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By Barbra Batshalom, LEED AP, The Green Roundtable / NEXUS

Being the founder and Executive Director of a green building non-profit, most people tag me as an “environmentalist” and assume my motivations for leaving mainstream architecture were to save the planet, protect natural resources and improve public health. While these things are factors, they alone didn’t set my path.

My motivations were rooted in business – business planning and strategy of design and construction – and systems thinking – the dysfunctions I observed in the building decision-making process.

Given the challenges inherent in people working together  (the human condition), I still found it maddening that the basic concept and design approach to a project could be formulated without fully conceiving of its functional, operational and performance requirements.

By Barbra Batshalom, The Green Roundtable / NEXUS

I remember the first time the concept of “green” edged its way into my consciousness.  It was about 18 years ago, when as an architectural designer,tasked to organize our product library and create a database. Digging through product information,

I came upon an article by BuildingGreen about the environmental impacts of rigid foam insulation and I thought…. “What?!”

These sample questions are based on Section 9 of ASHRAE 90.1 Standard, one of the sections an Energy Modeler has to be confident – especially issues such as “tradeable surfaces,” etc. However, one can become an expert through experience and continuous improvement.  Write to me if you have any questions or comments to ravi@greenroundtable.org. If you need the publication that compares energy simulation software, send me an email.

For those who are interested to learn EAc1 Energy Modeling “the right way,” join the two-day workshop I am conducting. Register here for the early registration discount!