Announcements

Green Building October 8th Luncheon: Leveraging ENERGY STAR to Support Commercial Building Improvement and Achieve LEED Certification

ENERGY STAR is the premier program for recognizing energy efficient commercial buildings, and LEED is the premier program for recognizing sustainable green buildings. This session will provide valuable information to LEED practitioners to help them leverage ENERGY STAR as a means of moving buildings toward LEED certification. The program will present an overview of the ENERGY STAR program for commercial buildings, with a special focus on the program’s widely used Portfolio Manager software tool that allows building owners and managers to track and assess the energy performance of their buildings. Participants will then learn about how ENERGY STAR intersects with LEED EB: O&M, and how increasing performance through ENERGY STAR can help buildings achieve LEED certification, as well as how the relationship between ENERGY STAR and LEED may change under the proposed LEED v4.1 system. Finally, participants will be introduced to a host of other ENERGY STAR tools, resources, and initiatives that are aimed at helping to improve the energy performance of buildings, as well as opportunities to reduce water use and waste generation.

Speaker:

Jerry Lawson, National Manager, ENERGY STAR Small Business/Congregations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

I GBCI and AIA CE credit pending approval

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, October 8th, 2019: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Education, Energy Efficiency, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building August 13th Luncheon: Composting & Green Buildings: A Natural Fit

Did you know that almost a third of the solid waste stream can be recycled through composting? This presentation will give an overview of composting and why it is important. We’ll review what can be composted and best practices for implementing a composting program at an office. The product produced by composting, finished compost has beneficial characteristics that improve soil health and retain moisture making it an invaluable tool for stormwater management when developing sites. Learn how to consider composting programs and the use of the finished product in your upcoming projects.

Speaker:

Eric Walter is the founder and Chief Composting Officer of Black Bear Composting. Black Bear is an organics recycling company in the Charlottesville area focused on capturing food waste and other compostables. Eric is a member of the US Composting Council and licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia as Waste Management Facility Operator. Eric is a recovered technology entrepreneur and currently lives in Crozet with his wife and three kids.

I GBCI and AIA CE credit pending approval

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, August 13th, 2019: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Education, Energy Efficiency, Gardening, Landscape Architecture, Recycling, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building June 11th Luncheon: Biofuel, the Farmer and Green Buildings: Strategies and Options for Building Owners, Managers, and Developers

Join us to learn about an emerging district heating technology that uses switchgrass as biofuel, benefiting both farmers and building owners in Virginia!

This presentation is essential for anyone engaged in strategic planning to mitigate the impact of buildings on climate change. The US Green Building Council has published figures as high as 39% of U.S. emissions are associated with built environments. Any reasonable plan of action must address both new and retrofit projects. This presentation will attempt to sort and prioritize available technologies and techniques by effectiveness and cost. The presenter will then provide an overview of a major district heating project developed over the last several years at Piedmont Geriatric Hospital in Burkeville, VA, which uses switchgrass as a purpose-grown biofuel. The presentation will conclude by looking forward to the possibilities opened by the next generation of technology for district heating and climate change mitigation.

Speaker:

Jeff Waldon

Jeff has extensive experience with project management and development in natural resources. Projects have included bioenergy, conservation management planning, land restoration, business management consulting, carbon accounting, environmental education, information management, monitoring, GIS/RS, technology integration, human dimensions, planning, wildlife and plant surveys, forest inventory, and related topics. I have advised organizations on strategic planning and conducted training sessions. I have managed significant budgets, supervised a staff of 75, and developed business plans. I am a certified wildlife biologist.

Recently asked to CEO a startup, Caribbean Bioenergy Group LLC, Jeff will aid in the development of multifaceted biomass energy projects. The first one is targeted to be in Belize.

This course will be approved for 1 GBCI LEED Specific and AIA CE

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, June 11th, 2019: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Education, Energy Efficiency, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building May 14th Luncheon: The Role of Real Time Data in Energy Savings

Building owners are always looking for creative ways to reduce their energy consumption. The first step in an energy reduction strategy is an Energy Audit. This first step is very effective at determining the most cost effective strategies for saving energy in a building, but there are drawbacks. The Audit provides an excellent snapshot of the buildings operations, but not the full picture of variations throughout the year. Also, savings calculations for ECMs are based on assumptions for inputs such as runtimes, temperature setpoints, and use of override schedules. If these assumptions are not accurate, the savings may be underpredicted, or overpredicted. To achieve the maximum energy savings with the most accurate calculations, it would be essential to survey the building over all seasons, with accurate data for all energy consuming systems, using “Continuous Auditing”.

With Continuous Auditing, an auditor performs an initial building assessment and gathers data relating to all energy consuming systems. Then, the Owner installs a comprehensive Real Time Monitoring (RTM) system. This data is fed to a dashboard in real time, where the auditor can analyze trend data continuously over the year, and look for spikes and anomalies indicating energy waste. The auditor works with the facilities operators to mitigate energy waste and reduce energy consumption based on observations from the data. The net result is a building operating at its peak efficiency, over the course of all seasons.

Speaker:

Eric Oliver, P.E., CEM, LEED AP, Director, Energy Solutions

Eric Oliver is the Director of Energy Solutions at 2RW Consultants. A passionate energy conservationist, Eric Oliver started his career with the federal government in EPA’s Energy Star Buildings Program. Prior to joining 2RW in 2018, Eric founded EMO Energy Solutions in 1998 to address the growing need for energy efficiency services and ran the Company for 20 years. With EMO, Eric was among the earliest practitioners of the LEED program, providing energy modeling, commissioning, and LEED consulting services in addition to energy auditing capabilities. Mr. Oliver has conducted several dozen energy-training seminars, created energy awareness and education campaigns, and presented and moderated at several energy conferences.

Mr. Oliver holds a Master’s degree in Building Technology and a Bachelor of Architecture from MIT. A licensed professional engineer in Virginia and Maryland, he is a former President of the National Capitol Chapter and national Secretary of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), has served on the Board of Directors of the National Capitol Region Chapter of the US Green Buildings Council (USGBC-NCR), and is a former Board Chairman of the Virginia Sustainable Building Network (VSBN).

This course will be approved for 1 GBCI LEED Specific and AIA CE

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, May 14th, 2019: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Education, Energy Efficiency, Technology | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building April 9th Luncheon: Regeneration through Design and Collective Action

This presentation will feature core projects at a variety of scales that highlight how communities have worked collectively to increase their environmental resilience and economic prosperity, regenerate landscapes through ecological design, and to create an innovative local home. The presenters will highlight their work at multiple scales with public and private clients where they have developed consensus, engaged in design and developed ecological design plans for urban, rural and community sites that foster increased self-reliance, resilience, beauty and regeneration.

Speakers:

Christine Gyovai is the Principal of Dialogue + Design Associates, a small, woman-owned business based in Charlottesville, Virginia founded in 2005. Dialogue + Design is a multi-disciplinary, public-interest design firm that focuses on helping citizens, localities and organizations build a stronger future through collaboration, architecture, environmental design and community planning. She holds certificates in charrette systems, mediation and permaculture design, with a focus on increasing community resilience and environmental sustainability. She is a member of the National Roster of Environmental Dispute Resolution and Consensus Building Professionals. Ms. Gyovai consults and lectures regionally about permaculture with the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network. She holds a M.U.E.P. in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Burlington College. She lives at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband and two young children. Additional information about Dialogue + Design is available at our website: www.dialogueanddesign.com

Reed Muehlman is a registered Architect and environmental designer based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Mr. Muehlman is a LEED Accredited Professional, and holds certification from the National Charrette Institute, and in permaculture design and urbanism. He has over twelve years of experience working in the architecture field, and has consulted on several diverse project types including academic master plans, residential visioning and permaculture design, and dairy design. He holds Masters degrees in Architecture and Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, and Bachelor’s degrees in Art and Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design. Mr. Muehlman designed the passive solar straw bale house he and his wife live in with their two children near Charlottesville, Virginia.

This course will be approved for 1 GBCI LEED Specific and AIA CE

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, April 9, 2019: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Design, Education, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building March 12th Luncheon: Electrify Everything – the Why and the How, from a Residential Perspective

Electrify Everything! Electrification of equipment and devices that currently run on fossil fuels, and then powering those new electrical devices with renewable or zero-carbon electricity, is one of the pillars of de-carbonization, according to most climate and energy policy experts. However, the need for electrification is poorly understood by the general public, most lawmakers, as well as most building design + construction practitioners. John Semmelhack will dive into the details of the why and the how of electrification with a focus on residential buildings (space heating, water heating and cooking), and will examine the implications for residential building electrification for Virginians and our electrical grids.

Speaker:

John is the owner of Think Little, a home performance consulting firm based in Charlottesville, Virginia, specializing in building enclosure and mechanical system design for single-family and multi-family Passive House and net-zero energy homes in the mid-Atlantic.

Since 2007, Think Little has provided consulting, testing and inspection services for over 3,000 multi-family and single-family housing units, including several firsts – the first certified Passive House residence in Virginia as well as some of the first EarthCraft certified net-zero homes.

John is a certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater and an EarthCraft Technical Advisor. John is also a CPHC® (Certified Passive House Consultant), is a member of the Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS) Technical Committee, and is a PHIUS Trainer for the CPHC (Certified Passive House Consultant) training program.

This course will be approved for 1 GBCI LEED Specific and AIA CE

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, March 12, 2019: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Design, Education, Energy Efficiency, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building February 12th Luncheon: Evolution Glass: Social Impact Design with Recycled Glass

Consumer and industrial waste remain a significant source of economic loss in our community affecting our overall well-being and the health of our ecosystems. Over 8 million tons of glass end up in the landfill

l each year: enough glass to fill more than 6 Empire State Buildings! Only a small portion of glass is actually recycled (around 30%). Founded in 2015 by Bill Hess, Evolution Glass (www.evolutionglassglobal.com) is a social impact business and product that raises awareness about high value opportunities for recycled glass. Using 100% recycled glass packaging (bottles, jars, etc.) and an innovative process, award- winning, internationally recognized, beautiful and unique solid glass surfaces for countertops, tables and other uses are created. The surfaces are powerful, both visually and functionally and serve as an exceptional and notable addition to any living space. The company has completed over 30 installations locally and regionally, including a 60 sq. ft. kitchen near Chicago. Through these projects, an important and positive impact on the way people understand waste glass has been made. In addition to Evolution Glass surfaces, numerous other options remain for waste glass to be reused locally in the form of tile, gravel, and cement, and these avenues are largely neglected. This business is poised to have an even broader positive impact on how people reconsider waste locally, regionally, and globally.

Speaker:

Bill Hess is an award-winning designer, engineer, and entrepreneur living in the Charlottesville area. He has been working with recycled glass for over ten years and making art for over two decades. His work has been featured locally and internationally. After many years of research and testing, he conceived Evolution Glass as a social impact business to transform glass waste into beautiful and inspiring products and art. Bill has expertise in all areas of product development from research and prototyping through full-scale manufacturing in consumer, medical and industrial applications. He also works as the Director of Design Innovation at the Center for Advanced Biomanufacturing at the University of Virginia.

This course will be approved for 1 GBCI LEED Specific and AIA CE

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, February 12, 2019: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Design, Education, Recycling, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building January 8th Luncheon: Resilience for All: Striving for Equity Through Community-Driven Design

In the United States, people of color are disproportionally more likely to live in environments with poor air quality, in close proximity to toxic waste, and in locations more vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events.

In many vulnerable neighborhoods, structural racism and classism prevent residents from having a seat at the table when decisions are made about their community. In an effort to overcome power imbalances and ensure local knowledge informs decision-making, a new approach to community engagement is essential.

In Resilience for All, Barbara Brown Wilson looks at less conventional, but often more effective methods to make communities more resilient. She takes an in-depth look at what equitable, positive change through community-driven design looks like in four communities—East Biloxi, Mississippi; the Lower East Side of Manhattan; the Denby neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan; and the Cully neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. These vulnerable communities have prevailed in spite of serious urban stressors such as climate change, gentrification, and disinvestment. Wilson looks at how the lessons in the case studies and other examples might more broadly inform future practice. She shows how community-driven design projects in underserved neighborhoods can not only change the built world, but also provide opportunities for residents to build their own capacities.”

This course will be approved for 1 GBCI LEED Specific and AIA CE

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, January 8, 2019: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Communities, Design, Education, Resilience | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building November 13th Luncheon: Designing for Sustainability in Division 8: Architectural Aluminum Framing

This course will give attendees an overview of how standard architectural aluminum framing products offered in Division 8: Glass & Glazing can be a key element of a design team’s LEED strategy. Standard components offered in architectural aluminum framing products can be major drivers for potential points in three categories: Enery and Atmosphere; Materials and Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality.

Total building construction costs and LEED strategies do not need to work against each other. A cost effective LEED strategy can be achieved in part by gaining an understanding of the proper application of many standard components and how they are best utilized. For example, improvements in thermal technology, along with higher performing insulated glass units, will increase the thermal performance of glazed elevations and enhance energy optimization. Additionally, proper use of shading devices allows for expanded glass areas, resulting in greater views and harvesting of natural light. Shading of the glazed area permits the use of glass with higher visible light transmission while reducing solar heat gain. And today, commercial windows are offered with triple glazed insulated glass units along with baffles in the aluminum profiles’ cavities to prevent heat transfer through convection. This allows for leveraging Thermal Comfort and Enhanced Indoor Air Quality without sacrificing energy performance.

Keep in mind that when putting together an aggressive LEED strategy there is no need to pay for custom products. A proper understanding of the efficient application of standard products can position your project for the LEED certification process.

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, Nov 13, 2018: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Architecture, Materials | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Building October 9th Luncheon: Energiesprong in the US – Deep energy retrofit for multi-family housing

The Dutch EnergieSprong program retrofits existing multi-family housing stock to Net-Zero energy quickly and cost-effectively. The state of New York (through RetrofitNY), and the Department of Energy (through the REALIZE project) have funded several programs to transfer the EnergieSprong approach to the US. Staengl Engineering is working on a project in New York and with the REALIZE project to help implement a similar process for US multi-family buildings. This talk with describe EnergieSprong and report on efforts to implement the approach in the US.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand the Dutch EnergieSprong approach and its Net Zero energy results.
  2. Identify the differences in the US climate and market that affect implementation of the EnergieSprong approach.
  3. Understand project implementation and net zero energy goals for a project in Troy, NY
  4. Understand the transformations that the market will need to go through to realize the net zero energy results provided through the EnergieSprong approach in the United States

Presenter:

Galen Staengl has 20 years of experience designing cutting-edge energy-efficient mechanical systems for green building projects and industrial facilities. Throughout his career, Galen has worked to bring energy-efficient and sustainable principles into his designs for award-winning schools, institutional buildings, multi-family residential projects, and office buildings. As President of Staengl Engineering, Galen has provided design and energy analysis for buildings certified as LEED Platinum and Gold, Passive House, Net Zero energy, Net Positive energy, and Living Building Challenge.

As a leader in low-energy building system design, Galen regularly presents and moderates at national and regional green building conferences. He is also involved in advancing the technical and regulatory aspects of green building design in the U.S.; he is currently a member of the national Technical Committee of Passive House Institute U.S..

Fee: $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

Lunch will be served, Register Here

Our meeting space is generously donated by the City of Charlottesville.

DATE AND TIME
Tue, Oct 9, 2018: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
LOCATION
City Space, 100 5th Street NE, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Categories: Announcements, Design, Energy Efficiency, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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