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News
Earth Advantage Green Day Forum Leaders Assess Oregon’s Path towards 2030 Carbon NeutralityDecember 17, 2009 Full-House Audience Trades Ideas and Perspectives on Design, Policy, Finance and Technology
PORTLAND, Ore., December 17, 2009 – Earth Advantage Institute’s second annual Green Day Forum offered a wide range of insight on the challenge of reaching carbon neutral building by 2030. Presenters at the Portland forum, held Dec. 4, discussed new approaches to reaching 2030 goals based on design, policy, finance and technology stepping stones. Bill Bradbury, former secretary of state and one of Oregon’s most prominent climate advocates, provided the keynote. Green Day Forum, which has sold out each year, is part of Earth Advantage Institute’s strategy to provide the design and building industry with an advance look at new practices, materials, technologies, and business and policy models that can help them achieve sustainability and reduce carbon emissions. Sean Penrith, executive director of Earth Advantage Institute, opened the Forum with an overview of carbon constraints, citing the fact that buildings in the U.S. are responsible for close to half the carbon emissions in the atmosphere and pointing out that buildings offer the largest low-cost potential for carbon mitigation. The multiple sessions stimulated rich discussions about sustainability among a group of diverse stakeholders. Market mechanisms were a recurring theme as speakers highlighted strategies that could motivate commercial managers and homeowners alike to modify energy behavior. Kendall Youngblood of Energy Trust of Oregon introduced the audience to the Energy Performance Score (EPS), a miles-per-gallon style score for homes that offers homebuyers an easy to understand comparison of homes, based on energy use and carbon emissions, while incenting homeowners to lower their scores by making energy improvements. Similarly, Brooke Randall of Equilibrium Resource Management described a new venture and business model where Equilibrium will invest in commercial retrofits and energy management at no cost to building owners while selling the energy savings to utilities. Both presenters and participants agreed that having multiple industries working together offers a more powerful solution – and a greater return on investment for each. For example, says Youngblood, the EPS has generated significant interest among homebuyers, but when used as a metric by the real estate, appraisal, lending, and insurance professions, it will serve to certify the enhanced value of an energy efficient home. New technologies will play a key role in achieving 2030 goals. Building Information Management (BIM) Specialist Crawford Smith of SERA Architects discussed how BIM and energy modeling can increase productivity and provide information about a building’s sustainability potential throughout its lifecycle. Trevor Winnie of Clean Edge Inc. described how new clean technologies and the smart grid will enable a two-way flow of energy for greater efficiencies, while John McLain of PGE recapped smart meter advances that will assist in changing homeowner behavior. Renewable energy technologies, while offering a partial solution, require careful evaluation. John Breshears of ZGF Architects examined new technologies used recently in Portland including the benefits of geoexchange systems and the trade-offs inherent in urban wind turbines. Kacia Brockman of Energy Trust of Oregon described increased solar energy use in the Northwest and the landscape of solar incentives available to builders and homeowners. Legislation will be instrumental in setting higher goals and new incentives to push adoption of new practices. A panel composed of Clark Brockman of SERA Architects, Cindy Bethell of the Portland Development Commission, Andrea Simmons of the Oregon Department of Energy, and Vinh Mason of the Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability, provided commentary on Oregon Senate Bill 79 which calls for a task force on home energy labeling, and on new higher performance “reach” codes designed to improve building quality. While many states are looking to stimulus funding as a green jobs solution, Charlie Stephens of the Cadmus Group described stimulus funding as a moving target with an uncertain outcome. Revolving grants are being set up and government agencies are looking for significantly leveraged activities that require only incrementally more money. The scope and availability of funding is dynamic, but based on current projections Oregon is in line for approximately $118 million across various categories. Builders are pushing the limits despite the economic climate. Miloš Jovanović described designs and principles he is using in designing one of the first Passive Houses in the Western U.S., a heavily insulated home that eliminates the need for energy use in heating or cooling – these residences require no ducts, furnace, or other mechanical heating systems, thereby eliminating the major source of carbon emissions associated with the built environment. Bill Bradbury’s keynote address presented a clear case on climate change, relating global warming directly to unprecedented effects we are seeing in Oregon today, from glacier retreat on the Mount Hood to dead aquatic zones off the Oregon coast. He reiterated the need to significantly reduce carbon emissions from the built environment, given its role as a key contributor to climate change.
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