ASHRAE Decarbonization Leadership
Carrie Brown has been appointed to the ASHRAE Task Force for Building Decarbonization (TFBD) Executive Committee for the 2023-24 Society Year, which will support Ginger Scoggin’s presidential theme, “Challenge Accepted: Tackling the Climate Crisis.” ASHRAE’s Position Document on Building Decarbonization emphasizes that eliminating GHG emissions from the built environment is essential to address climate change. ASHRAE has set ambitious goals:
The global built environment must halve its 2015 GHG emissions by 2030 and for all new buildings.
By 2050, at the latest, all new and existing assets must be net zero GHG emissions across the whole life cycle.
The TFBD Executive Committee oversees over 100 volunteers from around the world working on decarbonization guides, educational seminars and courses, website material, and collaboration with industry partners. The TFBD released the Building Performance Standards: A Technical Resource Guide earlier this year and will complete six additional guides over the next year.
Upcoming presentations
IBPSA-USA
Rhys Davis will present a webinar titled “Regional Multifamily Electrification Retrofit Planning - A Case Study” hosted by IBPSA-USA on modeling and impact assessment strategies for decarbonization across existing and new residential buildings. He will discuss his research on multifamily electrification retrofits in Sacramento County as well as Resource Refocus' effort to develop and study advanced energy codes in New York State.
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2023
Time: 12:00pm PST
A registration link may be found at the IBPSA-USA Events Page.
Energy & Environmental Building Alliance
Rhys will present with Ben Rabe from the New Buildings Institute. They will discuss the work on which we have been collaborating with NBI to update the New York Stretch Code to meet State and local climate goals. Viewers will understand opportunities through the Inflation Reduction Act for states and localities to improve energy code and will be able to identify how energy credits can be used to improve flexibility for builders while continuing to advance decarbonization and resiliency goals.
Date: Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023
Time: 3:00pm EST
A registration link may be found here.
Industry leadership and service
IBPSA-USA
Natalie Low recently joined the IBPSA-USA Research Committee Webinar working group, which hosts monthly webinars to share new building simulation research.Carrie continues to serve as the IBPSA-USA president and is also co-chairing SimBuild 2024, which will take place next May in Denver. As part of this effort, Natalie joined the Hackathon Working Group, a multidisciplinary group made up of researchers, practitioners, developers, conference organizers, and students. They are currently organizing a hackathon to coincide with SimBuild 2024.
ESIG
Rhys is now serving on the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG) Grid Planning for Building Electrification Task Force, which is made up of utility planners, researchers, and technology developers. The task force is evaluating the state of the art practice for electrification impacts from building decarbonization and is possible thanks to funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity (OE). The current focus of the group is on three main tracks: forecasting building electrification impacts, studying the evolution of distribution system planning, and looking at technology development, deployment, challenges, and needs.
ASHRAE
Carrie attended the 2023 ASHRAE Annual Conference in Tampa, FL, where she caught up with her Technical Committees and hosted the IBPSA-USA member reception. In addition to continuing to work on Technical Committee 2.5, Global Climate Change, starting in July, Carrie will begin two new roles: Chair of Technical Committee 4.2 Climatic Information, and Secretary of Standard 169 Climatic Data for Building Design Standard.
Architecture at Zero
Image Credit: AIA California
The Architecture at Zero 2023 competition wrapped up on Friday July 14th with an online public awards announcement that included remarks from the Jury and this year’s site partner, the Allensworth Progressive Association. Submissions underwent an extensive review process that included a technical review and a deliberation from an architectural jury. Anna LaRue and Nate Heckman were on the Technical Review committee. The Architecture Jury members included: Lance Collins, AIA; Allison Williams, FAIA; Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, LEED Fellow; and Paul Torcellini, PhD.
The awards and winning teams are listed below, and more information can be found at Architecture at Zero’s 2023 Winners Page. Congratulations to the winners, and great work to the teams who participated and helped advance decarbonization, equity, and resilience in the town of Allensworth, CA!
AWARDED PROJECTS
High School Students
Citation Award - Think Outside the Box, Oaks Christian School, Westlake Village, CA.
Undergraduate Students
Merit Award - frAm3, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN.
Citation Award - FARM FORWARD, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland.
Graduate Students
Honor Award -The Parasol Agricultural Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
Merit Award - Biotic Diffuser, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN.
Citation Award - ECOZONE, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland.
Professionals
Honor Award - Allensworth Passage, Smithgroup, San Diego, CA.
Merit Award - Resilient Roots, HMC Architects, San Diego, CA.
Citation Award - (Re)Produce, BAR Architect & Interiors, San Francisco, CA.