Working towards a low-carbon built environment demands that we address our existing structures.

There is an abundance of existing buildings – and particularly existing housing – that are energy inefficient, unhealthy for their occupants, and expensive to operate. Demolishing and rebuilding from scratch are not viable from a cost, embodied carbon, or occupant-impact perspective. Deep Energy Exterior Retrofits (DEERs) – executed primarily from the building exterior – allow continuous or nearly-continuous occupation of the building while making significant improvements to the building’s efficiency and longevity. There are multiple strategies for a DEER, depending on various conditions of a building and project.

This program focuses on three case studies in Massachusetts:

• 20 units in low-rise wood construction duplexes (constructed in 1880s); site-built exterior panels
• 50 units in low-rise wood construction standalone apartment buildings (constructed in 2004); site-built exterior panels
• 127 units in mid-rise steel & masonry apartment building (constructed 1967); pre-fab exterior panels

Speaker: Jeannette Penniman, AIA, LEED AP, CPHC (Phius) | Project Manager, Onion Flats Architecture

CEUs: 1 AIA HSW/LU credit available