The BE+ Carbon and Energy Community brings together architects, designers, construction managers, and sustainability professionals to address carbon and energy in the built environment.
Reach out to carbonenergy@builtenvironmentplus.org with any inquiries, questions, or concerns.
Topics & Speakers
November 21st, 2024 - Campus Decarbonization Roadmapping
This BE+ Carbon and Energy Roundtable will explore the complexities of creating Campus Decarbonization Roadmaps. The discussion will address how to get started when clients are struggling to develop their roadmaps, team dynamics, and the critical stakeholders involved. The session will also highlight the differing objectives between public and private institutions, examining the balance between full decarbonization and hybrid plans based on available capital. This interactive session encourages participants to share experiences, ask questions, and collaborate on actionable solutions for developing effective decarbonization master plans.
The event runs from 3pm-4pm EDT on Nov 21, 2024. Register here.
September 19th, 2024 - Geothermal Energy Systems
This BE+ Carbon and Energy Roundtable, led by Brightcore, will delve into the technical and practical aspects of geothermal energy systems. Discussion topics will include geothermal system costs, site disruption, space requirements, maintenance, and long-term energy management. The session will also explore district/network geothermal systems and innovative collaborations with cities to utilize public spaces and rights-of-way, providing a comprehensive view of this sustainable energy solution. Attendees are encouraged to join this interactive session, bring questions, and share lessons learned!
The event runs from 3pm-4pm EDT on Sept 19, 2024. Register here.
July 18th, 2024 - Special Roundtable: The Future of Mass Save Incentives
This special Carbon & Energy roundtable focuses on The Draft Massachusetts 2025-2027 Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization Plan. The Sponsors of Mass Save® will detail high-level accomplishments and will present a forward-thinking vision for the future. Topics will include the Draft Three-Year Plan summary, GHG reduction efforts, equity and accessibility, streamlined customer experience and workforce development. Focused content will be presented on commercial new construction and major renovation, existing buildings, as well as a new embodied carbon component.
The first hour of the roundtable will be a presentation by experts from the Sponsors of Mass Save, Eversource and National Grid. The second hour is a community discussion where questions and comments are welcome from all attendees.
Subject Matter Experts:
Kimberly Cullinane | Manager, New Construction Energy Efficiency | Eversource Energy
Ryan Willingham | Senior Energy Efficiency Consultant | Eversource Energy
Joel Martell | Senior Analyst – Customer Energy Management | National Grid
Josh Kessler | Lead, Energy Efficiency | National Grid
The event runs from 11am-1pm EDT on July 18, 2024. Register here.
May 16th, 2024 - Envelope Derating Office Hours
As we delve into the intricacies of the 2023 MA Stretch Code’s new requirements for thermal envelope performance, it’s important to consider key questions: Who should be part of our team to navigate these changes effectively? When is the best time to conduct these calculations? And what insights can we gain from others’ experiences with envelope submissions? Our upcoming roundtable discussion, moderated by Joelle Jahn (JB&B Deep Carbon Reduction), will adopt an office hour style format with enclosure consulting experts Andrew Steingiser (RDH), Alex Barmas (Socotec) and Matt Colturi (SGH), focusing on topics like envelope derating, thermal bridge requirements, assembly ratings, effective U/R values, and strategies for compliance.
Register here.
March 21st, 2024 - New Energy Codes, Regulations, and the Future of Sustainability Impacts on Scope and Services
In this roundtable we will discuss additional or non-standard project scope and services required to design and construct buildings to the MA Stretch and Specialized Energy Codes, Inflation Reduction Act federal incentives, BERDO/BUEDO, embodied carbon, and other emerging sustainability goals. What more does an architect, engineer, design consultant, owner/developer, and contractor need to know/do for these new requirements and trends?
Subject Matter Experts:
Noah Klammer | Building Performance Consultant | Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
Brad Mahoney | Director of Sustainable Development | MP Boston
Roselin Osser | Senior Project Engineer | AKF Group
Greg Stepler | Superintendant | Turner Construction Co.
Ricky Weathers | Senior Mechanical Engineer | JB&B
Peter Zmuidzinas | Project Manager, Co-Leader of Energy Team | Elkus Manfredi Architects
Register here.
January 18th, 2024 - Mind the Gap(s): What does the industry need to meet all these mandates?
At our January 18th Roundtable, we’ll be kicking off the year with a working session to identify the needs of the industry. What would be most helpful to meet the current mandates on your projects? Bring your questions and ideas to this session, it’s a great opportunity to influence the Carbon & Energy 2024 events calendar to meet your needs!
Register here.
December 2023 - Mass Save Commercial and Residential New Construction/Major Renovation program changes – advancing all electric buildings
Our December Roundtable will feature a discussion on Mass Save Commercial and Residential New Construction & Major Renovation program changes intended to advance building decarbonization. Going forward, projects will need to be all electric in order to participate and access incentives and technical assistance support. There are some exceptions. Come and hear the details and ask questions of your Mass Save Sponsors.
Register here.
November 2023 - Deep Energy Dive into the GBS23 C&E Award Entries
This Roundtable will be centered around our record-breaking 17 Carbon & Energy award entries from Green Building Showcase 2023. The session will feature several project teams from submitted projects and will be moderated by C&E Community Leader Noah Klammer with Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
Register here.
October 2023 - Is TEDI a Bear? Getting to the Thermal Energy Demand Intensity (TEDI) limits in the MA Energy Stretch and Specialized Code.
This month’s session on October 19th from 3-4pm with focus on TEDI and the challenges project teams are running into when running the models. We’ll also be discussing questions around the latest TEDI guidelines from DOER with help from our subject matter experts. The session will be moderated by Rosie Osser, Senior Project Engineer at AKF Group.
Subject Matter Experts
Samira Ahmadi | Founding Principal | EnviEnergy Studio
Keith Lane | Mechanical Engineer | GGD Consulting Engineers
Alejandra Menchaca | Principal | AIRLIT Studio
Romeo Michael | Lead Consultant | WSP USA
Lam Pang | Senior Project Engineer | Thornton Tomasetti
September 2023 - Best Practices in Lab Design
Subject Matter Experts
Tom Scarola | Managing Director, Engineering & MEP Services | Tishman Speyer
Tom Scarola joined Tishman Speyer in 2002 and currently oversees MEP and sustainability engineering design of international and domestic development projects. He is presently part of the design management team for the 2.4 million square foot all-electric headquarters building for JP Morgan Chase in midtown Manhattan. He has worked on several development projects in Boston, most recently the Enterprise Research Campus (ERC) at Harvard University. In partnership with Breakthrough Properties, Tishman Speyer is involved in the design, construction and operations of several lab buildings, three here in Boston. Tom has over 45 years of experience in the construction industry. He has served on numerous committees and boards including the U.S. Green Building Council and both New York State and City Sustainability Policy Advisory Committees.
Ari Greenberg | Senior Associate, Carbon Neutral Engineer | BR+A
Ari Greenberg is a Senior Associate at BR+A Consulting Engineers in Boston, MA. As an integrated member of both the HVAC design and sustainability consulting teams, he focuses on developing strategies that push the boundaries of building decarbonization and keeping those strategies on track throughout design and construction. His work focuses on efficiency and electrification for hard-to-heat and high-energy building typologies in the healthcare, research, commercial, and institutional sectors. Ari holds a B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering with a Certificate in Sustainable Energy from Princeton University and is a registered Mechanical Engineer in Massachusetts.
July 2023 - Ground Source Heat Pumps
Subject Matter Experts:
- John Kastrinos | Senior Associate, Hydrogeology | Haley & Aldrich, Inc.
- Robert Linzer | Managing Director | Brightcore Energy
- Kate Bubriski | Director of Sustainability & Building Performance | Arrowstreet
June 2023 - Building Tech Forum Roundup
In this session, we’ll be looking back and reflecting on the cutting edge building technologies presented at Built Environment Plus’ Building Tech Forum on June 13th. Attend the event to prepare for the discussion!
Facilitated by Axel Jeremie, Assistant Sustainability Consultant at WSP
March 2023 - Brain Break: What’s New for Electrical Requirements in the Energy Code
With so much focus on building heating electrification in the recent months, Carbon and Energy will provide the forum for the less-examined electrical changes to the energy code. There will be invited speakers on lighting requirements and EV infrastructure with emphasis on these topics.
Subject Matter Experts:
Glenn Heinmiller, FIALD, LEED AP, LC | Principal | Lam Partners
Patrick Murphy, PE, LEED AP BD+C, CPHC | Associate Principal, Director of Sustainable Design | R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, LLP
Andy Francis, PE | Electrical Project Engineer | Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
Bruce Swantin | Director of Electrical Engineering | AHA Consulting Engineers, Inc.
February 2023 - Stacking Incentives for Net Zero in MA
Kimbery Cullinane | Supervisor, New Construction Energy Efficiency | Eversource
Jerome Garciano | Attorney | Polsinelli
Eben Perkins | Vice President | Competitive Energy Services
January 2023 - MA Stretch Code Technical Guidance Draft Discussion
2022
December – Year in Review
November – Greenbuild 2022
October – Boston Zero Net Carbon Building Zoning Initiative Discussion
Join the BE+ Carbon & Energy Community for a discussion with members of Boston’s Zero Net Carbon (ZNC) Building Zoning Initiative team on Boston’s Zero Net Carbon Building and Zoning Article 37 Updates. The 30-day public comment period opens on September 28th. Hear from other industry leaders and share your thoughts ahead of submitting comments.
September – Portfolio Scale Decarbonization
July – BTF ’22, What’s Next?
June – Time Of Use Carbon & Grid Resiliency
Our industry is seeing a big shift in understanding whole-building carbon emissions and therefore the impact of the built environment – in both operational and embodied carbon. While it’s typical to use average electrical grid GHG factors to assess carbon emissions, time-of-use factors can provide an additional layer of information in the pursuit of reducing carbon emissions. At peak electricity usage, peaker plants come online and these typically use more carbon intensive sources. So, how can we avoid peak electricity use and therefore peaker plant carbon emissions, while also improving the resiliency of the grid? The panel discussion will include topics like demand management, energy storage, and grid-connected buildings, among others, to debate the opportunities and challenges from a building to its electrical grid.
May – Electrifying Affordable Housing
Courtney Koslow | Development Director at Beacon Communities
Michelle Apigian AIA, LEED AP, AICP, CPHC | Associate Principal | Practice + Sustainability Leader at ICON architecture
James Petersen, PE | Principal at Petersen Engineering
April – ASHP Domestic Hot Water
Jake Littman, CFPS, CPD, CET | Plumbing and Fire Protection Senior Engineer at WSP
Rob Aldrich, PE | Principal Mechanical Engineer at Steven Winter Associates
March – ASHRAE 209
Chris Schaffner | Founder and President of The Green Engineer, Inc.
Julie Janiski | Partner at Buro Happold, BE+ Board Member
Samira Ahmadi | Founding Principal of enviENERGY Studio
Ben Brannon | Building Performance Engineer at Arup
February – BERDO + BEUDO
Hannah Payne | Carbon Neutrality Program Manager at City of Boston
Seth Federspiel | Climate Program Manager at City of Cambridge
January – Electrifying Labs & Life Sciences
Ari Greenberg, PE, LEED AP BD+C | Senior Associate, HVAC/Sustainable Design at BR+A
Andrew Wang, AIA, LEED AP | Senior Project Manager, Design at Related Beal
Matthew Fickett, AIA, CPHC, LEED | Director or Science and Technology at SGA
2021
December – Schools
Kimberly Cullinane | Supervisor, New Construction | Energy Efficiency at Eversource
Julia Nugent AIA, LEED BD+C | Principal at HMFH Architects
Martine Dion FAIA, LEED AP BD+C | Principal, Director of Sustainable Design at SMMA
November – Boston’s Zero Net Carbon Building Zoning
October – Current Events and Roundtable Planning
This month’s roundtable will start with a brief current events update on what has been happening locally and then we will open up the space for others to share or comment.
The majority of the roundtable will be spent actively engaging the group to understand what the future of this roundtable should look like. This space is for the community to have dedicated time to connect and work together on Carbon & Energy related issues and opportunities in the built environment.
BE+ members and IBPSA Boston members can sign up for the session for free. People new to BE+’s roundtables without membership can also attend for free.
August – Let’s Prep for DOER Input
Interested in sharing your thoughts on the Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code? The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has just a year left to develop and promulgate the next MA stretch energy code. They are required to hold at least five public hearings throughout the state during the process yet have not released a schedule as of now. While we wait for the hearings to begin we want to proactively gather the Building Community to discuss priorities and recommendations.
This will be the first of monthly roundtables on Carbon and Energy. This month’s session will take place this Thursday, August 19, from 9-10am, and will focus on gathering input from Massachusetts building industry practitioners on the direction of the state’s Stretch Energy Code. We want to hear both your fears and hopes for the code.
BE+ invited IBPSA members, a community of energy modeling professionals in the Boston area, to attend and form a dedicated “breakout room” focused on the role of energy modeling in the Stretch Energy Code. Now is your chance to share testimonies on energy modeling requirements in the current code, and provide input on potential new directions for the code in the future.
Depending on attendance, we’ll have additional breakouts to gather thoughts on efficiency, electrification, renewables, and other.
The result of the breakout room discussions will be a letter drafted to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) on behalf of Built Environment Plus and IBPSA Boston, summarizing the discussion.
BE+ members and IBPSA Boston members can sign up for Thursday’s session for free. People new to BE+’s roundtables without membership can also attend for free.
Community Stewards
Community Leadership
Joelle Jahn
Co-Chair
Senior Associate | New England Leader, Deep Carbon Reduction at JB&B
Stephen Moore
Co-Chair
Senior Building Systems Consultant at Steven Winter Associates, Inc.
Noah Klammer
Co-Chair
Building Performance Consultant at Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
Julie Janiski
Board Liaison
Partner at BuroHappold Engineering
Kate Bubriski
Board Liaison
Director of Sustainability & Building Performance at Arrowstreet
Chad Laurent
Board Liason
Principal, Cadmus Group LLC