By Nathan Kingery, EPMA Committee
Our August Emerging Professionals Committee meeting was brimming with activity! We welcomed new members, made progress with event planning for autumn, and enjoyed an enlightening presentation about the City of Boston’s continued efforts to improve building efficiency. We hope to see you soon at the Annual Bike Tour in Allston/Brighton this Saturday, and stay tuned for information about the Boston Medical Center Rooftop Farm Tour in September!
This week we were joined by City of Boston Program Manager Benjamin Silverman, who shared his work on the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance, or BERDO. Enacted in 2013, BERDO requires all buildings of sufficient size to submit a report on their energy usage via their utilities information. Currently covering all residential buildings and non-residential buildings above 35,000+ sq ft, this accounts for 35% of all built space in Boston. Through a combination of education, outreach, and on-site visits, Ben and his team have managed a stunning 87.8% response rate across the city, with the goal of hitting 90% by October 1st. This program is not only helping individual building managers and owners track their energy usage, it’s also providing a previously unheard of amount of raw data to better understand our city’s building energy footprint.
Having been in effect for four years, BERDO moves into its next stage in 2019. After a building has qualified for BERDO for five years, they are required to show either a 15% reduction in total energy usage, or perform an ASHRAE Level 2(or equivalent) energy audit. A defining feature of ASHRAE level 2 energy audit is a cost-benefit analysis addressing specific energy-use reducing behaviors, helping our Boston buildings save cash by going green! This second phase is hopefully going to help the push for the Boston Climate Action Plan’s goal of 25% energy use reduction by 2020.
The next EPMA meeting will be on September 18th at 6:00pm at 50 Milk Street. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up to volunteer at Greenbuild, November 8-10!
Global Head of Sustainability, Superior Essex
Sustainability Director, Steven Winter Associates
PE | Associate, LeMessurier
Vice President, AEW’s Architecture & Engineering group
Interior Designer, Jacobs, Boston
Senior Vice President, Market Transformation and Development U.S. Green Building Council
AIA LEED AP BD+C | Senior Associate, Gensler Boston 
LEED Fellow, WELL AP | Founder and Principal, Ecoworks Studio
AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP
LEED AP BD+C | Environmental Sustainability Manager, Armstrong World Industries
Assistant Professor of Exposure Science | Director of the Healthy Buildings program
Managing Director, Harvard University Office for Sustainability
Principal & Director of Certifications and Consulting, Epsten Group, Inc.
Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, Jamestown
Director of Sustainability Programs, DASNY | LEED AP BD+C
Associate Principal, BuroHappold Engineering
Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation
Co-Founder, Facilitator at The Laurentia Project | LEED AP BD+C, LFA
Vice President of Sustainable Development, Shaw
Founder and President, Board of the Healthy Building Network
Building Technology Director, Kingspan North America
LEED® AP ID+C, BD+C, USGBC Faculty, WELL® AP, WELL Faculty and Fitwel Ambassador
Workplace Strategy Expert and Researcher, EYP
Principal, Integrated Ecostrategy
Senior Vice President, International WELL Building Institute
Principal, Bruner/Cott
Architect, Associate, and Sustainability Design Leader, Stantec Architecture and Engineering
FAIA, LEED Fellow, Long Green Specs
Products & Materials Specialist, BuildingGreen
Director of Acquisitions and Development
Director of Restorative Enterprise, Interface
Sustainability Manager, Consigli Construction Company