During NESEA's BuildingEnergy Conference in March Mass. governor Deval Patrick announced the establishment of a task force on zero net energy buildings. Chosen specifically for their leadership and expertise in the energy and building industries, the members of this task force are an elite group who share both the interest and experience in developing structures which create as much energy as they use. Not coincidentally, the task force happens to include a number of speakers (who themselves are NESEA members) slated to appear at BuildingEnergy09. In all, 20 out of the 63 members of the elite Zero Net Energy Task Force are speakers at the 2009 Building Energy Conference and Trade Show, while the companies of two more members are sponsors of the event.
BE09 speakers are a diverse group of government professionals, academics, architects, builders, engineers, developers, and energy experts. Foremost, Ian Bowles, secretary of the Mass. executive office of energy and environmental affairs and chair of the Zero Net Energy Buildings Task Force, will be speaking at BuildingEnergy09 during a session on Wednesday, March 11, entitled, "Accelerating Clean Energy Across the Northeast." In addition, NESEA's executive director, David Barclay, a member of the Task Force, will address the plenary on the same day.
Others involved with NESEA and BuildingEnergy09 who are on the Task Force include: John Abrams, president, South Mountain Company (Lifetime NESEA member); Wagdy Anis, AIA, principal, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.; Barbra Batshalom, LEEP AP, executive director, Green Roundtable; Nolan Browne, managing director, MIT - Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems; Heather Clark, director of green building, Winn Companies (NESEA member); Bruce Coldham, AIA, partner, Coldham & Hartman Architects (NESEA member); Penni Conner, VP of customer care, NSTAR; Martine Dion, senior associate, Symmes, Maini + McKee; Lucy Edmondson, MA DEP, deputy commissioner for policy; Paul Eldrenkamp, owner, Byggmeister Inc. (Lifetime NESEA member); Philip Giudice, commissioner, Mass. Department of Energy Resources (BE09 Sponsor); Cynthia Greene, EPA, Energy Team Leader; Thomas May, CEO, NSTAR (BE09 Sponsor); Anne Perkins, director, home ownership program, Rural Development, Inc. (NESEA member); Bill Reed, AIA, LEED AP, president, Integrative Design Collaborative and Regenesis; Marc Rosenbaum, PE, LEED AP, principal, Energysmiths, New Hampshire (Lifetime NESEA member); Carolyn Sarno, senior program manager, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships; Chris Schaffner, principal, The Green Engineer, LLP (NESEA member); William Stillinger, Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics (Lifetime NESEA member); and Ellen Watts, principal, Architerra, Inc.
"Both the announcement of the Task Force at our Building Energy Conference in 2008 and being selected as a member is truly an honor for NESEA as an organization and for me as its executive director," said David Barclay. "Having 20 speakers at BE09 that were also selected to serve on the Task Force is proof that the conference has been a leader in educating professionals in the realm of smart building technology. The state clearly respects these individuals to help Mass. move forward with reducing buildings' energy consumption and promoting the use of renewable energy."

The Task Force is comprised of three working groups; Commercial Sector, Residential Sector, and Public Sector. They are scheduled to finalize their recommendations early in 2009 and will be presented at NESEA's Building Energy Conference and Trade Show in March 2009.