Written by: Jana Giles
If you walked past Argyle Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia on March 27th, you may have noticed herds of building science nerds piling into the Halifax Convention Centre for the Annual BuildGreen Atlantic conference.
Halifax didn’t even need to have Taylor Swift headlining in order to attract professionals from across the region to this sold out event.
On March 26th, a tight-knit group of deep thinkers came together for pre-conference workshops and building tours. On March 27th, a large crowd gathered for the conference and trade show. Among many phenomenal conference sessions, the contributions of four remarkable women stood out.
Let’s delve into their sessions and the transformative projects they showcased.
Natasha Brooks: Introduction to Air Tightness Testing
Natasha Brooks, the Director of Operations for Building Efficiency Resources, Ltd. took the stage with her expertise on air tightness testing. With a focus on the knowledge, skills, and practical experience required for air tightness testing in residential buildings, Natasha illuminated the importance of diagnosing air leakage and ventilation balancing issues. Drawing from her experience, she highlighted key topics such as: building enclosure concepts, HVAC fundamentals, and performance testing techniques. Natasha’s presentation sealed the deal (pun intended) on the importance of air tightness testing and the value in equipping Atlantic Canadian professionals with the right tools and knowledge.
Lorrie Rand & Natasha Brooks: Passive House Case STudies – Highland Village & Treehouse Village
Natasha Brooks and Lorrie Rand stood side by side to present two rural Nova Scotian Passive House projects. Together, they showcased the Highland Village New Visitors Centre in Iona, NS, and the Treehouse Village multifamily co-op community in Bridgewater, NS. With passion and expertise, Natasha and Lorrie illuminated the motivation behind each project, the challenges faced during design and construction, and the results achieved through high-performance building techniques and materials. This presentation brought the audience into the mind of the teams behind these projects and sparked inspiration and conversation on the broader topic of Passive House design.
Chantal Daigle Verrier: Perspectives from NB Power’s New Construction Program
Chantal Daigle Verrier, Program Lead at New Brunswick Power, provided invaluable insights into the future of construction codes and energy efficiency standards Canada, and more specifically, in New Brunswick. With a focus on achieving net-zero energy ready construction codes by 2030, Chantal highlighted the importance of proactive measures in addressing climate change and enhancing building performance. Her leadership in cracking the code (is 2 puns in one blog post too many?) on energy efficiency programming in NB and is a shining example of an initiative that can have a huge impact on facilitating a more sustainable built environment in our region.
Hannah Cameron: Parametric Thermal Bridging Analyses for Enhanced Building Enclosures
Hannah Cameron’s session on parametric thermal bridging analyses for optimizing building enclosure performance was a technical presentation that took the audience through a sophisticated modelling process. Hannah showcased how early-stage massing and façade design can be optimized to enhance thermal integrity and energy efficiency. Her presentation generated many curious questions from the audience who were eager to learn more on this topic and understand the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration in achieving sustainable building outcomes.
Anne Lombardi: Energy Modeling for Existing Buildings
Anne Lombardi, Vice President at Integral Energy Performance took to the stage twice during this conference, including presenting a technical session during the pre-conference workshop on whole-building energy modelling. Anne delved into industry-leading methodologies for energy modeling in existing commercial buildings (Part 3), demonstrating everything from site audits, model inputs, calculations, and calibration techniques. The audience was engaged with start to finish with numerous questions for Anne as she shared her wealth of knowledge on this topic. You can bet my notebook is filled with lines of chicken scratch notes trying to capture all of the tips and tricks presented during this session.
As a young professional, I left BuildGreen Atlantic feeling motivated not only by the new knowledge I hope found its way deep into my brain, but also by the diversity of presentations and people presenting. I watched professionals of all backgrounds exchange perspectives and innovative approaches, walking away with a re-ignited passion for the work they do in this realm of sustainable building practices. Kudos to the organizing team for a stellar event and thank you to the presenters for sharing your experience with the crowd.
Jana Giles is a Junior Energy Modeler with Efficiency Nova Scotia. She grew up in Moncton, NB but has lived and travelled in 3 continents. She most recently completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, USA. Her love for the outdoors translates to a passion for work in the sustainable energy industry, including involvement with CWEEL and AEE Canada East.
