May Forum: Weatherization and Benchmarking

As awareness of sustainable building is growing many are focusing on the more conspicuous elements that can be involved: solar panels, wind turbines, green roofs…the list goes on.  Despite their utility in creating interest, any sustainability consultant worth his salt will tell you that none of these should even be considered until you’ve tightened your building’s shell or your just throwing good money after bad.  Once your building is weatherized it’s important to monitor its performance so you can see the benefits involved and make sure they last.  These two practices, benchmarking and weatherization, are the topic of May forum and we’ll be looking at them in the form of data derived from Local Law 84, case studies, and a broad overview of the benefits of these practices.  We have a great panel and it’s sure to be a very interesting forum!  We hope to see you there! Date: Wednesday March 15, 2013 Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm Place:   Nixon Peabody, 437 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022   Click here to register!   Our speakers will include:   John Lee, Depuity Director, Green Buildings and Energy Efficiency at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability John Lee is the Deputy Director for Green Buildings and Energy Efficiency at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability. In this capacity, he is leading the city’s policy and legislative efforts driving the built environment to unprecedented energy efficiency standards. John’s previous public sector service was with the NYC Department of Buildings as Senior Architect in the codes development division, and with the Department of City Planning where he served as an Urban Designer. During his early career, John was Art Director for a web development firm consulting to a suite of corporate clients in the energy sector and consumer product goods, and was also a design architect in private sector architecture and engineering firms working on institutional buildings, transit facilities, and master plans for universities. John currently holds the Mayor’s voting seat on the New York State Uniform Code Council. He is a licensed architect and a graduate of Rice University and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.   Michele Soderstrom, Senior Account Manager, Bright Power, Inc. Michele is a Senior Account Manager with Bright Power, and a member of the EnergyScoreCards™ team within Bright Power. She performs data analysis, manages client accounts, and supports a number of projects associated with the development and deployment of this growing software. She is the primary liaison with Enterprise and LISC for Bright Power’s analysis of the CWP-WAP study. Notably, she also leads the NYC Benchmarking program, through with Bright Power helps over 700 buildings achieve compliance with Local Law 84 of New York City energy regulation.   Michele is a BPI Multifamily Building Analyst and has a BSE in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. She is a self-described life-long environmentalist with a passion for renewable energy and other energy issues. Previous experience includes working as solar and wind energy Market Analyst at the non-profit NextEnergy, volunteering with the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance in South Africa, and interning with Cleantech Group LLC.