SBC staff, Author at Smart Buildings Center

Smart Buildings Exchange 2023 Session Recordings Available!

August 25, 2023 By SBC staff

Last week the third annual Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) delivered a value-packed three days of conversations focused on the market opportunity for smart buildings and their role in our clean energy future.

The conference kicked off with an Opening Plenary featuring industry leaders discussing strategies to accelerate the pace of making buildings smarter, more efficient and carbon free.

Following the Opening Plenary session were sessions on Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings, Data in Context, Being Smart About Variable Occupancy, and Moving Beyond Fault Detection & Diagnostics.

The second day of the conference began with a Plenary Session on Smart Approaches for Building Electrification & Carbon Reduction. The day continued with sessions on Independent Data Layer, Building Rating Systems & Certifications, On-Site Renewables & EV Charging, and Indoor Environmental Quality.

The third and final day of the conference focused on Planning Your Strategy for Smart & Efficient Upgrades and was held in-person in Seattle and featured welcome remarks from Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell followed by discussions on how buildings can operate smarter and more efficiently with an aim to eliminate carbon emissions from the built environment.

All SBX session recordings are now available on the Smart Buildings Center YouTube Channel so you can watch any you missed and rewatch any you enjoyed.

Thank you to all sponsors, planning committee members, speakers, and attendees who helped make the event a success!

SBX2023 Session Highlights

August 9, 2023 By SBC staff

Join us virtually for the Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) 2023 Building Rating Systems & Certifications and On-Site Renewables & EV Charging sessions on August 16th from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm and 1:30 – 3:00 pm PT respectively.

In the Building Rating Systems & Certifications session Christina Tomaselli (Schneider Electric) will moderate the discussion between Melanie Danuser (Smart Buildings Center), Alissa Feucht (Glumac), Elyse Hobson (UL Solutions), and Katrina Morgan (O’Brien360).

In the On-Site Renewables & EV Charging session, Emma Johnson (Seattle City Light) will moderate the discussion between Leroy Ho (Amazon), Heather Mulligan (Puget Sound Energy), Gary Shaver (Envelon), Chris Watson (ICF), and Andy Zellers (Influent Energy).

You don’t want to miss these sessions — register now!

Building Rating Systems & Certifications
Several national and international organizations now offer ratings and certifications for the built environment. These systems focus on smart capabilities, wellness, sustainability, energy performance, indoor environmental quality, and even workforce credentialing. If you have wondered whether these systems are the right for your building, this is a session you won’t want to miss. Experts will discuss various ratings and certifications, what they entail, and most importantly how the market is embracing these labels.

On-Site Renewables & EV Charging
Buildings are changing as they meet the challenge of net zero carbon emissions. Some buildings are positioned to deploy solar arrays and most buildings are and will be adapting to a vehicle fleet that is increasingly electric – and needing to be charged while parked. This session will explore case studies of building owners who are embracing these changes and how smart technologies are helping them with the transition including the huge challenge of integrating EV charging and what it means for electrical service size for electrical and grid-interactive capabilities.

Register for free today!

SBX 2023 Opening Plenary Sessions

August 3, 2023 By SBC staff

Join us virtually for the Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) 2023 Opening Plenary Sessions on August 15th from 9:00 – 10:00 am PT and August 16th from 9:00 – 10:30 am PT.

On Day 1, Ash Awad (McKinstry) will moderate a discussion on The Road to Making Buildings Smart, Efficient & Carbon Free between Emeka Anyanwu (Seattle City Light), Lou Cariello (University of Washington), Jon Creyts (RMI), and Sarah King (Kilroy Realty).

On Day 2, Poppy Storm (2050 Institute) will moderate a discussion on Smart Approaches for Building Electrification & Carbon Reduction between Brett Bridgeland (RMI), Alexi Miller (New Buildings Institute), and David Nemtzow (U.S. Department of Energy).

You don’t want to miss these sessions — register now!

Accelerating the Pace of Deployment: The Road to Making Buildings Smart, Efficient & Carbon Free
The current pace of retrofitting commercial and institutional buildings across the United States is on a 300-year timeline. Almost no one believes that is acceptable. If the technology exists – and the Smart Buildings Exchange sessions that follow demonstrate this – and the financing of projects is increasingly accessible with Inflation Reduction Act and carbon market funds starting to flow, then why isn’t our pace of deployment faster? This moderated panel discussion brings together public and private sector senior leaders to describe how they challenged their organizations to move now on projects that made their infrastructure smarter and more efficient with lower carbon emissions. Is organizational leadership from the very top the key to solving the 300-year problem? Get motivated by this session to experience the technology and practice ideas for the three days of SBX 2023.

Smart Approaches for Building Electrification & Carbon Reduction
This session will explore both new construction and retrofit examples of buildings that embraced electrification and eliminated carbon emissions. Deploying smart technologies is not an end but a means – along with a set of strategic design and equipment selection choices – to reduce a building’s carbon footprint and provide a compelling return on investment for the building owner. Whether you are involved in a new building project or trying to find the best path for your existing building, this session will help you thread the needle of smart solutions with a solid business case behind them.

Register for free today!

Join us for the Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) In-Person Event!

July 28, 2023 By SBC staff

Planning Your Strategy for Smart & Efficient Upgrades

Thursday, August 17th | 8am-1:30pm Pacific Time
Pacific Tower | Seattle, WA

Please join us in-person in Seattle for the third and final day of Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) 2023 on Thursday, August 17^th! The event is free and includes a buffet-style networking lunch and will feature leaders from Washington State, the City of Seattle, and other industry influencers discussing Washington State’s building performance standards, newly developed City of Seattle building emission standards, innovative financing mechanisms, and tools and resources to help building owners and managers plan, finance, and act to accelerate the pace of change in meeting these state and city requirements.

The agenda for the day is below. Space for the in-person event is limited and registration closes on August 14^th, so please register here now if you would like to attend: https://sbx2023_in-person.eventbrite.com/ (Note: this registration is separate from the August 15-16 virtual conference registration)

8:00am – 9:00am Registration & Networking
9:00am – 9:05am Welcome by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell
9:05am – 10:00am Building & Emission Performance Standards
10:00am – 10:50am Planning for Performance Compliance
10:50am -11:00am Networking Break
11:00am – 12:00pm Project Financing Options & Resources
12:00pm – 12:30pm Taking Action – Case Studies
12:30pm – 1:30pm Complimentary Buffet Lunch

As an incentive for attending the in-person event, we will randomly select a grand prize winner of a $250 gift voucher to the beautiful Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, WA (can be used at any U.S. Hyatt property). Ten more lucky attendees will win Amazon gift cards. Register now to secure your spot and then attend in-person to be entered into the drawing!

Register now!

SBX2023 Session Highlight: Being Smart About Variable Occupancy

July 26, 2023 By SBC staff

Join us virtually for the Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) 2023 Being Smart About Variable Occupancy session on August 15th from 1:00 – 2:30 pm PT. Tom Marseille (Sazan Group) will moderate the discussion between Craig Engelbrecht (LONG Building Technologies), Zixiao Pan (Butlr), Jay Martin (Overcast Innovations), and Cindy Zhu (Prescriptive Data). You don’t want to miss this session — register now!

Session description
Whether you are in Seattle, Austin, Boston, or Philadelphia the hybrid work environment is the new normal. While building occupancy rates vary by location – and certainly by day of the week – the challenge of efficiently lighting. heating, cooling, and ventilating space is increasingly complicated. Should a building with 45% occupancy consume the same resources as one that previously had an 80% occupancy rate? Should this rekindle the concept of EUI per occupant versus EUI per SF as a metric? This session will explore the complexities of variable occupancy rates and how smart technology and practices can help building owners and operators manage resources and consistently meet health and comfort standards of their occupants.

Register for free today!

SBX2023 Session Highlight: Data in Context

July 18, 2023 By SBC staff

Join us virtually for the Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) 2023 Data in Context session on August 15th from 10:30 am – 12:00 pm PT. Josh Felperin (alpscontrols.com) will moderate the discussion between Jason Hyatt (Puget Sound Energy), Reed Powell (MacDonald-Miller) and Pete Segall (ATS Automation). You don’t want to miss this session — register now!

Session description
Almost all buildings have the capability to generate volumes of operational data and many also deploy fault detection technology to alert operators of problems. Unfortunately, too often there isn’t sufficient context for that fault to properly diagnosis causation or what solutions to deploy to fix it. This condition can be particularly problematic for building owners and managers that don’t have the in-house expertise often found at enterprise scale entities. For these managers, the challenge is to find the right resources to put their operational data into context and do so affordably. This session will explore examples of how to put affordable solutions in place to properly put data in context.