ASHRAE along with leading industry organizations have released the technical program for the 2023 Decarbonization Conference for the Built Environment, October 25-27, 2023 in Washington, D.C. at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View. The full conference schedule is now available and registration is open.

The conference is organized by ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), International Facility Management Association (IFMA), APPA and Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA).

"The goal of this conference is to bring persons who work in all aspects of building design, construction, operation, ownership and management into the same room to address how the building industry as a whole can improve the impact buildings have on the global climate crises," said 2023-24 ASHRAE President Ginger Scoggins, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE.  "Since building design, construction and operation contribute close to 40% of total global emissions of carbon, it is imperative that we all work together to develop a path forward to address buildings' impact." 

The three-day event includes 23 seminars, 17 panels, three keynote sessions, including a roundtable of industry executives. Keynote speakers are climate change, cleantech and sustainability expert Chris Turner and Sue Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Climate Neutral Business Network.

The industry executives panel will feature the following:

• Lakisha Ann Woods, Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer, AIA
• Ginger Scoggins, 2023-24 ASHRAE President
• Henry Chamberlin, Chief Executive Officer, BOMA International
• Laurie Gilmer, Chair, IFMA Global Board

 Technical program tracks are as follows:

• Decarbonization Drivers: Guidelines, Standards and Regulations
• Strategies to achieve Low Carbon Operations
• Decarbonization 101: Measures, Metrics and Terminology
• Lessons Learned: New Construction Case Studies
• Impacts and Gaps of Decarbonization Policy
• Retrofitting Your Way to Low Carbon Buildings
• Designing and Constructing Low Carbon Buildings
• Successes and Failures: Existing Buildings Case Studies Part 1

The program will include the following presentations from invited speakers:

• "Fusing Historic Preservation with 21st Century Design Innovation" - Brittany K Fiema, SmithGroup, Detroit, MI
• "The Coming Age of a Smart Grid and Smart Buildings" - Thomas M Lawrence, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
• "Whole Life Carbon and Beyond to a Sustainable Future" - Luke C H Leung, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Chicago, IL
• "Strategies to Lead the Buildings to the Zero Energy Path" - Bing Liu, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Portland, OR

 For more information, the full program or to register for the 2023 Decarbonization Conference for the Built Environment, visit ashrae.org/2023BuiltEnvironment.