not been able to push markets to fully meet the carbon reduction goals stated by global and U.S. climate leaders. However, each local government, no matter where, is an opportunity to increase market pressure and accelerate climate action adoption, such as net zero buildings. Hear from a number of jurisdictions working to achieve building efficiency goals through scaled policy options providing proof-of-concept that decarbonization is possible for everyone, everywhere.

Moderator: Smita Thomas, Energy Shrink, LLC

Speakers:
Kelsey Waidhas, Atlanta Regional Commission | Ayo Aladesanmi, University of Pennsylvania
The Opportunity of Everywhere Else

Jan Keleher, City and County of Denver | Courtney Anderson, City and County of Denver
Denver’s Climate Action Task Force & Net Zero Buildings and Homes

Finance and Development Block Programming, Part 2: Owner Action for Decarbonizing Portfolios (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: O’Neill

To lead the way toward a decarbonized real estate sector, numerous owners and investors have pursued carbon neutral projects and set public net zero goals. This session will surface how analysis was key to overcoming an owner’s hesitation on all-electric heat pump technology and overcoming uncertainties about meeting interior thermal comfort during peak.  Attendees will learn how companies  were able to build internal buy-in to make net zero commitments, development of strategies to meet this goal, and what metrics they plan to use to measure progress. Panelists from leading global real estate firms will provide their perspectives on the market drivers for net zero and value they expect to achieve by achieving net zero.

Moderator: Zach Steinberg, Real Estate Board of New York

Speakers:
Sigal Shemesh, Buro Happold
Taking Fossil Fuels out of the Fossil Park: How to Advocate for Electrification

Monika Henn, Urban Land Institute | Jessica Long, Nuveen
Strategies for Setting and Achieving Net Zero Goals in Global Real Estate Portfolios

Michael Ohlhausen, Hudson Companies
Presentation

Networking Break & Exhibitor Showcase

Breakout 3 Sessions

Buildings of Excellence for Our Future (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Westside Ballroom

Over 40 multifamily new construction or deep renovation projects across New York are demonstrating exemplary design, construction and operation to carbon neutral performance through the Buildings of Excellence (BOE) program. These winners of the statewide competition are going beyond developing beautiful and profitable new buildings, they are establishing a carbon neutral legacy in the State of New York and leading the clean energy transition. BOE is awarding financial and technical support administered by NYSERDA during three rounds of awards. With Rounds 1 and 2 announced since 2019 and Round 3 launching soon, the effort is now starting to deliver on environmentally responsible buildings that are good for both business and residents. During this session, BOE honorees will focus in on balancing quality design with decarbonization performance and cost.

Moderator: Sara Bayer, Magnusson Architecture and Planning

Speakers:
Michael Ingui, Baxt Ingui

Julie Chou, Magnusson Architecture and Planning

Chris Lebron, Xenolith Partners LLC

David Bruns, Bruns Realty Group, LLC

Zero Comes in All Sizes (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Juilliard Complex

Net zero buildings provide no room to hide from performance challenges associated with the design, construction, or operations phase of a project. Net zero on a smaller scale can be relatively easily achieved, but how do you build on your successes and utilize lessons learned to achieve a greater scale of net zero and carbon neutrality? This session will feature stories of net-zero buildings at scale including new construction and deep energy retrofit projects on all SUNY campus buildings to drive down the energy demand, promote electrification and provide an applicable toolkit for this portfolio of buildings; reconstruction of the Old Jaffa port, the oldest active port in the world, with a goal to be energy positive; and several examples from Chicago, Minneapolis and Little Rock to highlight key lessons learned from all building phases.

Moderator: Shanta Tucker, Atelier Ten

Speakers:
Lois Vitt Sale, Wight & Company | Chris Ladner, Entegrity Partners
How Not to Screw Up a Net-Zero Building (from people who have)

Yaron Klein, Atarim – Tel Aviv Yafo Municipality
Building Positive Energy Balanced Public Center on the Tel Aviv-Yafo Coastline

William Bishop, Pathfinder Engineers and Architects | Shanta Tucker, Atelier Ten

Embodied Carbon Block Programming, Part 2: Looking Upstream for Low-Embodied Carbon Strategies (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Lyceum Complex

As operational efficiencies continue to advance, embodied carbon becomes more a share of the building carbon footprint with predictions that it will be responsible for half of emissions by 2050. Session leaders in this breakout will share an investigation that compares the life cycle impact of different materials in building applications finding significant opportunities for bio-based materials compared to conventional materials such as steel, aluminum, and concrete. In addition, a look at the potential for mass timber to move beyond business-as-usual sourcing to support climate-smart forestry and provide new pathways to procuring sustainably harvested wood, calculating carbon impacts of forest management, and targeting certain landowner types for equitable economic impact. Finally, participants will discuss how federal, state, and local governments are leveraging their purchasing power to drive down the embodied carbon of building materials and products through encouraging cleaner manufacturing practices and the disclosure of embodied-carbon data.

Moderator: Rebecca Esau, RMI

Speakers:
Jacob Dunn, ZGF Architects | David Diaz, Ecotrust
Looking Upstream: Transforming Mass Timber Supply Chain and Carbon Accounting

Stephanie Carlisle, Carbon Leadership Forum
From Pilot to Policy: Scaling Actions to Reduce Embodied Carbon

Bill Sisson, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Decarbonizing the 40%: Leverage System Collaboration to Transform the Built Environment

Key Technologies Enabling Building-Grid Optimization (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Odets

Buildings are central to today’s electricity grid, but building-grid interactions are changing fast. It is increasingly important to consider when, not just how much, energy buildings use. This session examines selected key technologies enabling buildings to be more flexible, efficient, and intelligent about how they use and generate electricity. Panelists will consider the grid support implications of passive design strategies such as enhanced envelopes, active building systems such as HVAC and thermal energy storage, and distributed energy resources such as electric vehicles.

Moderator: Alexi Miller, New Buildings Institute

Speakers:
Mark MacCracken, Trane Technologies
Electrification, Heat Pumps, and Thermal Energy Storage: A Step Towards Decarbonizing and Grid-Friendly Buildings

Walter Schaefer, DNV | Praga Meyyeppan, DNV
Don’t Miss the (Electric) Bus: Analytical Load Modeling for Strategic Electrification and Decarbonization

Lisa White, PHIUS
Passive Building is the Capacitor for the Renewable Grid

Game Changing Technologies for a Better World (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Ziegfeld

New technologies promise to dramatically change the carbon footprint of buildings with the application of products that optimize energy use for maximum savings. This session will focus in three critical technologies that are game changers in the press to decarbonize the built environments. Water heating accounts for up to one-third of the energy used in buildings, but heat pump water heaters have the potential to cut that dramatically with 2-4 times the efficiency of conventional products. HVAC system efficiency could benefit from better applications of geothermal heat pump systems, but cost barriers are keeping market share low driving engineers to look at hybrid systems or other integrations of air-source heat pumps and thermal storage. Finally, attendees will consider system integrations of shading and lighting that could super charge the effectiveness of both products for better energy savings.

Moderator: Artorius Reyes, ASHRAE NYC/Trane Technologies

Speakers:
Kevin Clark, Rheem

Cathy Higgins, New Buildings Institute

Micah Zender, Melink Zero | Steve Hamstra, Melink Zero

It CAN Be Done! Decarbonizing the World One Existing Multifamily Building at a Time (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: O’Neill

Per ACEEE, “low-income households pay 7.2 percent of household income on utilities – more than three times the amount that higher income households pay” (ACEEE, 2016). Additionally, low-income families are more likely to rent, with no agency to affect the energy efficiency of their homes, and are more likely to experience long-term negative health effects due to lower indoor and outdoor air quality from fossil fuel-based systems. This is the inequity of the climate crisis with communities at risk of being left behind as we begin the crucial shift toward a low carbon future. This session will examine considerations related to electrification for multifamily housing. Centered on three case studies that have made the switch from natural gas to electricity, presenters will outline perceived versus actual challenges, post-upgrade utility bills, and the innovative incentive programs that made these deep retrofits possible.

Speakers:
Meghan Duff, Association for Energy Affordability

Sarah Hill, Association for Energy Affordability

Christina McPike, Winn Companies

Networking Reception & Exhibitor Showcase

Join us to celebrate the growing zero energy and zero carbon movement at the 2021 Getting to Zero Forum Networking Reception & Exhibitor Showcase. Connect with industry colleagues and visit more than 20 different exhibitors.