Our cities are getting hotter not only due to global climate change, but also because of local development resulting in a loss of vegetation and tree canopy, increases in impervious and darker surfaces, and excess heat from buildings and vehicles. This extreme heat disproportionately increases the health and economic burdens for lower income populations and neighborhoods People with fewer financial resources are less likely to have access to adequate cooling, more likely to struggle to pay for air conditioning and are also more prone to not have health insurance. Lower income people are also more likely to be renters and, therefore, have very limited control over the efficiency and effectiveness of their home cooling systems. In this plenary, Ms. Gilbert will discuss these increasing health and economic impacts to more vulnerable populations and share Miami-Dade County and other cities’ solutions for addressing them.
This course is approved for .5 General GBCI CE hour and for .5 AIA LU.
Learning Objectives:
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Identify the causes of increasing extreme heat in our cities.
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Discuss the health and economic burdens associated with increasing extreme heat.
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Explain the built environment solutions for mitigating urban heat islands.
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Discuss the Built environment solutions for reducing utility burdens for vulnerable populations.
10:40 am-11:55 am PST
Cooling Off in a Hotter World
Heat waves have been top of mind for many in 2022, particularly on the West Coast where many communities experienced heat, drought, and wildfire threat throughout the summer. This keynote and panel will address the many ways that extreme heat affect human health -- both in isolation and in concert with other climatic events like drought and wildfire. Presenters will share research and tools that will help attendees investigate site-level vulnerability to heat -- both today and in the future. It will provide tools for linking environmental exposure to heat (such as the urban heat island effect) with particular groups of occupants and neighbors who require extra protection during heat events (such as children, the elderly, and low-income families). Finally, practitioners will share case studies of projects that were designed to reduce community exposure to extreme heat -- both on site and in the surrounding neighborhood.
This course is approved for 1.5 General GBCI CE hour and 1.5 AIA LU/HSW.
Learning Objectives:
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Use the Healthy Places Index: Extreme Heat Edition to inform aspects of building design such as vegetation, incorporation of cooling centers, and shade.
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List reasons for updated weather file protocols (and the challenges inherent in switching to newer data) and identify the types of weather files that are currently available for building performance simulation, and their recommended use cases.
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Discuss research and tools that will investigate site-level vulnerability to heat and the importance of linking environmental exposure to heat with particular groups.
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Identify urban scale responses to increased heat that improves equity and community wellbeing.
PanelistS
11:55 am-12:25 Pm PST
Breakout Session
This will be an engaging continuation of the conversation about Cooling Off in a Hotter World. This will be part of the continuing education credit and will need to be attended for credit.
Karema Seliem
CO-HOST
LEED Specialist, Sustainable Sites & Integrative Process, USGBC
12:25 pm-12:35 pm PST
Wellness break
This will be a short break from the program.

12:35 pm-1:50 pm PST
Achieving Optimal Psychological Well-being in the Workplace
As we emerge from a global pandemic, the future of the workplace has a new focus on occupant mental health and well-being. What strategies are currently being used to achieve optimal psychological well-being in the workplace? We will discuss how strategies such as biophilic design, walkability, transparency of information, and the ‘Work from Anywhere’ model are impacting our mental health and changing how the modern workplace will function in the near future.
In this session, we will dig into not only what makes a healthy workspace for our mental well-being, but also what our future workplaces could look like.
This course is approved for 1.5 General GBCI CE hour and 1.5 AIA LU/HSW.
Learning Objectives:
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Define mental health and the occupant’s role in supporting psychological well-being within the workplace.
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Explain how to apply biophilia to workplace design to support the needs of the occupants.
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Discuss how the ‘Work from Anywhere’ model is changing workplace dynamics and how it is affecting our mental health and productivity.
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Discuss how to design for neurodiversity to enhance the experience of all workplace occupants.
Panelists
1:50 Pm-2:20 pm PST
Breakout Session
2:20 pm-2:45 pm PSt - closing Keynote
Biophilia, Health, and the Future of Workplaces
The future of workplaces has been transformed by the pandemic, with workforces around the world driven to expect hybrid schedules and healthy places to work. The strength of home offices to shorten commute times and provide less disruptive spaces for concentrated tasks will need to be matched with the strength of organizational offices that provide healthy and interactive spaces for collaborative tasks and team building. Biophilia is a critical component of the healthy home and organizational office, with its access to views, circadian light, outdoor work settings, indoor and outdoor landscapes, and more natural visual, acoustic and environmental settings. This presentation will explore the relationship of biophilia, health and the future of workplace design.
This course is approved for .5 General GBCI CE hour and for .5 AIA LU.
Learning Objectives:
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Discuss changes in workplace design and management given tomorrow's hybrid work styles between concentrated and collaborative tasks.
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Understand the attributes of healthy work environments, at home and in the office.
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Quantify the benefits of biophilia for improving health and well-being.
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Consider the Surgeon General's 'Five Essentials for Workplaces as Engines of Wellbeing.'