2015 NATIONAL FORUM PROGRAM DETAILS

View a printable PDF of the full program

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2015

2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Conference Registration Open

4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
“Kickoff” Reception +Exhibitor Tailgate Party | Grand Ballroom Foyer
Network, connect and share with other attendees, our sponsors and exhibitors for a Super Bowl Tailgate-themed “Kick Off” reception.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Conference Registration + Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks | Grand Ballroom

Brendan Shane | Chief, Office of Policy and Sustainability, District Department of the Environment, District of Columbia
David Terry | Executive Director, NASEO
Michael Bendewald | Senior Associate, Rocky Mountain Institute
Ralph DiNola | CEO, New Buildings Institute

9:15 a.m. – 10 a.m.
Opening Plenary Session | Grand Ballroom

2015: The Beginning of the End?
Does 2015 mark the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era? How does “Getting to Zero” fit into this narrative? Edward Mazria will deliver a riveting presentation on the call to Zero, the progress made to date, and the road ahead leading to a carbon neutral and sustainable future.

Speaker:
Edward Mazria | Founder and CEO, Architecture 2030  Get a copy of The Urban Climate Initiative

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Networking Break

10:30 a.m. – Noon
Getting to Zero: Deeper Dive Breakout Sessions (Part 1)
These sessions will delve deeper into key aspects of zero net energy ownership, design, and management.  Working together, participants will consider topics critical for successful zero net energy projects.

Track 1 |  From Policy to Practice | Culpeper Room
Program Approaches to Implementing ZNE
This session will showcase implementation efforts and strategies by states and utilities that are taking a proactive stance towards ZNE in their areas. They will discuss the approach and rationale for the program or pilot and share lessons from development and customer engagement.

Moderator:
Bill Updike | Green Building Specialist, Government of the District of Columbia

Speakers:
Jim Merriam | Director of Operations, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Francis Boucher | Commercial Construction Program Manager, National Grid
Anthony Fryer | Building Technologies Program Administrator, Minnesota Department of Commerce
David Eijadi | Principal, The Weidt Group – MN Program Manager

Track 2 | Making Net Zero Mean Business | Longworth Room
Why Net Zero Means Business for Occupants
There is increasing recognition and expectation that the designs and features of a building can enhance occupant experiences and influence their behavior and well-being, thereby supporting business metrics. This session explores the value derived from net zero buildings. Panelists will present and discuss their own motivation for and realized value from net zero and discuss connecting low and zero energy design with occupant benefits.

Moderator:
Peter Turnbull | Principal, Commercial Buildings and Zero Net Energy Program
Manager, Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Speakers:
Marsha Maytum | Principal, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
Chris Gorthy | East Coast Director of Sustainability, DPR Construction
Ken Seibert | President, CMTA Consulting Engineers

Track 3 | Creating ZNE Buildings | Roosevelt Room
Perspectives on Design Process
It can be argued that project delivery process is the biggest roadblock to ZNE, not technology or knowledge. ZNE design requires different people engaged at different times on different issues than projects with other sustainability goals. What are these distinguishing factors? The focus of the session will be on early stage design integration, and how to move from challenge to success.

Moderator:
Brad Jacobson | Senior Associate & Sustainability Leader, EHDD

Speakers:
Matthew Porreca | Principal, BNIM
Eric Soladay |Managing Principal, Integral Group
Greg Mella | Vice President, SmithGroupJJR

Track 4 | ZNE from Start to Finish | Executive Forum
Teaming with Technology: A Manufacturer’s Panel
Leading manufacturer’s will share their approaches to meet technical and market needs for low and zero energy buildings. The showcased technologies and manufacturer approaches highlight the energy and non-energy benefits of supporting the move to net zero.

Moderator:
Jim Crockett | Editorial Director, Net Zero Buildings Magazine

Speakers:
Don Stevens | National R&D Manager Panasonic Eco Solutions North America
Helen Sanders | V.P. Technical Business Development, SageGlass
Mark Menzer | Director of Public Affairs, DanFoss

Noon – 1:15 p.m.
Lunch and Plenary | Grand Ballroom

Both Sides of the Meter
It’s a changing world on both sides of the meter and energy is no longer a one-directional transaction. Fuel options and application, storage opportunities and pricing and policy models all influence the new ‘prosumer’ choices. Our panelist will discuss the market and technology changes for supply, application and the production and exchange of energy that impacts and influences today’s net zero buildings.

Moderator:
Ralph DiNola | CEO, New Buildings Institute

Speakers:
Sue Kristjansson | Customer Strategy Manager, Clean Energy, Southern California Gas Co.
Mark MacCracken | LEED Fellow & CEO, CALMAC Mfg. Corp.
Steven Strong | President, Solar Design Associates
Janice Berman | Senior Director, Pacific Gas & Electric Company

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Getting to Zero: Deeper Dive Breakout Sessions (Part Two)

Track 1 | From Policy to Practice | Culpeper Room
From Policy to Practice
Hear what leading states are doing to get their policies, practitioners and their own buildings to zero. The panelist shares the work of developing policies from ideation to implementation and the steps on their path to net zero.

Moderator:
Carolyn Sarno Goldthwaite | Senior Program Manager, High Performance
Buildings, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships

Speakers:
Renee Hutcheson | Energy Architect, North Carolina Department of
Environment and  Natural Resources
Roger Grant | Program Director, National Institute for Building Sciences  (see presentation for Punjabi below)
Sonia Punjabi | Building Technologies Office, US Department of Energy
Alex Pollard | Energy Efficiency Commercial Programs Manager, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources

Track 2 | Making Net Zero Mean Business | Longworth Room
Why Net Zero Means Business for Owners
What value is derived to owners and real estate investors from the asset and operational changes in a zero net energy building?  This session will explore and understand the investor value of zero and take a close look at income, cost, and risk. Panelists will present and discuss specific projects from a financial and business perspective, including design/construction targets and actual outcomes.*

Moderator:
Michael Bendewald | Senior Associate, Rocky Mountain Institute

Speakers:
Kevin Bates | President & Owner, SHARP Development Company Inc.
Peter Rumsey | Founder and CEO, Point Energy Innovations
Darlene Pope | Founder and Principal, CoR Advisors

*Attendees interested in this session should consider joining the Tuesday afternoon Workshop: The Value of ZNE.

Track 3 | Creating ZNE Buildings | Roosevelt Room
Strategies for Getting to Zero
Building design teams often start with two key parts to get to zero: passive design strategies and the availability for the production of site renewables energy (often called the solar budget). These speakers will use projects to demonstrate how they drill down into the energy targets, modeling, envelope and daylighting to reduce loads and assess and integrate the available renewables.

Moderator:
Charles Eley | Principal, Eley and Associates

Speakers:
Michael Tillou | Associate, Atelier Ten – Environmental Design Consultants + Lighting Designers
Clark Brockman | Principal on Sustainability, SERA Architects
Patricia Andrasik | Assistant Professor + Head of Sustainability Outreach for the Master of Science in Sustainable Design Program, The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning

Track 4 | ZNE from Start to Finish | Executive Forum
Getting to Zero Energy Outcomes
Getting to Zero relies more and more on what happens after design with as much as 50% of actual energy use influenced by the occupants and operators. This session brings together best practices, data on occupant driven energy, and new roles from design through operations that help outcomes meet expectations.

Moderator: 
Mark Frankel | Technical Director, New Buildings Institute

Speaker:
Paul Torcellini | Principal Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Ryan Colker | Director, Consultative Council/Presidential Advisor National Institute of Building Sciences
Ruwan Jayaweera | Senior Associate, PAE Consulting Engineers

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Networking Break

3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
ZEDx Talks+Participant Perspectives | Grand Ballroom
This session begins with a few Zero Energy Direction (ZED)x talks. These ZEDx speakers will deliver lively and quick pecha kucha-style (~ 7 min each) topics on the direction of zero energy. Then add your perspective from your work, experience and the day’s sessions with your own voice through a group dialog and polling on key solutions, policy and market subjects that will be published as part of the proceedings.

Speakers:
Cathy Higgins | New Buildings Institute
Amy Frykman | Vice President, Resource Media –  Messaging Matters: Framing Zero for the Market Mind
Brad Liljequist | Technical Director, International Living Futures Institute – Net Zero Energy Buildings as Awesome Bombs: Transformative Explosions of Goodness and Vision
Herb Stevens | Partner and Chief Innovation Officer, Nixon Peabody LLP – We’re all in this Together: Sharing the Benefits of Community Solar
Smita Gupta | Principal Consultant, Itron – Rethinking the ZERO in ZNE

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Networking Reception + Exhibitor Showcase | Grand Ballroom Foyer

7 p.m.
Dine Out with Friends
If you’re interested in enjoying a fantastic meal in the company of your esteemed colleagues, we invite you to join one of our no-host “dine arounds.” We have reserved tables at two outstanding Washington, DC, restaurants on Monday, February 2nd at 7:30 p.m. for 35 participants. Please see the registration desk to sign up for either of these restaurants and meet in the lobby.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Networking + Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Plenary Session | Ballroom 2

Stepping-stones to Net Zero and Beyond
Zero net energy buildings are rapidly emerging as a key part of the national and global energy transformation. Integrative design and careful construction management can often reduce capital costs to normal levels. Energy costs can be avoided or, usually with external financing, reversed. New forms of value to the utility, owner, and occupants can improve economics even more dramatically. Such opportunities expand further at the portfolio or community level. As we master and consolidate these gains, we can even start looking ahead to the next frontier–zero net energy retrofits.

Speaker:
Amory Lovins | Co-Founder, Chief Scientist & Chairman Emeritus,
Rocky Mountain Institute  (video)

Green Building Market Transformation: Energy Efficiency Achievements from LEED and GRESB
Dr. Pyke will share a global perspective on trends in green building market transformation with a focus on perspectives based on data from LEED-certified projects and portfolios reporting to the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).  He will consider trends in energy efficiency design goals, operational performance measures, and specific energy efficiency practices including energy monitoring and reporting.  These trends indicate significant progress over the last decade, as well as opportunities for improvement and challenges to the long-term goal of zero net energy and low carbon buildings.

Speaker:
Chris Pyke Ph.D | Chief Operating Officer, Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark

9:30 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.
Networking Break

9:50 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Breakout A | Scaling Solutions – Making it Happen through Policies | Ballroom 2
ZNE Policies within and Across Borders
The adoption of net zero policies are extending across regions, countries, and through government. This session will highlight the adoption reasons, efforts and planned impacts from European, Pacific Coast, Army and GSA net zero policies and action plans.

Moderator:
Jim Edelson | Director of Codes and Policy, New Buildings Institute

Speakers:
Bruno Mesureur | Director of International Affairs, French Center for Building Science and Technology (CSTB)
Paul Volkman | Energy Program Manager, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy & Environment)
Ken Sandler | Sustainability and Green Building Advisor, U.S. General Services
Administration

Breakout B | Scaling Solutions – Making it Happen through Projects | Executive Forum
Beyond a Building
With almost 5 million commercial buildings in the U.S., the path to zero energy must include approaches that scale across common ownership, physical areas and prototypes. This session addresses how, where and why portfolios, districts, and developments are joining together to get to zero.

Moderator:
Erik Fowler | Manager, Research & Collaboration Programs, Rocky Mountain Institute

Speakers:
Adam Slakman | Associate, Hines
Nora Wang | Senior Engineer & Associate Program Manager for Building
Efficiency, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Roy Buchert, P.E. | Energy Director, Restaurant Solutions Group, McDonald’s Corporation
Ralph DiNola | CEO, New Buildings Institute

11:15 a.m. – Noon
Event Wrap Up: Take & Shake up the World | Ballroom 2
Session moderators and attendees will share the key takeaways from the Getting to Zero National Forum and confirm next steps for advancing zero energy buildings.

1:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Tours to visit Zero and Exemplary Buildings Around Washington DC
These exciting post-Forum tours are complimentary for Forum attendees, but pre-registration is required as space is limited. Please sign up or confirm your spot at the registration desk.

POST FORUM WORKSHOP

12 noon – 5 p.m.
Value of Zero Energy: Maximizing the Value of Sustainability Investment | Begins with lunch in the Colonnade Room, 2nd Floor
This half-day, limited-seating session will offer tools and strategies focused on investor-owned properties. The Workshop will enable participants to learn how to value sustainability (even “net-zero”) during real estate investment decision making. By attending the workshop, you will gain advanced knowledge of how to present solid financial evidence and analysis supporting building projects or portfolio strategies that go beyond standard practice to deep efficiency and/or fully green and sustainable design.  The workshop will draw from Rocky Mountain Institute’s recently published practice guide, “How to Calculate and Present Deep Retrofit Value for Owner Occupants” and their companion guide for Investors scheduled for publication in early 2015.

Moderators:
Nushin Kormi | Principal, Rocky Mountain Institute
Ralph DiNola | CEO, New Buildings Institute
Michael Bendewald | Senior Associate, Rocky Mountain Institute
Cathy Higgins | Research Director, New Buildings Institute

Speakers:
James Gray-Donald | VP Sustainability, Bentall Kennedy
David De Vos | Global Director of Sustainability, Prudential Real Estate Investors
Renee Loveland | Sustainability Manager, Gerding Edlen
Peter Rumsey | Founder and CEO, Point Energy Innovations
Sukanya Paciorek | Sr. Vice President Corporate Sustainability, Vornado Realty Trust
Adam Slakman | Associate, Hines