Building Resilience Symposium
On February 16, 2023, Resource Refocus participated in the Build Up Buffalo 2023 Symposium on Building Resilience in Buffalo and Western NY (WNY). Nate Heckman presented a summary of the trends analysis work that Resource Refocus is conducting on behalf of NYSERDA to analyze the awardees of the Buildings of Excellence Program.
The symposium opened with a keynote speech from Lindsay Brugger of the Urban Land Institute that set the stage for the conversations throughout the day on topics such as how the Buffalo/WNY region can better assess and take steps to mitigate its climate risks. Dr. Nick Rajkovich delivered the closing remarks, ending the day with a call to build a community of people in WNY to champion the work necessary to make the region more resilient to the stresses and shocks from a changing climate.
Lindsay Brugger
Nick Rajkovich
Buildings of Excellence Trends Analysis
Our Performance Validation work of NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence Program has led to some very interesting findings related to net zero energy and zero carbon multifamily buildings in New York State. The Building of Excellence Program is a competition that recognizes and rewards the design, construction, and operation of carbon-neutral multifamily buildings that are healthier, more comfortable, and more resilient. There have been three rounds of the program so far. RR analyzed the 42 winning projects from Rounds 1 and 2 to assess the trends across groups of similar projects. One very exciting trend is that all of the Upstate projects are all-electric. Additionally, all Round 2 projects are all-electric, showing that in a matter of only a few years, more project teams are striving to commit to building electrification across New York. There is a growing awareness of climate risks, and project teams are working to mitigate those risks by incorporating resiliency strategies into their projects.
Energy Performance Trends
Our analysis has shown that BOE projects use a variety of certification paths including PHI, Phius, ASHRAE, and Resnet. White these certification paths use similar design inputs for energy modeling such as envelope insulation levels, air-tightness, mechanical and internal loads, each path focuses on different metrics for certification. For example, ASHRAE looks at percent energy savings against a baseline, and Phius looks at the annual source energy per occupant. Regardless of the certification path, all of the BOE projects are significantly more energy efficient than typical new construction in New York State. The figure below illustrates that the BOE projects are designed to use a third to a quarter of the energy compared to conventional new construction.
Resilience Trends
The BOE projects from Round 1 and Round 2 incorporate various resilience strategies, with a general focus on keeping internal temperatures stable in extreme weather, planning for electrical power outages by implementing tight envelopes and installing onsite electricity generation and storage, providing continuous access to clean water, and integrating the building into surrounding public transportation networks. In general, upstate buildings are more likely to incorporate strategies for onsite stormwater management, whereas NYC buildings are more focused on reducing extreme heat and humidity risks and ensuring water availability. The figure below shows the most prevalent resilience strategies the BOE projects utilized.
More information about the Buildings of Excellence Program can be found on NYSERDA’s website, which also contains case studies highlighting individual projects.