Author: Mark Lyles

Make your voice heard: Comment on the Residential 2024 IECC update
Post / October 29, 2022
The 2024 draft Residential International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is now out for public comment. The provisions in the 2024 code will build on the energy efficiency advancements made in the 2021 code cycle and introduce key provisions to address...
Getting to Zero With the Passive House Design Standard
Post / October 25, 2019
With growing consensus about the economic and social costs of climate change, an increasing number of cities and states have set ambitious carbon reduction goals. When it comes to the built environment, advanced energy codes and policies have proven to...
New York Invests in Energy-Saving Strategies to Meet Climate Action Goals
Post / January 4, 2019
New York has emerged as a shining star in local energy policy with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement early last year of an ambitious energy efficiency target to reduce energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs (British thermal units) by...
Checking in with the Passive House Network
Post / December 7, 2017 / Energy Codes
It’s been over 25 years since the Passive House concept — tight, well designed and insulated envelope and minimized mechanical loads — was formalized in Germany, and it feels like the movement has reached a tipping point here in North...

Rhode Island Shows Economic and Climate Leadership by Embracing Zero Energy Buildings
Post / June 13, 2017
As states look to realize their climate and energy policy goals, they are turning to strategies for improving building efficiency to cut carbon emissions and lower energy demand. Rhode Island is an emerging leader in this regard with a bold...

Chicago Real Estate Leadership Summit Defines the Building Industry’s Next Opportunity for Leadership
Post / February 9, 2017
Back in November, ComEd, Seventhwave and NBI hosted a Summit, focusing on the question: “What is Chicago’s path to net zero energy buildings?” Nearly 90 real estate professionals, designers and utility representatives gathered to focus on how they might build...
What Commercial Real Estate Executives Think and Do About Energy Efficiency
Post / September 16, 2015
The 2014 Northwest Commercial Building Stock Assessment estimates the size of the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) market in the Northwest to be 1.6 billion square feet–a market of existing buildings that are prime candidates for energy and carbon reductions through...
Vermont Leads the Way
Post / December 30, 2014
What do the State of Vermont and NBI have in common (besides a soft spot for counterculture energy nerds)? I’d answer that both are small in stature but have built legacies around aggressively pushing for codes and policies that promote...