Learn by Example
The workshop will feature Marc Rosenbaum, director of engineering at South Mountain Company in West Tisbury, who will discuss technical concepts and techniques involved in high-performance building retrofits.
In this local case study, David Joyce of Synergy Construction will focus on the process involved in deep energy retrofitting a Worcester three-decker near Clark University. Now lived in by area college students, the building’s utility costs have dropped drastically—down to $45 a month.
IQP Success
WPI’s involvement in the workshop stems from an IQP jointly advised by Leffi Cewe-Malloy, instructor of architectural engineering, and CEE assistant professor Aaron Sakulich. Cewe-Malloy, will open the program as a representative of the department.
The IQP students were involved in putting together a plan to lower energy costs for the Quaker Meetinghouse on Pleasant Street in Worcester. The building is also home to several nonprofit organizations. In the process they consulted with Dave Legg of Dave Legg Energy Associates, who is the coordinator of the Deep Energy Retrofit workshops for NESEA, offered across New England. Legg invited them to attend last fall’s DER workshop in Rhode Island, where they picked up key information about energy-efficient materials.
At Cewe-Malloy’s request, Legg has also offered an hour-long seminar to architectural engineering students at WPI. It was he who suggested holding a DER workshop at WPI this year. There will be two more across Massachusetts this spring, one at Smith College in late May and the other at Merrimack College in June.
“[The workshop] goes hand-in-hand with what we’re doing here in Architectural Engineering,” says Cewe-Malloy. “It’s a benefit for our students not only educationally but it means they will be able to interact with people in the same field.”
Each workshop presents specific technical information, across several areas, while highlighting a local example of a deep energy retrofit. Specifically, according to the NESEA website, participants will learn about the following:
Spreading the News
“[Having the workshop at WPI] is a good opportunity to let industry professionals know that we have an architectural engineering program,” says Sakulich. “And I’m hoping that all of our students drop in for at least part of the day.”
The workshop is sponsored by National Grid, EFI, 475 High Performance Building Supply, and Mitsubishi Electric.
In order to take advantage of the waived registration fee for the WPI community, a specific registration code is required. Contact Aaron Sakulich at asakulich@wpi.edu.
BY LAURA PORTER
Concepts and proven techniques for Deep Energy Retrofits that can achieve over 70% energy savings;
Transforming existing houses into efficient, healthy, durable high performance living spaces;
Key challenges and techniques for cost effective results;
Utility incentives for DERs;
Strategies that can apply to any building project; and
Energy savings results and non-energy benefits.
