Case Studies

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Outdoor Power Reimagined: A Wireless Solar Solution

The clean energy economy, decarbonization, net-zero buildings, and smart cities each rely on clean, reliable, and distributed energy.

Jeremy Sigmon, formerly of the U.S. Green Building Council and now with Texas-based manufacturer PowerStack, is working with designers, contractors, and landowners to deploy an emerging, attractive, resilient solution for outdoor power supply in a slender profile known as “Vertical Solar.”

Energy Star Portfolio Manager and Benchmarking

Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) is a key tool for benchmarking energy consumption developed by DOE which is in wide use these days.

The purpose of this presentation is to affirm its usefulness as the first step to reducing energy consumption in existing buildings by benchmarking their usage. Steve will show his training slides for a city initiative to comply with Houston’s Decarbonization Policy for city buildings adopted this year.

Prefab Housing

Pre-fabricated housing is beginning to become mainstream again. Mobile homes have been an industry for a while now, but shipping pre-assembled parts of a conventional house to be configured onsite is catching up.  Cost has always been a concern, but the quality advantage is becoming a sales tool now that conventional housing is facing challenges on all fronts.  Box Prefab is a Houston-based entity with founders from the design professions who wanted to more tightly hold the quality of the finished product rather than hand that off to a conventional builder. 

Light Advocacy

Lighting with all its positive benefits can be installed just plain wrong. It should have a clear purpose, directed where it is needed, no brighter than necessary, used only when it is useful, and we should use warmer colors where possible. You’ve heard about dark skies and light pollution, but did you know about the danger of excessive glare? Lighting consumes energy and costs money and is regulated by the energy code. Nobody wants too much light shining in their bedroom at night.

Net-Zero Energy Initiatives

Net Zero Energy (NZE) has developed from a fringe movement to approaching mainstream. Here’s a definition: "A Zero Carbon Building is a highly energy-efficient building that produces on-site, or procures, carbon-free renewable energy or high-quality carbon offsets in an amount sufficient to offset the annual carbon emissions associated with building materials and operations." Washington, DC actually incorporated Appendix Z to their Energy Code to delineate requirements for achieving an NZE classification for a DC building.

GREEN BY DESIGN: PETER PFEIFFER, FAIA

"By taking a “street-wise” common-sense approach to high performance design strategies and comparing them to the expensive and maintenance intensive "green gizmos" approach being promoted by most, Architect Peter Pfeiffer will present to and help the participant critically determine what works - what is effective and long lasting - and what may simply be 'hype' of the latest 'fad' product or method."           

This is a webinar on Startmeeting.com, with 1 CEU available.

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