passivhausMAINE [phME] is to be recognised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) as an International Centre of Excellence on High Performance Buildings (ICE-HPB), through their Committees on Sustainable Energy and Housing and Land Management and the Joint Task Force on Energy Efficiency Standards in Buildings. passivhausMAINE’s Executive Director, Naomi C. O. Beal, will attend a signing ceremony on November 3, in conjunction with COP26 in Glasgow.
phME’s research initiative, retrofitMAINE [rfME] has come to the attention of Scott Foster, the Director of the Sustainable Energy Division. rfME is focused on deep energy retrofits of Maine’s common building typologies, like single family homes, duplexes and triple deckers, and extending to the problem of manufactured housing like mobile homes. In an era of inequity, required carbon reductions and extreme weather where building resilience is increasingly important, solutions must be developed. Maine’s smaller, stick-built buildings are similar to structures across New England, Canada, northern Scandinavia and Russia. The UNECE recognises the global implications of retrofit research in Maine.
The UNECE was set up in 1947 by ECOSOC. It is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations. UNECE’s major aim is to promote pan-European economic integration. UNECE includes fifty-six member states in Europe, North America and Asia. However, all interested United Nations member states may participate in the work of UNECE. More than 70 international professional organizations and other non-governmental organizations take part in UNECE activities.
More information about the Sustainable Energy Committee and the Housing and Land Management Committee can be found here: https://unece.org/sustainable-energy/committee-sustainable-energy and https://unece.org/housing.
phME Executive Director Naomi Beal.