Authored by Adam Lindquist, Vaunt Media Group
Published October 15, 2019
The Net Zero Movement is growing fast in San Diego. With several local projects emerging throughout the county like the Alpine Library that became the first Net Zero Energy library last year in San Diego (2018 Sustainable Design Awards Winner) and the new Assessor, Recorder, County Clerk office in Santee that will be the country’s first Net Zero Energy archive facility, the County of San Diego has become a beacon for the future of the Net Zero Industry. As a leading topic for the upcoming San Diego Green Building Conference and Expo here in San Diego, industry experts from the local region and beyond will share and discuss insightful, cutting edge information that spans the Net Zero Energy movement.
Additionally, over the last few years SDGBC has been educating the San Diego community on what Net Zero Energy means and the feasibility of achieving certifications on-site in San Diego County. In San Diego, Net Zero Energy has been at the forefront of our education offerings and has been the preferred pathway for many new construction projects. source
Our very own Executive Director at San Diego Green Building Council, Josh Dean is a part of the San Diego’s ZN3 Project in collaboration with the City of San Diego and the Center for Sustainable Energy to convert three public libraries to Net Zero Energy or near Net Zero Energy buildings this year. The team will be speaking to the project planning process and community outreach at this year’s conference.
Certifications have been tackling Net Zero Energy for many years, with the effects of climate change becoming more overwhelming than ever, they’re now addressing two challenging topics: Water and Carbon. In San Diego, we’re no strangers to learning about Water Conservation - achieving Net Zero Water in San Diego continues to be a topic of great interest and importance.
We’re proud to have two sessions at SDGBCE19 that will be focusing on the challenges and triumphs of designing with Net Zero Water in mind. The first Net Zero focused session will have an emphasis on decentralized water recycling systems which will be critical for the future of Net Zero Water. Titled, A "Three P" Approach to Net Zero Water: Policy, Plumbing and Processes, it will be led by Eric Hough of Natural Systems Utilities, Barbara Bradley of Advanced Onsite Water and Ravi Bajaj of Healthy Buildings.
The second sessions titled, Zero Energy + Zero Water: Pushing the Envelope in California's Residential Space will cover Net Zero topics regarding water and energy within the residential sector. The speakers for this session will be John Ambert of Studio Verde, Blake Herrschaft of Rising Tide Engineering and Barbara Bradley of Advanced Onsite Water.
The Net Zero Carbon movement addresses energy as a main component but one new topic is the discussion of Operational vs. Embodied Carbon. The San Diego Green Building Council has been working to put this at the forefront of our education with our Living Future Collaborative that will be discussed in the session titled, Operational & Embodied: Achieving True Zero Carbon with speakers Charlie Christenson from Brummitt Energy Associates and Boris Gamazaychikov from Stok.
Learn more about the SDGBCE19’s upcoming Net Zero sessions here.
With the State of California setting ambitious goals to reduce energy consumption of all commercial buildings in half by 2030, the City of San Diego has committed to reach these goals by putting forth a Zero Net Energy plan for facilities throughout the county.
SDGBCE19 is an exciting opportunity to discuss face to face with the leaders who are propelling San Diego into the future of green building innovations. From energy to water to carbon, from residential to commercial, find it all at the San Diego Green Building Conference & Expo taking place this Friday, October 18th.
We invite you to register for SDGBCE19 via the link here.
