(NZ03) Achieving the Sustainable Grand Slam - Net Zero Energy, Water, Waste and Human Impact

Achieving net zero energy on a project is challenging itself, but to strive for the grand slam of net zero energy, water, waste and human impact is truly daunting. Rating systems like Living Building Challenge demand this, yet it is a lofty goal still outside the reach of many on a single project with today’s technology, budget and operation/maintenance limitations. This session will use case studies highlighting the successful strategies used to achieve net zero results in some or all combinations on a variety of projects and discuss the challenges, opportunities and needed changes to make reaching the grand slam possible.

It takes a team to reach such goals. As such, this session will be a panel discussion that includes the perspective of the owner, architect, interior designer, engineer, and contractor. While this could be a half-day session to delve into detail on each topic, we will discuss the basic tenants of each net zero concept and use case studies across multiple market sectors and building typologies to demonstrate the techniques, materials and systems that can help you achieve net zero on your next project within this short 60-minute session.

Net zero means different things to different people so one of our first goals of this session is to define what we mean by net zero and how other organizations such as LEED, TRUE, WELL, LBC, and DOE also define such concepts. While similar, there are clear differences often resulting in confusion when discussing the idea of achieving net zero anything.

The pathway to net zero is also not a straight and narrow one. Things that work on one type of project in one location are not necessarily going to work on another. While there are some common themes and approaches overall, the path ultimately has to be customized to each project and take into account constraints such as budget, schedule, aesthetics and operation/maintenance concerns.

This is a story of innovation, out-of-the-box thinking, practicality, data driven results, process, and determination told from the perspectives of those in the trenches trying to make it happen every day on a variety of project types. The panel for this session includes the combined experience of two LEED Fellows, Jason Kliwinski and William Amann, with the expertise of early adopters of TRUE and WELL, Michael Buono and Lia Nielsen, WELLAP/Faculty, spanning over two decades, hundreds of LEED projects and current work striving to reach the illusive sustainable grand slam.