We gathered with WS Development at 111 Harbor Way to celebrate an impressive array of projects, breaking records for award submissions and attendance. The annual awards program and celebration is an important marker of progress towards sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operation of the built environment.

In this Tools Overview session by Stephanie Carlisle, a Senior Researcher at the Carbon Leadership Forum, we discussed the wide breadth of available tools and how to select an appropriate tool for your project. We dug a bit into background data, and showed 3 or 4 tools in more depth with time for questions and discussion.

On Tuesday June 13th, the 2023 BE+ Building Tech Forum brought together over 160 attendees and 27 presenters in an exciting night, at The Foundry in Cambridge, highlighting the cutting-edge products and ideas of the green building industry. Lively presentations covered technology, materials, and services that will significantly cut back on carbon emissions in innovative ways, altering the future industry standards.

This year was such a special Scavenger Hunt year because of YOU. We were blown away by the impact you all made with the 2023 mission submissions. It was heartwarming to see the good you all did for your community. This ranged from park cleanups and clothing donations to food pantry volunteering and so much more! Of the 37 participating teams, 10 teams completed all of the 14 daily missions, but three teams stood out above the rest with exemplary submissions.

In this embodied carbon case studies session by Aurora Jensen, a Senior Technical Specialist and the Embodied Carbon Lead at Brightworks Sustainability, we walked through key priorities and examples of how to put life cycle assessments (LCAs) into practice during design and procurement. These diverse case studies presented offer insight into how LCA can be leveraged for decision making towards deep carbon reduction.

On August 9th we came together at Portico Brewing’s Taproom to raise a glass to this incredible local green building community! We launched this first-ever Summer Shindig as a fun way to meet and greet the leaders, aspiring leaders, and emerging professionals driving the sustainability of the built environment. We had a blast while celebrating green building progress, learning more about our 6 thriving topic communities, and experiencing the exciting new development of Boynton Yards.

On the Morning of December 6th, the Women in Green community came together for their largest gathering celebrating women reimagining and reshaping our world. This year’s theme, five generations, each bringing a distinct and valuable contribution to the work environment and sustainability field, was discussed over breakfast. A panel discussion spotlighted six women, spanning emerging professionals to established industry leaders.

On August 10th, we gathered at Payette’s offices to hear from industry leaders and change-makers on how they are disrupting business-as-usual with new approaches to equity, diversity, and inclusion. This year’s topic, Green Buildings for All, reinforced that true sustainability requires a triple-bottom line of meeting the social, economic, and environmental needs of current and future generations.

We joined together to acknowledge organizations in our community who have taken the next step towards transparency in becoming a socially equitable and diverse business. This exciting opportunity let us connect and celebrate with those raising the bar of social justice in their workplaces. This year we were hosted by Humanscale, a Just and Living Product Challenge certified organization!

This year, we toured from Cambridge to Boston Seaport, following the Green Line Extension community path along with projects from local architecture and engineering firms in their efforts in creating a more sustainable built environment. Our starting point was Jerry’s Pond at Alewife Station. We stopped at Somerville Junction Park, Boynton Yards, King Open School, Portico Brewing, Cambridge Crossing, Hub on Causeway, Winthrop Center, and Harbor Way. We ended at Cisco Brewers where participants enjoyed complimentary food and drinks!