Phius Senior Policy Analyst Isaac Elnecave recounts his experience at NESEA's BuildingEnergy Boston 2025 event.
The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) held its annual conference, BuildingEnergy Boston, on March 20-21. The 2025 event celebrated, in part, NESEA's 50th anniversary. Over the years, this conference and trade show has grown significantly with more than 50 exhibitors on the trade show floor at the latest iteration.
Since this is a Phius blog, I wanted to share some Phius related observations. I attended my first NESEA conference three years ago during the development of the new Massachusetts stretch code. Since then, the new Opt-In Specialized code has been adopted by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. This is the code that requires all residential projects over 12,000 square feet be certified with Phius or another passive house certifying body. Currently, 48 municipalities covering 30 percent of the state's population have adopted this code.
This new situation has changed the relationship of Phius with respect to NESEA. Three years ago, the majority of people who came up to the Phius booth had no idea who we were. The question, “What is Phius?” was very common. This year, the majority of people who came up to the booth were aware of Phius and tended to ask more specific questions about our standard. Moreover, several people came to the booth to tell us that they had just attended a session that included discussion on the Phius standard. I counted at least five sessions on the conference agenda that featured Phius-related presentations.
All this activity indicates that Phius is finally moving into the mainstream, at least among energy efficiency advocates, in places like Massachusetts. Last year, Phius certified 20 projects in the state, and we expect a larger number this year. Ultimately, this growing level of awareness shows that policies such as incentives and energy codes, along with support from engaged stakeholders, can make a real difference.
I look forward to attending the 51st anniversary next year.