NESEA 2023 Building Energy Boston: Scalable Climate Solutions in Built Environment

Acadia Center recently participated in the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA)’s annual BuildingEnergy Boston Conference that occurred on March 28 – 29, 2023. With over 45 presentations from experts across the fields, the NESEA BuildingEnergy Boston conference has again drawn attention to the climate and clean energy implications in the design and construction sector in buildings. Our Environmental Justice & Outreach Manager, Joy Yakie served as a member of the 2023 Content Committee and curated two of the presentations at the conference. She found that the highlight of the conference was summarized by the two keynote addresses on the Net-Zero Building Revolution and Why We Stopped Doing Deep Energy Retrofits. The conference opened more dialogue on how solutions can be scaled up to ensure sustainable practices in the design and construction space.

Dividing her time at the conference, Joy supported two of the presentations she reviewed weeks leading up to the conference. Both presentations, Commitment to Learning: A Case Study of Three Public Schools and Addressing Racism and Subtle Acts of Exclusion in the Workplace, shared broader knowledge on sustainable practices in building public schools and how to handle microaggressions in the design and construction workplace respectively. The Case Study of Three Public Schools was presented by architects from HMFH, a leading design firm in the design and construction space that champions sustainability in their building design and construction. The buildings used for the case study on public schools were situated in Taunton, Westborough, and Dighton MA.

Joy also supported the presentation by the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director, Fatou Nije-Jallow, MHA,  from The New England Center for Children, expounding on subtle acts of exclusion in the workplace and the examples of well-crafted responses that foster inclusivity in the workplace.

Acadia Center is proud to work with our partners and other stakeholders in the building sector. We are a part of the ongoing conversations and will ensure that the success of our work reflects net-zero emissions from this sector in the near decade.

NESEA is planning its Building Energy NYC conference scheduled for October 12, 2023. Visit https://nesea.org/conference/buildingenergy-nyc for more information to participate and support.

For more information:

Joy Yakie, Environmental Justice & Outreach Manager, jyakie@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 x110