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Upcoming Remote Learning Events & On-Demand Recordings

July 8, 2020 By SBC staff

Here are a few of the upcoming remote learning events and on-demand recordings available on the SBC Remote Learning Calendar and Library.

Upcoming Remote Learning Events

July 14th: The Value of Connected Lighting, 10:00-11:00 am PT, Register
The commercial lighting market has seen significant shifts, first with the proliferation of LEDs, and now as controls become more sophisticated. As controls progress from a wall switch with a manual on-off control to more advanced controls that incorporate multi-feature sensors and luminaires embedded with controls, lack of understanding, interoperability issues, and often an unclear value proposition has slowed the adoption of connected lighting systems. This webinar will examine the key trends in the connected lighting market, the benefits connected systems can provide, and the role of energy efficiency, sustainability, integration and interoperability, and codes and standards. Krystal Maxwell, a senior research analyst covering lighting efficiency at Guidehouse Insights, will lead a discussion with Levin Nock, senior technical manager at DesignLights Consortium; Chris Wolgamott, senior product manager at Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance; and Peter Jacobson, lighting specialist at Con Edison, on the challenges faced by building owners and facility managers and how key stakeholders—including facility managers, utilities, standards and quality organizations, and technology firms—can work together to accelerate the adoption of connected lighting systems.

July 16^th: Next-Generation Building Performance Policies: Maximizing Energy Savings and Environmental Impacts, 10:00 – 11:00 am PT, Register
Cities are deploying the next generation of building performance policies to maximize energy savings in buildings and meet the energy and environmental goals they have set. Come hear from leading cities regarding their strategies for policy design, challenges and successes with implementation, and early impacts from these policies. Speakers: Dave Epley, District of Columbia Department of Energy and the Environment; Rajiv Ravulapati, City of St. Louis; Nicole Ballinger, City of Seattle

July 23rd: The Future of Work: Upgrade Your Building Science Toolkit, Live Webinar Panel with Interactive Q&A, 5:30-7:00 pm PT, Register
The Sustainable Building Science Technology and WSU Energy programs co-present this Future of Work webinar. Are you prepared for the jobs of the future in building science, operations, and management? Join us for this panel discussion about how the building science and technology field is changing and what roles are in demand. Our panel discussion will explore:

What are the skills needed to operate, manage, and tune-up buildings that are becoming smarter and greener?
How might trends and policies in sustainability and energy efficiency impact the built environment and jobs?
What opportunities exist to build new skills including continuing education and academic programs?
What new strategies do candidates need to differentiate themselves in a post-COVID job market?

On-Demand Recordings

Coronavirus Information with Building Operations Focus, BOMA Seattle-King County
This 2.5 hour webinar featured several panelists and the following topics were covered: Background on the Virus, Building Operations, Property Pandemic Response Plan Basics, and Personal/Family Preparedness.

Emerging Smart Building Technology & Enhanced Building Performance, Smart Buildings Center
This webinar introduces smart buildings technologies and practices that harness building data and controls to optimize performance and enable more efficient, comfortable, and cost-effective operations.

Better Buildings, Better Bodies: Strategies for Health & Wellness, DOE Better Buildings
The buildings in which we live, work, and play have a direct impact on our mental and physical health. This webinar showcases Better Buildings partners who are implementing design strategies and benchmarks in their buildings and sustainability plans that focus on the wellness, health, and productivity of the people inside them. Speakers highlight the Fitwel certifications, WELL standard, and more. Speakers: Sara Neff, Kilroy Realty; Megan O’Neil, City of Atlanta; Beth Hawkins, Three3

To submit upcoming or previously recorded events for inclusion on the calendar or in the library, please use the links below.

Submit calendar event

Submit recording

WA State Clean Buildings Standard Survey

July 8, 2020 By SBC staff

Washington State University Energy Program (WSU) is requesting your input on a short online survey about the upcoming Washington State Clean Building Energy Performance Standard. The intention of the survey is to help WSU create an effective support program for those involved with complying with the law, such as building owners, facility and energy managers, energy service providers, and utilities.

The standard is undergoing rule-making by the Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce) and will be established November 1, 2020, per the Clean Buildings bill (HB 1257). In short, the performance standard requires all commercial buildings (both public and private) over 50,000 square feet to lower their energy consumption by complying with a specific energy use target. Please refer to Commerce’s Clean Buildings website for more information.

Click here to take the survey. July 20 is the last day to take the survey.

For more information, contact WSU Clean Buildings Support Team at [email protected].

Join OSE’s Campaign to Support Racial Justice

June 29, 2020 By SBC staff

The following is a letter from the City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE).

Dear Colleagues,

There is no environmental justice without racial justice. We at Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment stand in solidary with the Black community and support the goals of Black Lives Matter. Like many, we are doubling down on our commitment to advancing racial justice and dismantling anti-Blackness.

We are City employees, but we are also individuals. In honor of Juneteenth, we’re challenging OSE staff, colleagues, partners, families, and friends to raise $3,000 by July 3, 2020 to support racial justice.

Join the OSE Challenge. Please consider a donation to benefit two featured racial justice organizations. Organizations were selected via crowdsourcing and input from OSE’s Race & Social Justice Change Team.

Nurturing Roots is farm nestled on a plot of land in Beacon Hill beside the Black Power Epicenter. Founder and urban farmer Nyema Clark works with her team and partners to provide affordable, sustainable alternatives to high-end grocery markets for families living in her community. Nurturing Roots works with organizations including Highline College, Roots of All Roads, Africa Town Clean Greens, and the Rainier Beach Action Coalition to expand the reach of Nurturing Roots’ harvests.
Wa Na Wari creates space for Black ownership, possibility, and belonging through art, historic preservation, and connection. The organization is a center for Black art and culture in Seattle’s historically redlined Central District neighborhood. Sited in a 5th-generation Black-owned home, Wa Na Wari:

Hosts rotating exhibits by local and regional Black artists
Provides a space for workshops, performances, and lectures
Convenes changemakers, elders, youth, neighbors, and artists for collaboration, innovation, and community organizing.
Operates an oral history studio for gathering and sharing the stories of Seattle’s historically Black Central District

Donate today. To keep it simple and maximize benefit to organizations, you can send donations to OSE Deputy Director Michelle Caulfield through Venmo @Michelle-Caulfield or PayPal.Me/caulfieldm. Michelle will pool contributions, share results, and make a one-time donation to each organization at the end of the campaign (July 3). If you’d rather donate directly, feel free to do so but please let Michelle know at [email protected] so your contribution can count toward the OSE campaign.

Spread the word. Please share this email with colleagues, family, and friends. We encourage them to join in! Collectively we can make a difference.

This campaign is voluntary. We know many are giving and supporting change in various ways. Thank you for your contributions!

HVAC Total System Performance Ratio (TSPR) Roll-Out & Advanced Training

June 28, 2020 By SBC staff

*NOTE: The 2018 Code Effective Date has been extended to February 1, 2021. For more information, please visit: https://sbcc.wa.gov/news/2018-code-effective-date-extended-february-1-2021

On February 1, 2021, the HVAC Total System Performance Ratio (TSPR) goes into effect in the 2018 Washington State Energy Code (WSEC). This code update will save energy by requiring building designers to use more efficient HVAC systems evaluated on whole-system performance.

By accounting for full-system HVAC efficiency, TSPR levels the playing field for efficient technologies and promotes more efficient design approaches in the process. This is an improvement on prior Washington code, which disincentivized energy-efficient HVAC system types and designs by treating high- and low-performing HVAC systems equally.

HOW TSPR WORKS
TSPR is a performance-based compliance path for HVAC systems. It is defined as the ratio of the sum of a building’s annual heating and cooling load compared to the sum of the annual carbon emissions from energy consumption of the building’s HVAC systems.

To comply with the WSEC, the proposed system’s TSPR must be greater than or equal to the baseline system TSPR, and meet all other prescriptive code requirements.

Calculating TSPR does not require complex energy modeling. Engineers will have the option to input the characteristics of the building and its mechanical systems into a software tool, developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, as a module within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Asset Scoring Tool.

GETTING READY FOR ROLL-OUT
There will be a series of TSPR trainings offered prior to the February code changes. To learn more and sign up for these live webinar trainings, visit: waenergycodes.com/compliance_training

Download TSPR one-pager

Webinar: Building Measures to Take to Prepare for Reopening, June 30th

June 28, 2020 By SBC staff

Join the Seattle 2030 District on 6/30 at 8 a.m. PDT for Building Measures to Take to Prepare for Reopening
Continuing from last month’s session, we will look at the intersection of sustainability and health as related to reopening buildings. This online session will include mechanical challenges within your existing system, how technology can run a building more efficiently and improve the health of occupants, and how staff training now could improve efficiency later.

We have great panelists from different sectors in the built environment:

This session is targeted to Seattle 2030 District property owners and managers. Register here.

Note: Registration for this event will close on Monday, June 29th at 10 pm ET.

‘Why Smart Buildings?’ Virtual Executive Forum Recap

June 21, 2020 By SBC staff

Thank you to all who joined us for our ‘Why Smart Buildings?’ Virtual Executive Forum: Navigating the New World, How the COVID-19 Crisis Has Strengthened the Case for Smart Buildings Practices and Technologies.

Cara Carmichael of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Art Smith of DB Engineering and Matt Golden of Recurve had an engaging conversation with Kerry Meade of the Smart Buildings Center as they explored the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on commercial buildings.

Throughout the 60-minute session, panelists discussed how the pandemic has strengthened the case for smart buildings technologies and practices to help mitigate unforeseen crises, better manage building operations, and meet the needs of tenants, occupants and other stakeholders in the built environment.

Topics covered during the discussion included:

The dramatic behavioral changes during the pandemic for those working in clean energy/energy efficiency and the built environment
Thoughts and concerns about “going back to normal” as buildings reopen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
How smart technologies can help better manage crises in the built environment going forward
Ways in which buildings and building technologies can better support grid resiliency/reliability
How things we have experienced and learned during the pandemic will change our industry
Practical advice on things we can do now and lessons we should apply to our current activities to re-occupy buildings and maintain safer conditions going forward

If you missed the event or would like to listen to it again, the recording is now available on the SBC YouTube channel.

Thank you again to Cara, Art, and Matt for joining us for such an engaging discussion about the critical role of buildings and building technologies in driving society toward a new normal as we emerge from our homes and return to public life inside of buildings.

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