As always, NESEA’s BuildingEnergy Boston conference was filled with thoughtful discussions and lots of positive energy.
Two sessions that stood out the most were rooted in what attracts me to the NESEA community. The first was presented by Rachel White, CEO of Byggmeister Design/Build, and Michael Hindle, Principal, Passive To Positive, on The Deep Energy Retrofit Controversy Revisited. As a follow up discussion to last year’s keynote, Why We Stopped Doing Deep Energy Retrofits (presented by Rachel with Brendan Kavanagh, Byggmeister co-owner), it sparked some lively feedback. The session was passionate, insightful, and thoughtful.
Most importantly, it was respectful. These are challenging issues with no easy answers and this presentation gave us all a lot to think about. We as a community are better for having nuanced conversation and talking with each other rather than past each other.
In the same vein, I attended Tools For Connection: Practicing Inclusion In Your Workplace, presented by Iara Cury, Facilitator and Organizer for A Feel For Justice and Caroline Bruno, A Feel For Justice’s Anti-Racism Facilitator. The speakers focused on DEI work by emphasizing our ability as humans to connect with each other.
I love this community for the connections and bonds we form, which we rely on as we work to make the world a better place.
Materially Better