October 10 Forum Program

7 a.m. -7 p.m.           Registration Open

7-8:30 a.m.                Breakfast in the Exhibitor Showcase Expo Hall

8:30-9:45 a.m.         Opening Plenary + Keynotes

Economic Engine of Zero: Investment and Communities (1 AIA LU|HSW CEU)
Room: Grand Ballroom
Policy leaders are setting resolute goals and plans to cut energy and reduce carbon emissions. In response business investments are accelerating around a new clean energy economy. But what is the risk for disadvantaged communities that are not able to actively participate? This plenary session examines the need to advance investment that supports economic growth through research and development as well as provide healthy community development.  Our keynote speakers will showcase the importance of financial standards that deliver on economic growth with reducing climate impacts and also spotlight the systems-level thinking that can provide equitable solutions that are beneficial to all.

Moderator: Bill Sisson, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Presenters:
Jigar Shah, Generate Capital

Kat Taylor, Beneficial State Bank, Presentation

9:45-10:15 a.m.      Networking Break

10:15-11:45 a.m.    Breakout Sessions 

Choice morning breakout sessions will delve deep into key aspects of getting to zero buildings through California policy, financing, embodied carbon, zero energy design, building-grid optimization, and zero energy programs.

Policy and Legislative Drivers for Decarbonization in California (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 1
Building decarbonization is an emerging solution to address statewide greenhouse gas reduction goals.  This session looks at key legislative, regulatory, and gubernatorial initiatives driving decarbonization in California, including the roles of the state agencies involved.  What role will the state’s energy code for buildings have driving energy efficiency and decarbonization, including the important prospective roles for local governments around local “reach” codes?  Multiple scenarios involving varying rates of decarbonization, and how those scenarios impact emissions footprints over time will be discussed.

Moderator: Dian Grueneich, California Public Utilities Commission

Presenters:
Merrian Borgeson, NRDC, California Building Decarbonization Policy Update

Charles Eley, Consultant-at-Large, Title 24, The Role of Cities, and “Reach” Codes

Amber Mahone, E3, Buildings in California’s Low-Carbon Future

Busting the Cost Barrier of Zero through Smart Finance and Collaboration (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: OCC 210/211
Cost is the number one perceived barrier to zero energy projects even though many have been able to achieve success at no additional cost. Learn how ultra-low energy buildings combined with on-site renewables, and energy storage impacts energy savings, long-term project value, and financing decisions. Experts will show how they evaluate various financial instruments for zero energy buildings and associated solar and storage installations. Understand the crucial issues when gauging financing options, including tax-exempt leases, sale-leaseback, partnership-flip, and cash purchase scenarios.

Moderator: Jessica Pitts, Flywheel Development

Presenters:
David McIlhenny, SunPower Corporation | Frank Di Massa, Contra Costa County Public Works Department
Financing Solar-Plus-Storage: A Winning Combination for Getting to Zero

Tim McDonald, Onion Flats, The New Gravity Project: How Onion Flats is Driving NZE Affordable Housing Nationwide

Policies on Embodied Carbon (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: OCC 208
Government policies to limit carbon emissions from the building sector have historically focused on energy use. However, energy-related operational carbon is only part of the total carbon emitted over a building’s lifecycle. Increasingly, governments are recognizing that they also have policy options to limit embodied carbon related to building materials and construction. These can take different forms, such as limiting emissions from specific high-impact materials, requiring whole building lifecycle analysis, or zero carbon certification that includes embodied carbon. A range of policy case studies will be presented, along with a discussion about the pros and cons of each approach.

Moderator: Prodipto Roy, Energy Innovation

Presenters:
Bruce King, Ecological Building Network

Kathryn Phillips, Sierra Club

Eden Brukman, City of San Francisco

Stories from the Zero Energy Trenches and Operational War Rooms (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 4
Deep energy savings can be achieved through integrated energy efficiency measures and off-the-shelf products readily available today. Attendees and presenters will discuss common commercial and residential construction design and technology applications and illustrate the importance of integrating building systems for low-energy outcomes. Operations, another essential aspect to achieving zero energy goals, will be covered including performance with green leases, building management, and share lessons learned from occupant studies that show how users respond to efficiency measures and if they can meet zero energy goals.

Moderator: Jacob Corvidae, Rocky Mountain Institute

Presenters:
Scott Shell, EHDD, Lessons Learned in Commercial and Residential NZE

Paul Mathew, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory  |  Cindy Regnier, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Making Integrated Systems Easy and Routine Through Packaging And Standardization

Jen Loomis, Opinion Dynamics Corporation, The Secrets to Meeting Energy Goals: Commercial Design Teams Tell All!

GridOptimal: Connecting Electric Grid Needs with Building Opportunities to Stabilize and Decarbonize the Grid (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Uptown
The modern electric grid working to evolve as the historic grid infrastructure strains to handle the growing number of distributed energy resources and smart systems. Experts looking at ways to design buildings for grid-optimal performance are using modeling analysis that layers ever-shifting carbon intensity and grid demand over the hourly annual energy model in order to understand the actual time-based carbon emissions of a building. Learn about a new metric for GridOptimal Buildings that offers energy flexibility in buildings, which can be leveraged as a carbon reduction strategy. Presenters will show how GridOptimal was applied at Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) Headquarters to demonstrate both decarbonization and grid harmonization strategies into the building design.

Moderator: Alexi Miller, New Buildings Institute, GridOptimal Session Intro

Presenters:
Brad Jacobson, EHDD, Sonoma Clean Power Headquarters: A Case Study of the First Grid Optimal Pilot Project

Mark MacCracken, CALMAC, a portfolio of Trane, Building Strategies for More Optimal Grid Operation

Ted Tiffany, Guttmann & Blaevoet Consulting Engineers, Grid Harmonization and Building Decarbonization Cannot Be Separate Topics

Rachel Kuykendall, Sonoma Clean Power, Building Decarbonization and Grid Harmonization in a Clean Utility Future

Changemakers: Scaling Zero Energy and Carbon Through Commitments(1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 2-3
Addressing climate change requires a concerted effort from both the public and private sectors. Private corporations, private non-profits, and utilities are all pushing to advance zero in their communities and business. Hear from changemakers that are committing to get to zero including Toyota working to reduce carbon across operations, LADWP redeveloping a major property, districts participating in DOE’s Zero Energy District Accelerator, and Consumers Energy  encouraging deep energy savings in the Midwest.

Moderator: Sarah Zaleski, U.S. Department of Energy

Presenters:
Mark Yamauchi, Toyota Motor North America, Decarbonization at Scale: Toyota’s Environmental Challenge 2050

Celia Hoag, DNV GL  |  Benjamin Glendening, Consumers Energy
Zero Net Energy (ZNE) Companion Program

Nancy Sutley, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power  |  Diane Hamlin, HDR Architecture
Walking the Talk – LADWP commits to NZ Energy on New Power Yards

11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.   Lunch in the Exhibitor Showcase Expo Hall & Innovation Stage

12:15 p.m.-12:30 p.m.  Development of Energy Efficient Glazing Technologies through Innovation and Collaboration
Access to natural daylighting and views are essential for our health and productivity, however sometimes these can come at a cost with respect to energy efficiency. As a leader in glazing technology, Pilkington will share how to meet the ZEB challenge and provide examples of some products and technical developments that can contribute in both existing as well as new construction.
Neil McSporran, PhD, Business Development Manager, Pilkington North America

12:45 p.m.-1:00 p.m.    Large-scale Commercial Heat Pump Water Heating
An introduction to domestic water heating for multifamily and commercial buildings using heat pump water heaters. This session will look at the benefits of heat pumps, equipment used, and how HPWH systems differ from traditional gas or electric.
Brian Culler, Applications Engineer, Colmac WaterHeat

1-2:30 p.m.              Breakout Sessions 

Early afternoon breakout sessions continue to dig in on the details providing a setting where conversations and vital connections can happen. Real-world experiences offer practical insights and information..

Decarbonization and the Grid: Impacts and Issues (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 1
California’s decarbonization goals impact electric and gas infrastructure by increasing electric demand and reducing gas use, potentially increasing costs for utilities.  As more all electric buildings emerge and the electric demand grows, utility operators are seeking to incentivize building load flexibility in order to support healthy grid operations, including aligning energy generation and building energy demand. This session will review the high-level needs of the energy transmission and distribution systems and probe the impact of building energy load demands on grid investment requirements.  Presenters will also discuss how issues around gas infrastructure costs and cost recovery under various scenarios  including greater and lesser amounts of natural gas and renewable gas throughput.

Moderator: Ahmad Faruqui, The Brattle Group

Presenters:
Paul Torcellini, NREL, Efficiency and Load Flexibility: What’s the Right Mix?

Matthew Tisdale, Gridworks, California’s Gas System in Transition

Arindam Maitra, EPRI, Key Drivers for T&D Investment

Driving Innovation to Reduce Costs in Affordable Housing (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Uptown
Affordable housing developers are a natural fit to get buildings to zero because of their long view on investment, mission, and history of progressive leadership. However, affordable housing faces intense financial and public pressures to “maximize unit count,” which sometimes limits benefits to occupants. Scaling low-energy, affordable housing requires collaboration between foundations, utilities, local jurisdictions, banks, and impact investors to provide the necessary funding that catalyzes action. Speakers will share strategies for maximize housing units while reducing energy use and carbon emissions, as well as the tools and scalable solutions that are transforming affordable housing development.

Moderator: Curtis Caton, Pyatok

Presenters:
Patrick O’Shei, NYSERDA, Driving Innovation and Reducing Costs: Lessons from NY’s Investment in Carbon Neutral Multi-family Housing

Connor Jansen, Slipstream | Sean Denniston, New Buildings Institute
A Prescriptive Solution for Affordable Housing Performance Ills

Steve Gelb, Emerald Cities, Community-Based Catalysts for Zero Carbon Affordable Housing

The Human Dimension of Carbon: Community Approaches to Decarbonization (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: OCC 210
Getting to zero in the building sector necessitates comprehensive policy reform at all levels as well as labor support, which is essential for a successful transition to zero-emission buildings. Attendees will hear about a school district’s framework for implementing zero carbon construction in a school district setting, and perspectives on how to maximize labor benefits for building electrification engaging with labor unions and the workforce productively. Integrated solutions across energy efficiency and conservation, scalable renewable energy generation, and community engagement used to support an existing low-income neighborhood get to zero energy will be shared.

Moderator: Rachel Golden, Sierra Club

Presenters:
Nik Kaestner, San Francisco Unified School District, Now the Hard Part, Implementing a Districtwide ZNE Plan

Betony Jones, Inclusive Economics, Prioritizing the Workforce in a Just Transition to Zero Emission Buildings

Farhad Farahmand, TRC Solutions, Opening the Door to ZNE for Disadvantaged Communities

Vinh Mason, City of Portland, Building Grassroots Movements for Zero

Retrofitting Yesterday’s Buildings for Today’s to Zero Energy Goals (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 4
Nearly 99% of all buildings are not built to current energy codes, which makes opportunities for energy savings in existing buildings vast. Building deconstruction and reuse immediately reduces a building’s carbon footprint as well as provides an opportunity to save money. Attendees will hear different technologies and strategies used to achieve zero energy retrofits in existing building types. Learn how to ‘design for disassembly’ in order to ensure that structures’ materials will be used again in the future, reducing future embodied carbon.

Moderator: Ruth Cox, Prospect Silicon Valley

Presenters:
Dave Bennink, Building Deconstruction Institute/Re-Use Consulting, The Next Big Thing: Building Deconstruction

Kristin Larson, Center for Sustainable Energy, Retrofitting Existing Municipal Buildings to ZNE: The City of San Diego “ZN3″ Project

Andrea Gulyas, SmithGroup | Marshall Andrews, DPR Construction, Path to Net Zero

Andrew Brooks, Association of Energy Affordability
Scaling Residential Zero Carbon Retrofits to Improve the Multifamily Housing Market

Codes and Policies to Advance Zero Goals, Part 1: Policies for Retrofits and New Construction (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 2-3
States and local governments are actively developing policy approaches aimed at driving towards zero energy and/or zero carbon new buildings and deep emission reductions for existing buildings.  Across jurisdictions, successful strategies involve a combination of voluntary programs, policy tools, and codes. Presenters from New York State, Metro Boston, Denver, and the USGBC will provide a snapshot of approaches that are being taken in their jurisdictions and by leaders across North America to achieve energy and carbon goals by leveraging voluntary programs, mandatory and stretch codes, and other local government tools to drive change. A facilitated discussion on these themes will follow the presentations.

Moderator: Micah Lang, City of Vancouver

Presenters:
Cammy Peterson, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Zero to 101: Accelerating the Pathway to Net Zero for the 101 Cities and Towns of Metro Boston

Greg Hale, NYSERDA, A Road Map for Carbon Neutral Buildings and the Green New Deal

Katrina Managan, Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, The Path to Net Zero New Construction by 2035 in Denver, Colorado

Elizabeth Beardsley, USGBC, Chasing Zero in Light of Multiple City Objectives: Policy Developments

Scaling Single-Family Zero to Transform Communities (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: OCC 208
The demand for zero energy homes has increased, and they are no longer custom single-family homes surrounded by conventional houses. ZE communities are being built in for all homeowners–retirees, affordable housing rentals, and neighborhood development. Hear from designers and developers of several large scale zero energy housing projects that explore design and construction strategies to achieve zero energy and how they dovetail with socially-rich, age-in-place design, financing models and marketing strategies that brought the projects to fruition.

Moderator: Tim McDonald, Onion Flats

Presenters:
Stephen Aiguier, Green Hammer, Zero Energy at Every Age: A Case Study in Zero Energy Senior Living

Garth Torvestad, ConSol, California’s Largest Single-Family ZNE Communities: Designing, Marketing, Building and Measuring Performance

Ian Blanding, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance  |  William Bryan, Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance
How to Get to Zero: A Multi-state Comparison of Zero Energy Ready Homes

2:30-2:45 p.m.     Networking Break

2:45-4:15 p.m.      Breakout Sessions 3

The third set of 90-minute breakout sessions will examine transforming portfolios, policies, and operations to get to zero energy and zero carbon. The real-life examples will inspire new ideas and innovative approaches to problem solving.

Decarbonizing the Existing Building Stock: Issues and Opportunities (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 1
A strong consensus has emerged around the concept that “new” construction is relatively easy and cost-effective to decarbonize. But what about existing buildings, most of which will still be in service 25 years from now?  In sequence, this session will look at the challenges, opportunities, and nascent approaches for decarbonizing single family homes, multi-family residential buildings, and commercial buildings.

Moderator: David Goldstein, NRDC

Presenters:
Scott Blunk, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Decarbonizing Existing Buildings

Abhijeet Pande, TRC Solutions, Multifamily Net Zero Retrofits

John Andary, Integral Group, Commercial Buildings: Getting to Zero Cost

Jurisdictions Lead by Example with Zero Building Portfolios (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: OCC 210/211
To meet energy and carbon reduction goals, local governments with assorted facilities must take a holistic portfolio approach to upgrades. Attendees will see the roadmaps created to develop energy and carbon reduction goals, including the plan for policy development, facility improvement prioritization, team-building, data management, energy benchmarking and advanced analysis, and performance reporting. Learn about the efficiency and renewable energy technologies that are transforming large building portfolios and the associated energy savings.

Moderator:  Beth Brummitt, Brummitt Energy Associates Inc.

Presenters:
Sharon Grant, Eco Edge  |  Rimas Gulbinas, Maalka
Aligning Municipal Policies and Actions with Energy and Carbon Reduction Goals

Dan Burgoyne, CA Department of General Services  |  Wade Hughes, Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Getting California to Zero

Susan Freed, County of San Diego, Zero Energy Initiatives

Codes and Policies to Advance Zero Goals, Part 2: Codes (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 2-3
Effective zero energy building design starts with an energy target, which coupled with codes have the potential to advance zero energy and carbon for both individual buildings and communities. Leading jurisdictions are already implementing energy targets to guide policy toward achieving their carbon and energy reduction goals. California, British Columbia, and a growing number of large and small cities are setting energy and electrification goals for 2030 and beyond.  This session will discuss the leadership and collaboration necessary to plan, create, and implement above code standards to transform the market.

Moderator: Jim Edelson, New Buildings Institute

Presenters:
Heidi Werner, Energy Solutions, Building Codes for Net Zero

Kevin Carbonnier, New Buildings Institute, What is the End Goal? High Performance Energy Targets for Zero Energy Commercial Buildings

Bob Deeks, RDC Fine Homes | Robyn Wark, BC Hydro
Codifying to Zero with the BC Energy Step Code

Billi Romain, City of Berkeley, Electrifying Buildings in Berkeley

Beyond Design: Verifying Zero Through Operations (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Junior Ballroom 4
Predictive data is only an educated guess of how much energy buildings will use, leaving the onus on the building operations team to meet energy and carbon targets. This session will focus on the technical and financial feasibility of taking standard sustainable design and operations to the next levels and detail the key performance strategies and critical steps for success. Presenters will share studies that compared predictive energy models and operational energy data in over 100 buildings, illustrating the performance gap and explain why buildings do not meet modeled predictions. Case studies will examine operational strategies, trade skill needs, the role of the big data and artificial intelligence, as well as other techniques are expected to have on facility management operations and costs.

Moderator: Nick Bagatelos, Bagatelos Architectural Glass Systems

Presenters:
Jenny McMinn, Urban Equation  |  Craig McIntyre, EQ Building Performance
Diagnosing the Performance Gap between Design and Operational Building Energy Use

Steve Kemp, RDH Building Science Inc.  |  Anthony Cupido, Mohawk College
Beyond Design: Verifying Zero Through Operations, Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation

Mustapha Beydoun, Houston Advanced Research Center  |  Carlos Gamarra, Houston Advanced Research Center
The Road to Zero Energy and Beyond

Integrating Utility and Customer Needs: The Value of Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Uptown
Climate change and the evolving demands on the electrical grid are creating opportunities for buildings and grid operators alike to benefit from reduced cost and a more reliability. Critical synergies are emerging between renewables, energy-storage, and passive strategies to take our buildings and our electrical grid into a decarbonized future while supporting resilience. This session will share industry-leading efforts to turn buildings into profitable, grid interactive, efficient resources. Presenters will discuss the importance of grid interactive, efficient buildings, the value based on findings from a recent analysis and emerging test bed efforts.

Moderator: Kevin Powell, General Services Administration

Presenters:
Margo Rettig, SERA Architects | Ruwan Jayaweera, PAE Engineers
Strategies and Synergies: Resilience, Passive Design, and Smart Grid Optimization

Marshall Keneipp, Tierra Resource Consultants  |  Mark Wilhelm, Tierra Resource Consultants
Integrating Utility and Customer Goals for Synergistic Benefits

Cara Carmichael, Rocky Mountain Institute, The Value of Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings for GSA

Decarbonizing and Electrifying Multifamily Housing (1.5 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: OCC 208
All-electric new construction can help communities realize a decarbonized building stock, while also working on weaning existing buildings off of fossil fuels via electrification and renewables. Case studies will illustrate the benefits of electric buildings, and share the challenges designers may face when taking on electrification. Attendees will learn about the cost of electrification, and a scalable framework for going all-electric, including a design-practitioner assessment tool which is intended to optimize packages of energy efficiency strategies to achieve zero energy for the multifamily residential sector.

Moderator: Faith Graham, NEWHAB

Presenters:
Nick Dirr, Association For Energy Affordability  |  Miya Kitahara, StopWaste
Integrating Decarbonization Strategies into Multifamily Retrofit and Construction Programs

Hilary Noll, Mithun, Making Every Multifamily Affordable Housing Project All-Electric and ZNE-Ready: Lessons from Five Bay Area Projects

Nick Young, Association for Energy Affordability  |  John Neal, Association for Energy Affordability
Decarbonizing Affordable Multifamily Buildings: The One-Two Punch of Electrification + Solar PV

4:30-5:30 p.m.     End of Day Plenary

Solar Decathlon 2019 Design Challenge
Room: Grand Ballroom
Introduced by Stacey Rothgeb, the Solar Decathlon 2019 Design Challenge winners will present their winning designs in a fast-paced, engaging presentation. Students from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in the Elementary School Division will demonstrate the best blend of architectural and engineering excellence with innovation, market potential, building efficiency, and smart energy production.

Presenters:
Stacey Rothgeb, NREL

Austin Carf, Miami Univeristy

Grace Pilkington, Miami University

Tackling Deep Carbon Reductions Throughout the Building Lifecycle (1 AIA LU|HSW CEUs)
Room: Grand Ballroom
Addressing the climate impacts of carbon emissions from the built environment requires innovative thinkers to transform buildings throughout its lifecycle.  Embodied carbon before construction, operational energy and carbon, and embodied carbon near end of life.  The combined effort of organizations addressing carbon reduction will support the zero carbon future.  This plenary will feature innovations including a tool to select building products that reduce embodied carbon, how AI can reduce building energy and carbon through algorithms, and a program to breathe new energy efficiency into existing multifamily buildings, reducing the carbon. When these ideas are combined throughout a buildings life, they offer serious solutions for carbon reduction.

Moderator: Nancy Ander, Department of General Services

Presenters:
Susan Kennedy, Advanced Microgrid Solutions

Katie Ross, Microsoft, Solving Both Sides of the Equation

Jasper van den Munckhof, Energiesprong, Desirable, Warm and Affordable Homes for Life

5:30-7 p.m.            Exhibitor Showcase Reception in Expo Hall & Innovation Stage

5:45 p.m.-6:00 p.m.    Selecting Appropriate Networked Lighting Controls
Networked Lighting Controls (NLCs) are becoming easier to specify, install and use: with wireless communication, multi-sensors in every luminaire, and mobile apps. In this session you will learn how to use the DLC NLC Qualified Products List of nearly 50 NLC systems, to select an appropriate system for each of your projects.
Levin Nock, PhD, Technical Manager, DesignLights Consortium (DLC)

6:15 p.m.-6:30 p.m.   Metrics for Building Performance Modeling
This presentation will cover the range of appropriate energy/carbon metrics which can be used for Building Performance Modeling and will reference various codes, standards and rating systems.
Liam Buckley, Vice-President, IES West Coast

6:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.  Induction Appliance Explanation and Hands On Demo
Don’t miss the appliance demonstration in Booth #32 during the Expo reception. Four appliances will be on hand representing the categories of available commercial induction equipment: cook top, griddle, soup warmer, and wok. Attendees will witness the “dollar bill” heat transfer demo while also learning about induction technologies from The Food Service Technology Center’s Consulting Chef, Mark Duesler, and Director of Education, Richard Young.

 7 p.m.                     Dine Arounds in Oakland

Meet new friends or connect with old colleagues at one of our Dine Around Dinners hosted by friends of the Getting to Zero Forum. These organized pay-your-own way dinners offer a chance to experiences some of Oakland’s stellar culinary options. Please register using one of the links below and meet by the registration desk at 7 p.m. to walk over together.

Dine Around #1: District Oakland Small plates and extensive wine and whiskey lists at District Oakland.

Dine Around #2: Parlour Italian influenced, Bay Area cuisine at Parlour.

Dine Around #3: Benchmark Oakland  Wood-fired pizza and other Italian inspired offerings at Benchmark Oakland.

Dine Around #4: Le Cheval  Classic Vietnamese dishes at Le Cheval.