Presenters:

Judith Heerwagen, Ph.D., J.H. Heerwagen & Associates, Inc.

Andrea Durbin, Executive Director, Oregon Environmental Council

Omid Nabipoor, President, Interface Engineering

Clark Brockman, Associate Principal, SERA Architects

Occupant behavioral change is key to the success of high-performance buildings in all areas, including energy, water usage, and livability. This session will focus on strategies to “recommission” occupant behavior. Participants will be tasked with imagining the future for occupants and providing creative solutions to solve the framed problems. Some examples of discussion questions: Should the changing nature of work, including increased capability to work in a multiplicity of spaces throughout the day with remote connection to people and information, impact the way we condition, furnish and use office space? Should conditioning be based on occupancy levels? Should the building’s heating system always be required to keep the building at 72 to 75 degrees, or should the indoor temperature fluctuate with the seasons? Does occupant knowledge about the building’s performance lead to behavioral change to reduce energy or water use? What are other assumptions about ‘the way things are done’ that are increasing a building’s environmental burden? This will be a creative, foreword-thinking session, with an emphasis on out-of-the box ideas.

A panel that consists of an architect, an engineer, an environmental psychologist, and tenant representatives will address planning, engineering, occupant expectations, and occupant behavior. Following a brief presentation, participants will break into discussion groups. Each group will be given a building type, a design team role, and some teaser questions and problems to solve.

Session Format:  PRACTICUM. 

Presenter Bios

Judith Heerwagen

Judith Heerwagen is an environmental psychologist based in Seattle whose work focuses on the social impacts of sustainable building design and on evidence-based design for human health, performance and well being. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and is an editor of Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science and Practice of Bring Buildings to Life, which won the 2008 Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in architecture and urban planning.

Andrea Durbin

Andrea Durbin is Executive Director of Oregon Environmental Council and President of the Oregon Living Building Initiative. She also sits on the Oregon Global Warming Commission. Before that, she worked as an independent consultant based in Brussels Belgium and Washington, DC, focused on establishing environmental and social standards for the financial sector. In Washington, DC she worked as a senior manager for national environmental organizations.

Omid Nabipoor

Omid Nabipoor, LEED AP, serves as President of Interface Engineering – a full-service, multi-disciplinary MEP engineering consulting firm. Omid provides leadership in creative thinking in integrated design. He has been involved in the design of more than 100 LEED buildings, and has more than 20 years of experience in the design of heating, plumbing, ventilating and air conditioning systems in a variety of project types such as high-rise office buildings, mixed use and civic projects.

Clark Brockman

Clark is a frequent lecturer and panel participant on green building process and policy, and the connections between buildings and climate change. Travelling to China in March, 2008, he conducted green building workshops in multiple cities on a USDOE grant. He is the co-chair of the Governor of Oregon’s Energy Efficiency Legislative Workgroup for the 2009 session. Clark led the team for the Rose House, Portland’s first home to strive for Net Zero Energy performance.