Advocacy Breakfast: Net-Metering and a Clean Energy Future

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


Our Advocacy Breakfast series continues this November–this time about the hot-button legislative issue of net-metering caps, and the Acadia Center's plans for increased energy efficiency and use of renewables. Let's dive in so our community can come up with the best advocacy strategy to advance this key legislation for the solar industry–a cornerstone of the green building industry!

Join us with special presenter Tyler Soleau from the Acadia Center to learn more about these important issues, and how you can join the coalition to advocate for the lifting of the net-metering caps.

Tyler Soleau will discuss his organization's Next Generation Solar Policy Framework, which the USGBC MA Board endorsed this summer. A former Beacon Hill staffer and lawyer, Mr. Soleau will share his inside views on how to best approach the legislation and lift these caps–and what other policy areas should be targeted.

Register for the breakfast here!

Greenbuild MA Chapter Meetup!

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


Tomorrow night join us at our Chapter Meetup party at the BOLD Awards! Aquicore, Building Robotics, Enlighted, and View have joined forces to establish these important awards and invite you to celebrate the winners with us at a one-of-a-kind party. Enjoy complimentary food and drinks, challenge your colleagues to bowling matches or billiards, and celebrate Building Optimizers, Leaders and Disruptors leading our industries to a brighter future. Business casual attire preferred. 

Please register here to let us know you'll be attending. 

There will also be a Chapter Group Photo at 11am on Thursday at the big USGBC sign at the Expo Show. 

Embodied Carbon and Site Selection Strategies Webinars

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


Come join us for some great webinars over the next few weeks! Webinars that you can check out include:

Embodied Carbon: The Critical Juncture Where Sustainability Meets Building Structure will be shown on 11/18/15 in Boston at 4:30. It will dive into building life cycle assessment, analysis of embodied carbon, and many things a structural engineer can do to reduce embodied energy and embodied carbon in buildings. The focus is on how structural engineers can reduce embodied cardon in buildings, but this course has valuable information for anyone involved in sustainable building.

To join this in-person webinar, register here!

Don't Build Here: Site Selection Strategies to Protect Our Wild Spaces will be shown on 11/18/15 in Worcester at 6pm. It will focus on selecting a sustainable site for building a LEED project. This course is great for anyone involved in sustainable buildings that wants to reduce the environmental impact from the site selection process for buildings. Participants will learn how to achieve the Sensitive Land Protection credit for the LEED v4 BD+C rating systems and how to utilize tools such as the NRCS web based soil surveys, FEMA Flood Map Service Center, and NatureServe.

To join this in-person webinar, register here!

 

For more webinars and events, check out our events calendar.

 

 

Upcoming Events: Link to Recent Email

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate

You can read our most recent Events Note here. This links to articles about all of our upcoming events.

Helping your work make a lasting impact:

  • Our industry is hot: we're the fastest growing segment of the construction and real estate sector. The USGBC MA Chapter is here to help you make connections, stay on top of your game, and build demand for green buildings through statewide advocacy. Check out our events and opportunities to connect as a community!

See you at Greenbuild!

Net Metering Reform Update

Quarterly Combined Committees Gathering

LEED Green Associate Exam Prep Class

Advocacy Update

Green Giants of the USGBC MA West Branch

Emerging Professionals Winter Social!

Living Building Challenge Tours in Amherst

Thanks for reading our news!

We hope to see you at an upcoming event. 
-Grey & the team at USGBC MA HQ: Celis, Maria and Allison
info@usgbcma.org
 

Getting Groovy at Greenbuild!

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


Greenbuild
is this week! Don't forget about our Chapter Meetup party on Wednesday night at the BOLD Awards – you can still register for that here. Also please let us know if you'll be attending – send an email to greylee@usgbcma.org – so we can organize more fun events with all of our members!

The BOLD Awards 2015 recognize Building Optimizers, Leaders, and Disruptors who are pushing boundaries and facilitating the adoption of new technologies in the green building industry.

Judges from USGBC, GreenBiz, Institute for Market Transformation, and other organizations will select one winner from each category. Winners will be announced on the first day of the GreenBuild International Conference & Expo at the most fun party of GreenBuild 2015!

Aquicore, Building Robotics, Enlighted, and View have joined forces to establish these important awards and invite you to celebrate the winners with us at a one-of-a-kind party. Enjoy complimentary food and drinks, challenge your colleagues to bowling matches or billiards, and celebrate Building Optimizers, Leaders and Disruptors leading our industries to a brighter future. Business casual attire preferred. 

Space for the BOLD Awards is limited. Don't wait, register now!

Ready for the Green Associate?

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


Are you serious about your dedication to sustainable building? Then you should definitely have your LEED Green Associate accreditation! And we'd be happy to help you prepare for your Green Associate Exam. In fact, we're hosting an exam preparation course which would be perfect for you next month! This is also the perfect opportunity because we will be transitioning to an updated version of LEED next year, and this will give you a better grasp of the updated certification information for the new version. 

Already a LEED Green Associate or Accredited Professional? Invite a friend or colleague who still needs their accreditation!

Register here!

 

The full day comprehensive course covers the following topics:

Chapter #1 – Introduction

This 1-hour chapter will explain the LEED Green Associate credentialing process and serve as an introduction to LEED, sustainability, the USGBC, the GBCI and the LEED rating system.

Chapter #2 – Location and Transportation / Sustainable Sites

This 1-hour chapter will focus on site issues such as connectivity, transportation, erosion, landscaping, and heat island effect.

Chapter #3 – Water Efficiency / Energy and Atmosphere

This 1-hour chapter will focus on water issues (plumbing efficiency, irrigation, process water, etc.) and energy and atmosphere issues (demand, efficiency, renewable energy, ozone depleting substances, etc.)

Chapter #4 – Materials and Resources

This 1-hour chapter will focus on procurement and waste diversion.

Chapter #5 – Indoor Environmental Quality

This 1-hour chapter will focus on indoor environmental quality issues such as indoor air quality, occupant comfort and green cleaning.

Chapter #6 – Innovation / Regional Priority / Certification Process

This 1-hour chapter will explain the LEED certification process and the Innovation and Regional Priority categories.

Chapter #7 – Exam Review

This 1-hour chapter will focus on exam format and registration and strategies to pass the exam.

Chapter #8 – Exam Review

This 1-hour chapter will focus on sample exam questions.

Meet our Members: Craig Foley

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


Craig Foley is the chief of energy solutions for RE/MAX Leading Edge, and a co-founder of inCharge Energy, LLC. Craig joined the RE/MAX Leading Edge team in January of 2012 as a Realtor® with 12 years of experience, and as a leading advocate for high-performance buildings in New England.

Craig’s combination of real estate and energy management skills give him a unique perspective about sustainable energy solutions. He is the author of the first reports on high-performance home market in Massachusetts in 2012 and 2013. He was named by RE/MAX New England as the “Realtor of the Month” for March 2013. Craig was one of five people in the United States to receive the EverGreen Award by the National Association of REALTORS® Green REsource Council in 2013 for his advocacy of the green real estate industry in 2013.

He worked with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (MA DOER) on an initiative to create a continuing education course for real estate agents called High-Performance, Green Homes in Residential Real Estate. It was approved as a CE course for Massachusetts real estate agents as RE86R14 in July, 2014. The course was also approved for CE credits in New Hampshire and Vermont. Other consulting work includes a project to implement “auto-pop” capabilities of solar PV information into the multiple listing service (MLS) with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and several projects with Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships to assist real estate market participants with energy efficiency training and resources, including the Home Energy Labelling Information Exchange (HELIX) initiative.

Craig is also a public speaker and has been engaged by organizations such as the nationally syndicated “Real Estate Today” Radio, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Northeast Energy Efficiency Summit, Affordable Comfort, Inc (ACI), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), ISO New England, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), the Appraisal Institute, TEDxSomerville, and the National Association of Realtors®. He is also a Massachusetts certified real estate instructor.

Craig serves as the Advocacy Coordinator for the MA Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, for his work in 2013 the MA Chapter awarded him its “Advocacy Volunteer of the Year”. He led a group of stakeholders to recommend green data field updates for the regions predominant multiple listing service. The new data fields were implemented in January, 2015.

 

 

ICF International's Expertise in Education

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


At our Chapter we love to celebrate and share the wonderful work our members and partners are consistently doing. It is their hard work and dedication to sustainability in what they do which makes our Chapter such an amazing group of people. Our sponsoring partner ICF International certainly exemplifies this.

ICF's mission is to maximize beneficial impact—for people, businesses, and governments—in areas that matter. As trusted partners, they advise, execute, and innovate to provide lasting solutions to their clients' and society's most challenging issues. Their approach is comprised of three components: Passion—They have a passionate commitment to their work and to helping their clients achieve their objectives, Expertise—They bring together technical expertise, including deep program and industry knowledge, with world-class analytics, and Results—They have the capability to support their clients through the entire program lifecycle, from research and analysis through implementation and improvement, thereby helping their clients achieve compelling results.

Mass Save is just one of the programs that ICF implements. Mass Save® is an initiative sponsored by Massachusetts’ gas and electric utilities and energy efficiency service providers, including Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, The Berkshire Gas Company, Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid, Liberty Utilities and Unitil. The Sponsors of Mass Save work closely with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to provide a wide range of services, incentives, trainings, and information promoting energy efficiency that help residents and businesses manage energy use and related costs.

 

 

 

 

November's New LEED Certified Buildings

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


 


 

 

The building at 1 Center Plaza in Boston was certified Gold for LEED-EB:OM v2009 on November 2nd. It is exciting to see this facility going through various improvements and embracing LEED to re-position itself as a downtown destination property. Our Chapter Sponsoring Partners Nitsch Engineering work there as well as our colleagues at BOMA and NAIOP!

 

 

 

 

 


 

In 2010, 33 Arch Street was awarded LEED Gold for EB:OM, and was recertified as LEED Gold on November 4th. The building was also designed by Chapter Sponsoring Partners Elkus|Manfredi Architects.

 


 

 

Wellington F14, a part of Atlantic Wharf in Boston was certified Gold for LEED-CI v2009 on November 4th. The Atlantic Wharf building itself was awarded LEED Platinum certification and recognized as Boston's first green skyscraper, developed by Chapter Sponsoring Partners Boston Properties.

 

 

 

 


160 Massachusetts Avenue belongs to the Berklee College of Music. The building received Gold certification for LEED-NC v2009 on November 4th and is Berklee’s first ground-up, custom-built facility which boasts 173 residence hall rooms for 369 students, 23 practice rooms, six two-story common areas, a fitness center, and a 400-seat dining hall that doubles as a performance space. 

 

Congratulations to everyone involved in these projects! If you have a project that has recently been certified or otherwise earned a distinction, please let us know so we can share the story with your peers in the industry.

Water You Doing This Friday?

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


…Joining us for our water-focused Green Breakfast, of course!

This Friday morning at 8:30 join us for a free breakfast and a discussion with Steven Grande, TOTO USA Northeast's Specification Manager and Sustainability Specialist.

During this LEED CE course we'll be diving into water efficiency and the role of sustainable plumbing. We’ll also discuss testing and standards, environmental technologies, product transparency and contributions to LEED certification.

Register here to let us know you're coming!