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2003 RESNET ConferenceConference Sessions & Schedule
The RESNET Conference is the premier national forum on residential energy efficiency financing and home energy ratings. The 2003 RESNET Conference will feature the following sessions: Pre-Conference Sessions RESNET Rater Training Accreditation
Committee RESNET Rating Software Testing and
Verification Committee Successful Rating and Building Performance
Education and Marketing Strategies and Techniques Successful rating and building performance professionals dedicate about 80% of their work to education and marketing. Having the right teaching, communication and marketing tools is essential to effectively educate construction and design personnel and consumers on building science concepts and overall advantages of high performance homes. This workshop will be a hands-on practical session which will include working examples of successful education and marketing tools for the industry. It will include successful marketing techniques to create a market for energy improvements in California. Conference Sessions Registration Continental Breakfast Opening General Session Conference Welcome DOE Welcome "Rating the Rating Industry" "Go for the Gold: Fannie Mae's New
Products to Finance Residential Energy Efficiency" "Mega Trends for Residential Energy
Efficiency, In the Nation and in California" Break Out Sessions #1 "Kicking It Up a Notch" -
Marketing ENERGY STAR to Builders The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a marketing strategy and materials to spike the market demand for ENERGY STAR Homes to builders and consumers. Learn how to take advantage of these opportunities to grow your business. "Lenders Roundtable" -
Quantifying the Benefits of Financing Residential Energy Efficiency The session will feature lenders experienced with energy mortgages to explain and quantify the benefits of energy mortgages to consumers and builders and how rating programs can partner with lenders. "No Longer Just a Black Box" -
Proposed RESNET Rating Software Testing Specifications and Verification
Procedures As a result of the input received at the 2002 RESNET Conference, RESNET has formed a Rating Software Testing Specifications and Verification Committee. The committee is developing a rating software testing and verification standard to ensure national consistency in the way software programs produce a home's rating score. This session will discuss the proposed standard, the technical issues involved, and the implications to the rating industry. "Increasing Energy Code Performance
Through Home Energy Ratings" - California Title 24: A Case Study The State of California has implemented a number of changes to its residential energy code that has increased the performance of homes in the state and the market for home energy ratings. This session will explore this trend in the Golden State. Lunch Break Out Sessions #2 "Swimming with Sharks" -
Developing Relationships with Production Builders The competitive market of production builders offers great promise of having a large number of homes rated but also poses great challenges in terms of pricing and logistics. Learn how rating firms have successfully developed beneficial partnerships in the competitive market of production building. "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This"
- Opportunities Presented by Utility Public Benefit Funds Gene Rodrigues, Director of Energy
Efficiency, Southern California Edison "Changing Codes": Understanding
the Relationship Between IECC, HERS® and the Impact on ENERGY STAR The HERS® methodology was established to provide a consistent means of determining the energy efficiency of a home. A HERS® rating indicates a home's efficiency relative to a comparable home built to the 1993 Model Energy Code (MEC). However, many states are now adopting more recent versions of the 1993 MEC, including the 2000 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). This session will explore the relationship between HERS and the 2000 IECC and will look at its potential impact on the Energy Star new homes program. EPA's methodology for dealing with these changes will be discussed as well as how HERS tools are adapting to the changing codes. "Eureka!" - Tapping the Energy
Improvement Mortgage Market: The California Experience Despite its great market potential, nationally, it has proven difficult to tap the market for energy improvement mortgages. In a number of housing markets, California firms have successfully developed partnerships with lenders and real estate agents to promote and underwrite energy improvements. Break Out Sessions #3 "Does Home Performance Have a Role in
the IECC?" - Proposed Changes to Chapter Four of the International
Energy Conservation Code Sweeping changes have been proposed to the building performance compliance method of the International Energy Conservation Code. There are concerns that such a proposal would considerably weaken performance options such as energy ratings. Learn about what is proposed and the issues involved with such a proposal. "Credibility Through Quality
Assurance" - Rating Provider Quality Assurance As the market for home energy ratings grows, the issue of rating quality assurance becomes even more important. This session will share rating providers' experiences with quality assurance, what gaps exist, and the role of RESNET in increasing rating provider quality assurance. "The Federal Government has a
Role" - The Implications of the New HUD Energy Initiative The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has recently embarked on a new initiative to promote affordable housing through energy efficiency. This has resulted in a memorandum of agreement being entered into by HUD, the U.S. Department of Energy, and EPA to finance energy efficiency into affordable housing initiatives. This session will explore the opportunities to partner with this initiative. "Wish They All Could be California
Homes" - The California ENERGY STAR Homes Program Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and Southern California Gas have embarked in an aggressive ENERGY STAR Homes program whose goal is to label over 12,000 homes as ENERGY STAR in the Golden State in 2003. This session will feature the California utility ENERGY STAR Homes managers who will introduce this massive market transformation effort. Cabo Courtyard Reception Tuesday, February 25, 2003Registration Continental Breakfast Opening General Session "Confrontational Building
Science" "Not All the Stars are in
Hollywood" - Update on ENERGY STAR Program "Lessons Learned With ENERGY
STAR" Break Out Sessions #4 "Turn on the Lights and Let the Sun
Shine In" - Incorporating Lighting, Appliances, and Renewable Energy
Sources Into the Rating Method The national home energy rating standards are in the process of being amended. A key proposed amendment is to include lighting, appliances, and renewable energy sources into the rating score. This session will explore the proposed amendments, the technical issues involved, and the potential benefits to the rating industry. "Builders Roundtable" - How to
Select and Work with Raters Builders who have successfully partnered with raters will share their experiences on how to select a rating firm to work with and how to effectively partner with the firm to mutually add value to the partnership. "Reaching for the Stars" -
Building America's Performance Criteria The Department of Energy's Building America Program has taken on whole-systems engineering to cost-effectively maximize a home's thermal performance. The program is in the process of expanding its vision to factor all of the energy costs of a home with a goal of creating a path to a zero energy home. Learn about the new performance criteria and its implications to the rating industry. "With A Little Help from My
Friends" - Successful State Sponsored Residential Energy Efficiency
Programs A number of state energy offices and housing finance agencies have sponsored successful programs to finance residential energy efficiency. This session will focus on success stories. Lunch Break Out Sessions #5 "How Reliable is Sampling?" -
Results of the Ohio Sampling Pilot Evaluation A pilot project on rating sampling took place in Ohio in 2001-2002. The project was sponsored by the Ohio Energy Office. The Ohio state energy office hired an independent consultant to evaluate the results of the pilot project. This session will present the results of the evaluation and explore the implications to the rating industry. "Paths of Glory" - Elements of
Successful ENERGY STAR Homes Labeling Programs The Joint Management Committee, a consortium of New England utilities, recently completed an analysis of the elements of the most successful ENERGY STAR Homes labeling programs in the nation. Learn how this can help grow your business. "Field of Dreams" - Implications
of Zero Energy Home Initiative A key initiative of the Bush Administration's energy efficiency policy is the Zero Energy Home. Home energy ratings can play a key role in this initiative. Learn about this initiative, its potential, and the opportunities that the rating industry has to partner with this effort. "Seizing Opportunities with ENERGY
STAR for Existing Homes" Learn the latest business development strategies with Home Sealing with ENERGY STAR and Home Performance with ENERGY STAR and how rating businesses can use these initiatives to grow their business in the existing homes market. Break Out Sessions #6 "Taking Care of Business" - The
Management Issues of Running a Successful Rating Business As a market-driven initiative, energy ratings must be a business venture. Successful business ventures require savvy marketing and business plans. This session will address defining a business strategy for a rating business. This will include defining customers, competition, and allies; how to "think outside the box" while keeping the doors open for business; properly defining the company's products and services; and creating value-added components to the organization through rating services. "Setting the Standard for Home
Performance in Existing Homes" - The Building Performance Institute The Building Performance Institute is setting national standards for training and certifying the training of all facets of the building performance contractors' industry. This session will introduce the organization, its training and certification standards, and opportunities to partner with the rating industry. "Setting the Sights on Ducts" -
Overview of Duct Leakage Measurement Protocols This session will provide an overview and update of duct leakage measurement protocols used by the rating industry. The discussion will also include perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of the different protocols. RESNET Board of Directors
Meeting Wednesday, February 26, 2003Registration/Continental Breakfast Opening General Session "All That Shines Is Not Gold" -
Principles for Effective and Responsible Tax Incentives for Residential
Energy Efficiency Break Out Sessions #7 "Getting It Right" -
Construction Practices Recommended to Builders This will be a rater roundtable that will share what are the common construction practices that raters offer to their builders. These practices increase housing durability and indoor air quality while improving the home's energy efficiency performance. "One Size Does Not Fit All" -
Developing and Growing Niche Builder Markets A number of raters have successfully developed profit centers working with small and custom builders. This session will feature raters who have developed business strategies aimed at this sector of the housing industry. "A Tool for Affordable Housing"
- Tapping the Opportunities of Partnering with Affordable Housing Programs There are a number of affordable housing initiatives on the state and local level whose goal is to make housing more available to middle and lower income families. This session will explore how rating programs can develop partnerships with these programs to foster residential energy efficiency and home energy ratings in meeting the mutual goals of affordable housing. The session will also focus on the Habitat for Humanity Program. Habitat for Humanity is a key facilitator in developing affordable housing partnerships. Learn of the organization's effort to include building performance, green building practices, and energy efficiency into homes built through Habitat for Humanity. "Keeping the Sun Out and the Energy
In" - Changing Window Efficiency Specifications in the HERS Reference The current HERS reference home is equivalent to MEC 93. The current national energy standard is the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The biggest difference between the two standards is the window requirements. RESNET is considering changing the reference window provisions to align with the IECC. Join in this lively discussion on the rationale for such an action and the benefits it would serve in improving the energy efficiency of the nation's housing stock. Lunch Post-Conference Sessions Shea Homes Solar Development Tour RESNET General Membership Meeting Post Conference Workshop There is a growing need to convince local and state code officials on the validity of accepting performance programs, such as home energy ratings and ENERGY STAR, as recognized options to verifying compliance to the code. There are several examples of states that have already adopted policies to allow ratings as alternative compliance paths. This workshop, led by the Building Codes Assistance Project, will assist rating and building performance professionals to sharpen their skills to convince code officials that rating programs are governed by standards and procedures that should provide comfort in accepting these as viable alternatives of demonstrating compliance to the code. The workshop will focus on many issues that should make strong arguments for professionals to take back to their home states (lessening inspectors' liability, reducing inspectors' workload, improving consumer protection via closer inspection by an energy professional, etc.). |
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February 24 - 26, 2003