COTE Getting to Net Zero Lecture 1: This session will focus on the role of building science in the design process and examine tools and software that are being used by firms to track performance metrics. It will also offer a window into how local small, medium and large firms are approaching the same challenge.

The word "Commissioning" has different meanings to different parties involved in the design and construction process. A question frequently asked by owners new to the commissioning process is, "Don't I already pay for that?". In this session we will review commissioning according to the industry standard ASHRAE Commissioning Guidelines and North Carolina Energy Code. We will identify when commissioning should start and end, the steps in between, why it is needed in today's business environment, the value to the owner, and the cost of commissioning.

COTE Getting to Net Zero Lecture 2: Our next challenge is to build buildings with the lowest embodied carbon possible. Sometimes aligned and sometimes at odds, this session will provide an overview of how to lead a high-performance integrative design process, establish high performance goals, track energy and sustainable design goals, and achieve a low emissions building by evaluating opportunities and tradeoffs for reducing operational and embodied carbon.

COTE Workshop 3: This session will focus primarily on design strategies to reduce a building’s embodied carbon through the specification of building materials. The lecture will show best practices for building specifications of interior and exterior materials and how to specify products that have EPD’s and are healthy and low in embodied carbon. The lecture will also reveal the importance of the design of the structural system for reducing the embodied carbon with an emphasis on how to design and specify mass timber systems.