Takeaway notes from conferences, webinars, and coffee chats I’ve attended with sustainability, circularity, and other industry leaders.
July 18 2024: Circular Economy
I attended a half day event the USGBC hosted at blah blah headquarters
July 09 2024: SAME + USGBC
Dec 1 2023: Takeaways from UGSBC Webinar on Electrification, Decarbonization, and LEED
The USGBC has an ongoing monthly webinar series, First Friday Webinars. Today of course was the last one for 2023, so I wanted to write a little something about it.
Today's webinar featured three speakers, Laurie Kerr, Christopher Schaffner, and Joshua Hatch recorded at the 2022 Greenbuild conference. They spoke on the goals and urgency for decarbonization for new buildings from now (2022) until 2050, the electrical alternatives to move away from fossil fuels, and what LEED could do to help reduce the projected increased electrical demand as a result.
I know from my studies into green building practices that a building's initial design can lay the groundwork (pun intended) for efficient energy usage. Things such as passive solar design, which accounts for the position of the sun in regards to the placement of windows, etc. could be used to greatly reduce the demand for heating or cooling during peak loads. A building's envelope could also address heating and cooling concerns by providing efficient insulation and air flow.
One thing to note is the challenge Laurie talked about with existing buildings. One attendee during the Q&A portion mentioned how statistics show many of the buildings that will exist by 2050 have already been built, and of course some of those may have existed long before green building practices really took off. Laurie conceded that poorly designed existing buildings provide a challenge to electrify, even though they can certainly be retrofitted following the USGBC's specific guidelines for existing projects that want to pursue LEED certification.
Ultimately, this talk focused on what incentives can be provided to reduce fossil fuels in buildings moving forward. As we progress towards carbon neutrality and net-zero targets for the coming decades, the USGBC will focus on resiliency and equity, as optimally designed buildings will be more prepared for the future.
