I’m excited to share that this past week I attended the Net Positive: Energy + Water Conference in downtown San Diego. This 2 day event is dedicated to the exchange of technical expertise, bold strategies and provocative case studies—all aimed at accelerating the global shift toward Net Positive Energy and Water buildings and communities. So what is Net Positive? Simply put, Net Positive is a new way of doing business which puts back more into society, the environment, and the global economy than it takes out. But there’s so much more to it than that. This complicated challenge, which in many cases is similar to LEED, has certification based on actual performance, rather than modeled or anticipated outcomes. Therefore projects must be operational for at least twelve months prior to evaluation. It is an attempt to drastically raise the bar from a paradigm where simply doing less harm is laudable to one in which we seek to be restorative, giving more than we take.
What I Learned:
- The latest trends, technologies and approaches to understanding regenerative building principles in renewable energy and water.
- Identify new suppliers for your materials sourcing
- How new projects are approaching net positive design through innovation and creativity.
- How to measure and communicate the ROI of sustainability initiatives and innovation within your supply chain
- How to find resources to take projects and communities to next level of innovation in energy and water.
- How to create solutions for designing resilient spaces that will work for everyone, and also function in tandem with the natural world.
- How Net Positive is, at its core, about performance and arriving at a results oriented project.
- How to incorporate water conservation strategies into new projects and how to retrofit existing buildings to achieve greater water performance.
Some Noted Attendances:
- John Todd – Founder and President, John Todd Ecological Design
- S. Bry Sarté – Founding Partner, Sherwood Design Engineers
- John Andary – Principal, Integral Group
- Mara Baum – Vice President/Healthcare Sustainable Design Leader, HOK
- David Mead – High Performance Building Specialist, PAE
- Betty Seto – Head of Section, Sustainable Buildings & Communities, DNV GL
- Greg Mella – Vice President and Co-Director of Sustainable Design, SmithGroupJJR
Now I sit at home happily reading the complimentary book from the conference written by Brad Liljequist , called The Power of Zero: Learning from the World’s Leading Net Zero Energy Buildings. I can’t wait to use this new-found inspiration and knowledge on upcoming projects. This conference was truly a reflection on the goals we have here at Hubbell&Hubbell.
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