Powering Houston: Differentiating New Homes with Distributed Energy

Join EEBA and Sunrun to learn about Houston's distributed energy landscape and how builders can differentiate their communities with battery storage. We’ll cover macro factors driving consumer demand in the region, Sunrun & NRG Energy's partnership to deploy a Distributed Power Plant in Texas and the value proposition for builders and their homebuyers.Learning Objectives: 1)  Gain insight into the Houston energy market.2)  Understand the function of a Distributed Power Plant (DPP).3) Discover the rising homebuyer demand for distributed energy.4) Overview of the Sunrun and NRG partnership.5) The value proposition of including distributed energy in communities for Houston homebuilders and their homebuyers. 

Most jobsite software wasn't built to capture what AI actually needs. The fields, timestamps, and check-ins that platforms record today were designed for tracking tasks, not for training models or powering diagnostics. That gap is the real bottleneck standing between most builders and the AI tools they're hearing so much about. This session lays out a practical path forward. We'll define the minimum viable dataset a jobsite needs to capture, show how that data supports descriptive and diagnostic analytics that surface the real drivers of delay and rework, and then explore what becomes possible once AI is layered on top — interrogating reports, suggesting recovery paths, simulating what-if scenarios, and automating parts of schedule and field management. The goal is a set of repeatable practices any builder can apply, regardless of current tech stack, to support more starts per superintendent while improving predictability, quality, and cost performance.Learning Objectives:Identify the minimum viable jobsite dataset needed to move from basic tracking to AI-ready field operations Understand how to apply analytics to pinpointing the actual root causes of delay and rework on a jobsite, rather than just reporting that they happened. Evaluate practical AI use cases layered on field data, including report interrogation, recovery-path suggestions, and what-if scenario simulation. Apply a repeatable framework for improving predictability and cost performance regardless of current technology stack

Harvard's JCHS partnered with The Farnsworth Group to interview Homeowners and Contractors about their experiences building a healthy and/or green home. This research looks at activities and projects conducted by both groups to better understand what is being done to promote occupant health & safety and environmental & energy performance. This webinar will present the findings along with insights.Learning Objectives:1. Learn about homeowners' concerns, reasons, activities and obstacles around a healthy and safe home and the products and solutions within.2. Learn about what contractors see is their customers' interest level, trends, benefits, and constraints surrounding healthy and safe homes and the products and solutions within.3. Understand homeowners' concerns, reasons, activities and obstacles around an environmentally friendly and energy efficient home, and the products and solutions within.4. Learn about what contractors see is their customers' interest level, trends, benefits, and constraints surrounding environmentally friendly and energy efficient homes and the products and solutions within.Speaker: Grant Farnsworth

Exploring Carrier's latest advancements in variable speed technology, we are excited to introduce the enhanced premium comfort features and 24V communication protocols.Learning Objectives:Learn what variable speed is, and its benefits.Discover Carrier's newest performance 27VPA9 OverviewUnderstand utilizing 24V signals for variable speedLearn what the 27VPA9 means to the homeowner.

How do we make sustainability scalable? In this talk, Levven shares how it’s using innovation and design to democratize access to smart, sustainable electrical systems so that every homeowner, regardless of income or geography, can benefit from efficient, connected living.Learning Objectives:1. Identify the main inefficiencies in traditional electrical installations.2. Explore how wireless power and control systems can significantly reduce material costs and labor time.3. Learn about Levven’s vision for accessible sustainability through design and engineering.4. Gain insight on how continuity and replication is the key to build efficient construction practices to reduce cost across all aspects.

This panel brings together housing developers who are rethinking and reimaging housing from the construction process to design, from materials to operations, so that more people can afford comfortable, safe, healthy housing options. From ex-Amazon pros who are using automation and robotics to create micro factories, to an all-new set of materials for a better performing design, to human centric design practices that cut the cost of ownership in half. The discussion will cover current housing demand and the keys to hitting affordable price points. By sharing experience, success and failures, these experts share the answers to housing’s future.Learning Objectives:1. Understand new technology and innovative processes that can deliver higher performance homes, along with their performance metrics.2. Discover innovative approaches to the design, construction and operation that will help deliver more product faster and at a lower cost.3. Learn about how these innovative solutions are not only lower cost but healthier, more sustainable and comfortable for occupants.4. Discuss how products and process can be applied to housing at any scale.

Part of what happens on the power grid starts in the homes we build. Meeting the rising demand for electricity presents a challenge, but also an opportunity to transform our homes from energy consumers into energy producers and distributors. In this session you'll hear from builders who have communities enrolled in Virtual Power Plant (VPP) programs and are deploying battery storage at scale. The session will be moderated and led by California’s largest VPP company with over 53,000 customers and 200 megawatts capacity- comparable to a medium-sized gas power plant.Learning Objectives: Understanding our electrical grid and its history.Learn how we can meet today’s and tomorrow’s growing electrical demand.Understand what role homebuilders are playing in stabilizing the grid and turning their homes from energy consumers into energy producers. Discover the benefits homebuyers are experiencing from battery storage and virtual power plant programs.Presenters: Megan Cordes, Director Sustainability and Building Science, Beazer HomesJoel Abney, Vice President of Operations, SH Residential Holdings, LLCMatt Brost, Vice President New Home Sales, SunrunChip Silverman, Senior Manager, Grid Services Business Development, SunrunLearn More and Register for the 2026 Summit: https://summit.eeba.org

Panasonic OASYS™ Concept Home Sets a New Standard for Whole Home WellnessPanasonic recently introduced its revolutionary OASYS™ Whole Home Air Quality Management Solution through the launch of the first-ever Panasonic OASYS Concept Home in Houston, TX. This milestone project, showcases how advanced HVAC technology can transform indoor environments, delivering superior comfort, energy efficiency, and wellness. The Concept Home has also earned the prestigious Indoor airPLUS certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), affirming its commitment to healthier indoor air and safer living conditions.The Panasonic OASYS™ system is more than a traditional HVAC setup—it’s a fully integrated air quality management solution that combines ventilation fans, energy recovery ventilators (ERVs), and HVAC units into a single, seamless system. Working in tandem with a tightly sealed building envelope, OASYS continuously delivers fresh, filtered air throughout the home, actively removing pollutants, allergens, and excess humidity.In this webinar you will learn how the Panasonic OASYS System provides:1) Uniform temp and humidity with fresh, healthy air 2) 4x air change per hour; controlled airflow 3) Its energy efficiency 4) How it is comprised of reliable and individual components (easy to install and maintain)

Science-based methods that link the chemical contents of building products with human and environmental health hazards have become well-established over the past decade. Product ingredient disclosures that report this information, as well as information tools to select products with desired health characteristics, are now affordable and easy-to-use by any design project team member, without the need for advanced training. This session will explain the industry standard methodology of the Health Product Declaration (HPD) and how, using web-based tools, project teams can easily make informed decisions that promote the use of healthier building products, backed up by the full transparency of open standards and publicly available information. An end-to-end example of how this information is created by manufacturers and used in product selection by project teams will be demonstrated, using two important products in residential construction: roofing and insulation. It will also demonstrate how this information provides documentation to support many green building certifications, such as Indoor AirPlus, LEED, Living Building Challenge and others with a focus on healthier materials.Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will understand the science-based methods for linking the chemical contents of building products with human and environmental health hazards.2. Participants will learn how manufacturers collect and report health information about their products, and how it is made transparent and publicly available with the demonstrated web-based information tools.3. Participants will learn about the information that is required to evaluate the human and environmental health hazards in building materials, the affordable tools now available to building project teams that make it possible without the need for expert training, and how builders can easily incorporate this step into their product selection process.4. Participants will learn how product content and health information disclosures simplify providing documentation for green building certifications such as Indoor AirPlus, LEED and Living Building Challenge.Presenters: Paul Shahrairi, Green building and the application of technology in the real estate, design, engineering, and construction industries.Andrew Guido, VP of Sustainability & Innovation, Empire CommunitiesAaron Smith, CEO, EEBACory White, Technical Director, Health Product Declaration CollaborativeColin Harrington, Program Manager of Sustainability Marketing & Communications, Saint-Gobain North America

Conversation with Sean ContaWe all know that the right way to build a high performance, low carbon home starts in the design phase, right? Early and careful planning, research, estimating and coordinating with trades during design is the way to achieve the project goals. But wait, what if we land a project that has already been designed and permitted? And what if, for example, the plans are missing any sort of HVAC or water heating information and essentially just meet code? Can we still do high performance? This session will dive into a specific project in Seattle where the 2 person Targa Homes team was presented with just this scenario. Hear how we achieved a high performance, ZERH certified home and ADU through air tightness, robust assemblies, great windows, careful HVAC design and installation, and lower embodied carbon material choices.Learning Objectives:1. Choosing and executing high performance wall, roof, and floor assemblies that aren't on the plans2. Designing and fitting an HVAC system in an existing structural layout3. Convincing your client to care about upgraded windows4. Finding what your "non-negotiables" are as you budget and build a project