About Building Energy
Why It Matters
At NESEA we recognize and respond to the crucial connections between the generation and use of energy and the whole systems that sustain planetary health. When it comes to the practice of sustainability, we believe that the work that you do, your capacity and ambition, should not be bound by your professional discipline. We want to introduce you to people and ideas that will extend your reach. Attending Building Energy will lead to new understanding and relationships. You join a community whose works compliment your own. Together we are establishing a regional capacity to practice sustainability and communicate that capacity to the marketplace, our civic communities, and those that govern.
Who You’ll Meet
Building Energy is attended by professionals who work directly with energy, energy policy and sustainable thinking. This includes, but is not limited to architects, engineers, designers, product developers, builders, manufacturers, policy makers, planners, educators, utility executives, green marketers, and activists. Associated audiences include students, the media, home and building owners, and interested consumers. We hope that all choose to become members of NESEA. Most are.
We want you to meet and connect with others attending Building Energy. The event is organized to encourage participation and interaction. We hope that new aquaintances will lead to expanded business relationships and opportunities. You’ll make new friends and renew bonds with old ones.
How It’s Organized
Building Energy is planned by a group of NESEA members dedicated to identifying and assembling the thought and practice leaders who are currently defining and communicating the Practice of Sustainability. The Planning Committee is led by Conference Chair Christine Scott, a senior planner and urban designer practicing in Boston.
The Planning Committee, assembled at each preceding year’s conference, meets in person and online to plan and execute the next conference. The Committee is supported by an experienced staff working at NESEA's home and headquarters in Greenfield, MA.
We welcome anyone willing to meet the responsibilities associated with planning each year’s event and benefit from diverse participation. Think about joining us in planning next year’s event!
Where It All Started
In response to the energy crisis of the early 1970s, a group of concerned engineers, architects, and builders determined that clean energy from the sun held greater promise than the path toward nuclear energy and the unavoidable risks of betting on a fossil fueled future. They organized the Northeast Solar Energy Association and began holding regional conferences to share what they were learning about how to make solar work.
As learning grew to encompass the Practice of Sustainability, the scope of the conference focus and the breadth of interests by those attending grew. Then, as now, the work that members engaged in and the ideas that are explored at the conference remain a critical response to the environmental threats and dangerous policies that continue to motivate us all to demonstrate a more responsible way of producing and using energy.
Over the following three decades these conferences have continued to be organized by NESEA members and held in a regional location in the Northeast. Building Energy 2006 continues this legacy and is being celebrated as NESEA’s 31st Annual Conference in this long tradition.
The aspirations of this movement are on the scale of cathedrals. We, the members of NESEA, continue to work with that level of dedication and devotion to the goal of serving the future through the Practice of Sustainability.