Building Industry Day Workshop Descriptions
Below are descriptions of the workshops that will be held at the Solar Decathlon on Building Industry Day, Thursday, October 18, 2007.
Solar Applications for Homes
Revised Title: Translating Sustainability to Affordable Housing
9:00 a.m. Presenter: ASHRAE and John Quale, Assistant Professor, University of Virginia School of Architecture
The focus of the workshop will be translating sustainability to affordable housing by focusing on the ecoMOD, a multi-disciplinary collaborative project that creates affordable, prefabricated, ecological housing units. The goal of ecoMOD is to demonstrate the environmental potential of prefabricated construction and to challenge the U.S. modular and manufactured housing industry to explore this potential.
Enabling Solar Energy
10:00 a.m. Presenter: Audey Korpus, Product Marketing Manager, Xantrex Technology, Inc.
Inverters can be described as enabling devices of solar and renewable energy systems. With more than 20 years of experience as a manufacturer of renewable energy inverters, Xantrex has developed innovative designs and technologies that have improved inverter performance and reliability while reducing installation costs. As a solar energy inverter manufacturer in single-phase (residential) off-grid inverters, grid-interactive inverters, and three-phase (commercial) grid-interactive inverters, Xantrex has developed products that offer best-in-class performance in a compact, easy-to-install design. The presentation will highlight these products and the benefits of using Xantrex inverters.
Creating Differentiation in a Cooled Housing Market
11:00 a.m. Presenter: Charlie Popeck, president & CEO, Green Ideas (on behalf of Honeywell)
This session will highlight the business case for implementing an integrated design for high-performance buildings. In today's competitive housing market, it is critical for homeowners and builders to understand how existing technologies and design strategies can improve overall performance of the building envelope. This session will focus on how closed-cell urethane foam insulation improves performance. Specifically, it will address R-values per inch, structural integrity, air/moisture barrier, durability, and reduced environmental impact, as well as inherent cost reductions such as smaller HVAC systems and reduced ductwork.
Attendees will learn the benefits of reduced energy bills, total cost of ownership, long-term resale value, and overall improved occupant health and comfort. Likewise, builders can compete more effectively by selling performance and quality versus price and maximum square footage.
Introduction to the National Green Building Program
12:00 p.m. Presenter: Emily Englist, NAHB
The NAHB National Green Building Program will be unveiled in February 2008. How does the program work? How are projects certified? And who's already on board? Test the new interactive, Web-based certification system as well as other tools and resources for green builders and certifiers. Find out how to join the national registry of green builders and green homes. This session is a must for anyone building in today's mainstream marketplace.
Zero Energy Homes
1:00 p.m. Presenter: Jeff Christian, DOE
Learn how five near-zero-energy test houses were designed, constructed, and monitored from 2002 to 2007. These houses have a net average daily cost for grid power of as little as $0.41. These research houses have inspired two near-zero-energy commercial houses that have detailed construction plans and specifications available. One 2,600-square-foot house is designed to cost the homeowner about $1.00/day for all the off-site energy.
LEED for Homes Program
2:00 p.m. Presenter: Emily Mitchell, USGBC
This session will review a list of recommended green measures, based on cost-effectiveness and ease of implementation. USGBC representatives will provide a list of recommended measures, based on the technical credits and prerequisites in the LEED for Homes Rating System.
Solar Hot Water System Performance
3:00 p.m. Presenter: Duncan Prahl, DOE Building America (IBACOS)
This session will highlight the energy efficiency benefits that solar hot water systems can provide and some of the pitfalls to avoid. Case studies from Colorado and Arizona will be presented, covering both solar used solely for domestic hot water and for domestic hot water combined with space heating.
Solar for Builders
4:00 p.m. Presenter: Paul Garvison, BP
This session is tailored to solar energy for builders, including the benefits of solar, how a solar electric system works, and how solar can be integrated into a builder's operations. A BP representative will cover performance, economics, and costs of solar systems.
Presolarizing: What to Do Before You Innovate
5:00 p.m. Presenter: Dana Bres, PATH
While the movement to incorporate green technologies and building practices continues to gain steam, these measures are only effective when preceded by careful planning. Not only do contractors need to allow for an earlier decision-making process, they also need to attend to the fundamentals of sound building practices. This session will explore the importance of taking a holistic approach to insulation, air and moisture control, and building quality, with an emphasis on good "green communication" with subcontractors.
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