In April, the Home Building Association of Greater Portland hosted the 2024 BuildRight Conference in tandem with the Homes of Tomorrow Today Tour. The events gave both trade professionals and homebuyers a great opportunity to learn more about energy efficient building practices and new home features.
2024 BuildRight Conference
This year’s BuildRight Conference, titled, “Comfortable Buildings: Getting Them Right!”, had record-breaking attendance with over 300 people. The conference took place April 18 – 19, 2024, at the Factor Building in the Central Eastside Industrial District of Portland.
The first day of the conference kicked off with keynote speaker Mark LaLiberte, co-founder and president of Construction Instruction. His presentation, “Path of Continual Improvement: How to Implement Energy Efficient and Building Science Measures in Your Everyday Practices,” underlined the current and future state of housing and encouraged industry professionals to apply energy efficiency to their building practices.
Dr. Allison Bailes, founder of Energy Vanguard and author of the bestselling book A House Needs to Breathe… Or Does It? opened the second day with his keynote speech, “Doing Heat Pumpification Right!” In the speech, Dr. Bailes focused on heat pump efficiency, performance, installation and selection.
After opening keynotes, attendees had the opportunity to network and visit sponsor booths before heading into sessions. The conference hosted a variety of sessions both days, featuring information on several energy efficiency technologies and practices, including:
- HVAC design
- ERV and HRV applications
- Exterior insulation
- Air sealing
- Ventilation
- Solar + storage
- EPS, zero energy ready and more
Other sessions covered Oregon and Washington code updates, business practices, tax credits and smart home technologies.
Presentations from the conference are available on the BuildRight website.
Homes of Tomorrow Today Tour
The Homes of Tomorrow Today Tour was presented by Portland General Electric and sponsored by Energy Trust of Oregon and Earth Advantage. This year’s tour featured nine homes that gave insights into the future of building practices.
The tour included an assortment of homes, such as a contemporary farmhouse, mid-century ranch and townhome. All homes obtained an EPS™ or equivalent certification. Energy efficiency measures featured on the tour included:
- Ducted heat pumps
- Energy Star appliances
- EV charging ready features
- Heat pump water heaters
- Induction ranges
- Smart thermostats
- Solar ready features
- Zero energy features
In addition to showcasing energy efficiency technologies, the tour highlighted accessory dwelling units (ADUs), which tend to use less energy by virtue of having smaller square footage.
To learn more about the builders and homes that participated in this year’s tour, visit the Homes of Tomorrow Today website.