The green building community will gather at the Javits Center in New York City October 20–23 for the 2026 Greenbuild International Conference + Expo.

This year, PAE’s Stephen Lothrop, Rachel Wrublik, and Karina Hershberg will contribute to sessions that move beyond broad sustainability goals and into the decisions, data, and tools shaping real projects. Alongside collaborators from across the industry, they’ll share new research, lessons from practice, and ideas teams can put to work.

If you’re building your Greenbuild agenda, here’s where to find us.

Stop Flattening Intelligence: The Financial Case for the Self-Describing Building
Stephen Lothrop, Electrical Engineer
Wednesday, October 21 | 10:30–11:30 a.m. ET

High-performance buildings contain a wealth of information. Too often, that intelligence is reduced to static files at handover, making it difficult for owners and operators to use.

Stephen, alongside experts from NIST and ONUMA, Inc., will explore how structured building data can remain useful throughout operations. Using examples from the PAE Living Building, the team will show how digital models can support continuous performance measurement, carbon accounting, grid interaction, fault detection, and future AI applications.

The session makes the financial and operational case for treating building data as a long-term asset rather than a final deliverable.

Speakers: Stephen Lothrop, Parastoo Delgoshaei, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Kimon Onuma, FAIA, Founder and President, ONUMA, Inc.

Whole Life Carbon Gets Mechanical: MEP 2040 Pilot Results
Rachel Wrublik, Associate
Thursday, October 22 | 2:30–3:30 p.m. ET

Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems can represent a significant share of a building’s carbon impact, but they are frequently simplified or excluded from whole-building life-cycle assessments.

Rachel Wrublik and Kayleigh Houde will share findings from the MEP 2040 Whole Life Carbon Pilot, which brought together 27 engineering firms to study 20 real-world projects using a shared methodology. They’ll examine system-level impacts, differences among building types, and the relationships among embodied, operational, refrigerant, and replacement emissions.

The session will also address the gaps uncovered by the study, including the need for better product data, more capable tools, and clearer processes for incorporating MEP systems into whole-life carbon decisions.

Speakers: Rachel Wrublik and Kayleigh Houde, Principal, Buro Happold.

The Future Is Watching: Designing for Grid-Flexible, High-Performance Buildings
Karina Hershberg, Associate Principal
Friday, October 23 | 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET

Using less energy remains important. As the grid changes, when and how buildings use energy matters, too.

Karina Hershberg and her fellow panelists will explore how passive design, high-efficiency systems, microgrids, and smarter controls can help buildings reduce peak demand and respond to changing grid conditions. Drawing on new construction and retrofit examples, including lessons from the PAE Living Building, the team will connect proven design fundamentals with emerging approaches to building controls and grid interaction.

Attendees will leave with practical strategies for supporting long-term performance, resilience, occupant comfort, and a cleaner energy system.

Speakers: Karina Hershberg; Clark Brockman, Founder-Principal, Brockman Climate Strategies LLC; Josh Cabot, Senior Associate, SERA Architects; and Rick Justis, Executive Director, Coalition for Smarter Buildings.

Join the Conversation

We’re looking forward to learning from our peers, exchanging ideas, and continuing these conversations beyond the session rooms.

Explore the Greenbuild 2026 agenda, add these sessions to your schedule, and come say hello in New York.