• Position retrofits as essential public infrastructure and translate mandates and standards into actionable capital plans.
• Navigate delivery challenges in occupied, aging buildings while balancing cost, speed, and safety.
• Align stakeholders—designers, contractors, financiers, and technology providers—for efficient, scalable project execution.
• Share lessons from public building portfolios that can be applied across cities, institutions, and large owners.

• Mapping the retrofit finance ecosystem: grants, rebates, tax credits, green banks, loan guarantees, and private capital.
• Designing layered capital stacks that improve project feasibility and investor confidence.
• Practical navigation of eligibility rules, compliance requirements, and application processes.
• Understanding recent federal policy and funding shifts, regulatory uncertainty, and how to future-proof financing strategies.
• Introducing the Zero Over Time (ZOT) approach to structure capital for long-term retrofit success.

Operational Decarbonization: Theory to Practice

• Bridging the strategy-execution gap by moving from high-level carbon targets to a phased, actionable engineering roadmap for existing mechanical systems.
• Overcoming real-world Implementation roadblocks such as aging electrical infrastructure, space constraints for heat pumps, and maintaining occupancy during construction.
• Evaluating Performance and ROI - A data-backed look at post-retrofit energy savings, operational cost shifts, and the impact of federal tax incentives on the bottom line.
  Yasha Chaturvedi, Director of Sustainability, Cortland Investment Management  

Scaling Impact: Retrofitting a Building Portfolio

• Establishing portfolio-wide retrofit priorities through baseline performance assessments.
• Balancing standardized solutions with tailored strategies for diverse asset types.
• Leveraging financing and procurement models to drive efficient portfolio-scale upgrades.
• Measuring and communicating performance outcomes across multiple assets.
• Extracting lessons for replicable and scalable retrofit strategies.
  Julie Klump, Vice President, Design and Building Performance 
  Preservation of Affordable Housing

1. Financing for Resiliency: Multi-Asset Retrofit Portfolios in Extreme Climate Zones

• Structuring retrofit investments to address physical climate risk across diverse asset types.
• Incorporating emerging insurance and reinsurance models into retrofit financing strategies.
• Aligning resilience upgrades with investor requirements, underwriting standards, and long-term asset value.

2. Goal-Driven Retrofit Portfolios in Affordable Housing

• Leveraging DOE Better Buildings and HUD partnerships.
• Achieving deep energy and emissions reductions across aging portfolios.
• Balancing affordability, resilience, and long-term operating savings.

• Overview of core compliance requirements for retrofit projects: energy, carbon, safety, and social performance..
• Who sets the rules: the role of federal, state, local, and international bodies, and how priorities are shaped.
• Anticipating future technical standards driven by electrification, embodied carbon, and digital performance tracking.
• Managing compliance risk across multi-jurisdictional retrofit portfolios.
• Effective strategies for industry engagement with policymakers and regulators to shape practical, scalable standards.

Participants can join the round table of their choice. Each roundtable leader will spend the first 15 minutes on a case study, lessons learned, or industry update. This will be followed by a 45-minute open discussion with all participants, moderated by the leader. The final 15 minutes will be used to identify 3-5 industry recommendations resulting from the group discussion. Key recommendations will be shared with the entire audience, and all roundtable recommendations will be included in the post-event report.

Section 1: Complying & Financing

1. Navigating the Mandate Maze: Strategies for staying ahead of Local Laws (e.g., LL97) and evolving Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS).

2. Boston Energy Saver Program  
   Speaker: Brooks Winner, Building Decarbonization Program Manager, City of Boston 

3. Carbon Compliance as ROI: Transitioning from viewing fines as a cost of doing business to using compliance as a driver for asset value appreciation.
4. Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS): Exploring off-balance-sheet financing models to fund deep energy retrofits without upfront CapEx.

Section 2: Planning & Delivery

1. Multi-Year Decarbonization Roadmaps
   Explore strategies for sequencing portfolio-wide retrofits to maximize carbon reduction while minimizing disruption to building occupants.
2. Electrification in Practice
   Discuss real-world challenges of replacing gas-fired systems with electric alternatives in high-rise and cold-climate buildings and share lessons learned.
3. Data-Driven Operations & Performance Optimization
   Examine how analytics, sensors, and real-time monitoring can improve retrofit performance and guide operational decision-making.
4. Procurement, Financing & Risk Management
   Share approaches to combining funding streams, structuring contracts, and mitigating risks across multi-site retrofit projects.

Deep retrofits require more than technical solutions. They demand adaptability as projects move from concept to construction. This session draws on experience from completed deep retrofit projects to explore how real-world conditions shape outcomes in ways early assumptions rarely anticipate. Using examples from the field, they highlight why certain strategies perform better than expected, where projects most commonly lose momentum, and how teams adjust to move work forward.

 • What we have learned on the ground through the completion of multiple deep retrofits, including the detours, pivots, and breakthroughs that shaped success.

• Why some strategies outperform or underperform expectations.

• Where projects get stuck and how they get back on track, using coordination and construction examples from the field.

• Structuring cross-functional teams across owners, designers, contractors, financiers, utilities, and regulators.
• Practical trust-building strategies for multi-party retrofit projects.
• Communication models that prevent misalignment, delays, and conflict.
• Using data transparency, shared metrics, and third-party verification to build confidence.
• Maintaining long-term relationships beyond a single project or funding cycle.

• Understand why precise measurement and reporting are essential for tracking the success of retrofitting projects and influencing compliance improvements.
• Learn best practices for collecting and managing data related to energy usage, emissions reductions, and financial performance to benefit your projects.
• Using accurate, transparent data to verify outcomes through independent audits and third-party evaluations that will inform future projects.
• Discover how digital tools and technologies, such as smart meters and energy monitoring systems, can improve data collection and reporting efforts.

• Sharing firsthand lessons from owners navigating retrofit projects under evolving Building Performance Standards. 

• Examining practical challenges and opportunities that emerge during deep retrofit planning and execution. 

• Highlighting strategies for aligning capital plans, tenant needs, and operational goals with compliance pathways. 

• Evaluating technologies, data tools, and performance tracking methods that support long‑term BPS alignment. 

• Capturing insights on financing, timelines, and organizational coordination that shape successful retrofit outcomes. 

• Highlight Cambridge’s roadmap for reducing carbon emissions in public buildings. 

• Share practical strategies for integrating energy-efficient technologies in aging infrastructure. 

• Discuss measurable outcomes and how these efforts align with citywide climate goals. 

• Identifying labor and skills gaps critical to large-scale retrofit initiatives.
• Building strategic partnerships to expand and diversify the workforce pipeline.
• Implementing training and certification programs to elevate workforce capabilities.
• Tracking employment and retention outcomes across retrofit projects.
• Capturing long-term benefits of a skilled, resilient workforce.

• CEP’s retrofit delivery model: how we combine energy efficiency, electrification, and essential home improvements to meet the needs of low-income households.
• A community-centered approach: coordinating contractors, supporting clients through the process, and tailoring scopes of work to each home.
• Impact of 170+ completed projects: significant energy savings, bill reductions, electrification transitions, and measurable carbon reductions.
• Case study walk-through: a real CEP home demonstrating how we scope work, address common issues, and align multiple funding sources to complete a whole-home retrofit.
• Practical funding alignment: how CEP blends local and state resources to sustain a scalable, people-first retrofit model.

Existing buildings demand a different design mindset. In this Design Showcase, architects and designers deliver a sequence of 10-minute presentations that demonstrate how innovation emerges. The session offers concrete design insights applicable to retrofit projects at every scale.

• Designing Within Constraints
  How architects turn fixed structures, limited budgets, and occupied buildings into design opportunities rather than barriers.
• Retrofit as Architectural Reuse
  Reframing retrofit as a creative act of reuse, adaptation, and architectural continuity.
• Façades That Perform
  Design strategies for upgrading envelopes to improve energy performance without sacrificing architectural character.
• Electrification by Design
  Integrating heat pumps, electrical upgrades, and new systems into existing buildings with minimal disruption.
• Daylight, Comfort, and Health
  Using retrofit design to improve daylighting, thermal comfort, acoustics, and indoor air quality.
• Designing for Phased Retrofit
  Architectural approaches that enable stepwise upgrades over time while maintaining functionality.
• Historic Buildings, Contemporary Performance
  Balancing preservation requirements with modern energy and carbon performance goals.
• Material Choices That Matter
  Design decisions that reduce embodied carbon while meeting durability and cost constraints.

Participants can join the round table of their choice. Each roundtable leader will spend the first 15 minutes on a case study, lessons learned, or industry update. This will be followed by a 45-minute open discussion with all participants, moderated by the leader. The final 15 minutes will be used to identify 3-5 industry recommendations resulting from the group discussion. Key recommendations will be shared with the entire audience, and all roundtable recommendations will be included in the post-event report.

Section 3: Planning & Operational Strategies

1. The Phased Roadmap: How to plan multi-year decarbonization without disrupting tenant operations or "locking in" inefficient tech.
2. Electrification in Practice: Real-world challenges of swapping gas-fired boilers for heat pumps in high-rise and cold-climate applications.
3. Data-Driven Operations: Moving beyond the audit—using AI and real-time building analytics to identify hidden "low-hanging fruit" in HVAC performance.
4. The Human Element: Strategies for training facility teams and engaging occupants to ensure retrofitted systems perform as engineered.

• Leveraging sensors, IoT, and digital twins to plan, monitor, and verify retrofit projects at scale.
• Using real-time analytics to optimize energy, carbon, and operational performance.
• Integrating building data into portfolio-wide decision-making and capital planning.
• Exploring emerging technologies that enable predictive maintenance, occupant engagement, and continuous improvement.
• Lessons from early adopters and practical guidance for long-term technology adoption.

• Synthesizing key insights and lessons from multi-asset retrofit strategies.
• Exploring emerging technologies, policies, and financing models shaping the next decade.
• Identifying opportunities for scaling impact and advancing energy equity nationwide.
• Discussing workforce evolution and long-term skill-building for the retrofit sector.
• Charting actionable steps for stakeholders to accelerate sustainable, resilient building portfolios.