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<\/p>\nWednesday, March 4th: I’m speaking today, and I chose to not wear the suit I brought.<\/p>\n
Not a big deal, but that decision encapsulates my impression of Building Energy 2015. This is a conference full of serious people, and seriously fun, engaging, interesting people, most of whom are directly designing, building and operating the vast majority of our building stock.\u00a0 I mean the real buildings.\u00a0 Not just the glamour-gusses that appear in magazines, but the workhorses.\u00a0 I am referring to the homes, dentist offices, nfp offices on a shoestring, and those projects that directly support communities; the beautiful, useful and important buildings.<\/p>\n
It’s not that a suit would be overkill or out-of-place, it’s that it does not matter. This conference is not about appearances. It is about “does it work?” and \u201chow does it work\u201d and \u201cgive me the process and data” and \u201cteach me\u201d and “how do I do this in my work”. \u00a0And even “I doubt that\u2026can you show me?”<\/p>\n
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Bill Reed – list of stages…we are not even on the list, yet.<\/p><\/div>\n
I don\u2019t think I have ever attended a conference that is so focused on learning from experiences and so committed to sharing new insights and methods. Or one that has been\u00a0so welcoming.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love Greenbuild as well \u2013 but the U.S. Green Building Council is an entirely different animal that has committed itself (and rightly so) to advocacy to accelerate market change.\u00a0 There is a drive that is exciting and supporting, but it often comes across as aggressive.\u00a0 In the work to maintain the LEED rating systems as prominent tools for greening buildings and neighborhoods, the USGBC has focused more on perceptions\u00a0and marketing.\u00a0 The result is that Greenbuild has a frenetic sort of energy focused around awards and who is the best and who is a LEED Fellow and how many countries have Green Building Councils and what state has the most LEED square footage.\u00a0 Again, this is all good, but a different kind of spirit. And a suit can matter at Greenbuild.<\/p>\n
And let\u2019s not even try to compare the AIA conferences, where architects talk to other architects and maybe now and then to lawyers. \u00a0The cynical side of me wants to avoid AIA conferences, only because the time is far and away gone<\/strong> when talking among ourselves is enough to support the exceptional future of the building industry.\u00a0 The AIA convention is by architects for architects. We need to be talking with many, many others.<\/p>\n So back to NESEA.\u00a0 Building Energy 15 has a sort of study group feel to it.\u00a0 Or a volunteer stint for Habitat, or maybe a hike with friends.<\/p>\n John Abrams<\/p><\/div>\n Success comes by supporting each other\u2019s work and efforts.\u00a0 The mix of attendees is more on the builder side and HERS raters, etc. with a decent and growing segment of architects, researchers, facility managers and building owners, as well as product reps and service provides of all types.\u00a0 There are many speakers and attendees with 25+ years of hands on experience in building.\u00a0 The conversations can\u2019t help but constantly cross siloes. \u00a0BE15 is about these conversations, collaborations, and real building science in practice.\u00a0 And it is a bit about flannel shirts, knit shawls and watch caps, (in winter in Boston) and boots\u2026and every once in a while, a suit.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, I felt more comfortable in my boots, business casual attire and home-made vest, and my presentation felt entertaining and useful, AND it incited some great conversations. Next time at Building Energy, I may not even pack a suit.<\/p>\n Jodi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wednesday, March 4th: I’m speaking today, and I chose to not wear the suit I brought. Not a big deal, but that decision encapsulates my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,2,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-energy","category-personal-reflections"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p40KlT-3q","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":841,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=841","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":0},"title":"Dear Governor Cuomo,","author":"greenerjsa","date":"March 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"To: The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York State NY State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 \u00a0 Date: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0March 18, 2017 From: \u00a0 \u00a0 Jodi Smits Anderson, concerned Architect and Albany resident RE: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 High Performance Building Goals \u00a0 Governor Cuomo, One of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Advocacy"","block_context":{"text":"Advocacy","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=128"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1039,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=1039","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":1},"title":"Don’t Forget the People","author":"greenerjsa","date":"October 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"What is an empty, abandoned building other than terribly sad? 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This makes for an exciting present and near-future for anyone passionate about greener buildings and long-term resiliency while divesting from fossil fuel use. But what do they mean? You'd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Critical commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Critical commentary","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bullitt.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1442,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=1442","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":4},"title":"\u201cBuilding\u201d is a Verb: Building Energy Boston, 2019","author":"greenerjsa","date":"March 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I got home very late Friday night from two full days plus of engaging with talented, knowledgeable, experienced, and giving people that make up the NESEA community. The Building Energy conference does just that for me and for thousands of others, and I want to share a bit of what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "community"","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/NESEA-peeps.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/NESEA-peeps.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/NESEA-peeps.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/NESEA-peeps.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/NESEA-peeps.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/NESEA-peeps.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":701,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=701","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":5},"title":"Synergies: The User Interface","author":"greenerjsa","date":"September 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I set about summarizing the interdependence needed in a building project, and I identified three areas where synergies would benefit overall performance and long-term sustainability of the work. 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