Appreciating Members!
By Grey Lee
We had a great event on Tuesday night. The photos are forthcoming (thanks Carlos!!!)
And the winners of our various Member Awards were:
We had a great event on Tuesday night. The photos are forthcoming (thanks Carlos!!!)
And the winners of our various Member Awards were:
Last night we hosted a great program on the intricacies and details of LEEDv4 – the latest version of LEED which will be operational in June 2013 (we expect). Currently, the process to approve the new version is still open to comments (until 12/10/12) from any relevant party – such as any member of the MA Green Building Council or LEED professional in general. Here's a link to more info, and the slides from the presentation, on our site: http://www.usgbcma.org/LEED
We went through a great slideshow describing how the various credits in each subsection of LEED have morphed into the new line-up. Some have disappeared, others are brand new. He described how the USGBC is trying to balance market adoption (make the system easy) with environmental impact (really make a difference for the planet), and how this version is a little more aggressive on sustainability.
The market has taken up LEED and now we can use it to drive real change in environmental impact. Of course, the entire industries that have grown up around LEED are a little bent out of shape with the change of the status quo – and resistance is significant. There are also the complicated logistics of getting the whole system finished in the next six months! That's going to be tricky, eh?
Chris asked us to please submit comments – especially if you think any of the new changes are good – so that the USGBC has the valuable feedback it needs to continue the evolution of LEED so that it can be the best tool we have to change the real estate industry. Here's a link to USGBC's comment site: https://new.usgbc.org/leed/v4
It was a great evening with about 30 chapter members in the audience. A few mentioned to me that they are interested in getting more involved! That is great!
Kudos to Bob Kohn, Chair of the Education Committee, for organizing the program, and to Andrea Love (on our board) for providing the space and facility logistics at Payette (290 Congress St – a LEED Platinum Building!) Thanks to Chris Schaffner for providing his expertise and facilitation skill. I am sure we can look forward to more valuable programs in the future. Thanks again, everyone!
-Grey
Key Details:
Certified LEED AP ID+C, BD+C
Director of Sustainability at StructureTone, Inc.
Market sector: Construction or Trades
Contact information:
jennifer.taranto@structuretone.com
Phone: 617.348.2800
Twitter: @BeantownGurl
Why are you a member of the chapter? For me, being a member of the chapter is a great meld of professional and personal environmental stewardship. Not only does it give me the chance to be with like-minded people, but it provides me with volunteer opportunities to make change, both locally or at the state level. It's important to me to be able to give back to the community and work to environmentally improve our state.
If I wanted to find you on a Saturday afternoon, where would you be? During football season I can be found with my fellow North Carolina State University alumni watching the game at the local bar. Go Wolfpack!
We are looking to highlight our diverse and talented members. If you would like to be a future member profie, use the Contact Us form.
Many of us are here for Chapter Day, and several will be arriving over the course of the next few hours. Everyone is getting pumped up. Be sure to keep in touch over Twitter using hashtag #usgbcma with #greenbuild so we can share with each other and those back home.
Not sure what sessions to go to? Check out our post from last week showcasing MA members giving presentations. Go and support them.
See you at the convention!
Next week is Boston's annual construction industry conference, ArchitectureBoston Expo (formerly BuildBoston) and it seems like there are going to be a whole slew of us USGBCMAers there. Even if you weren't planning on attending the full conference, there will be events of special interest to us. Question is, what are they and how do we find each other?
On Wednesday night in nearby Downtown Crossing is the Fall 2012 collaborative Young Professional Networking Event, which the EPMA are sponsors of. Go to http://ypnefall12.eventbrite.com/ for all the details.
On Thursday night there are two special events. One is Meet Massachusetts from 6pm-10pm, which the Chapter is a sponsor of. Even if you aren't going to the conference, you can still attend by calling 508.743.5864 and requesting to register for the Meet Massachusetts event for only $10. You can also get a free pass to the exhibit hall if you ask nicely! The other event, unfortunately at the same time (but we know you like to hop between parties), is the MA CHPS 10th Anniversary Celebration. Many of your colleagues will be honored for their efforts to make Massachusetts Public Schools the greenest they can be. Congratulate them enthusiastically.
During the conference we have several members presenting. If you still aren't sure what sessions to attend, see our post yesterday highlighting those people and the sessions they are running. Be sure to go up afterwards to introduce yourself as a fellow member.
Lastly, use the power of social media! If you have a Twitter account, use the hash tag #usgbcma to tell us what you are up to and follow your fellow member attendees. Look for (and instigate) impromptu meetups!
Every year, the ArchitectureBoston Expo/ABX (formerly Build Boston) and Greenbuild are held in November. Every other year, they unfortunately happen on the same week. This is one of those years. Luckily, we can celebrate USGBC MA Members presenting at both!
ArchitectureBoston Expo
Ben Davveny
Andrea Love
Michael Schofield
Carolyn Sarno
Greenbuild
Meredith Elbaum
Chris Schaffner
Norris Strawbridge
Congratulations and break a leg, folks. Details after the jump.
Andrea Love will be presenting B29 Reduction by Ventilation on Thursday from 10:30-12:00 and C50 Thermal Performance of Facades on Friday from 1:00-2:30. There are posts about the presentations at http://www.payette.com/post/1215120-reduction-by-ventilation and http://www.payette.com/post/1215125-thermal-performance-of-facades. You can also watch @payettepeople for her occasional tweets.
Meredith Elbaum is presenting H03 – A Campus Wide Approach: Implementing LEED Master Site on Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30.
Chris Schaffner will be part of the LEED V4: technical Improvements sessions panels, and also at the Knowledge Bar on Wednesday from 1:30-2:00 to help folks with KB01 – In With the New: The Logistics of LEED v4. Watch @AGreenEngineer to see what he's up to.
Norris Strawbridge is presenting C06 – Taking on High Performance Buildings:What Owners Should Know from 4:30 to 5:30 on Wednesday.
Welcome to the USGBC Massachusetts blog. Watch this space for member profiles, information about chapter activites, and ways to be involved in the chapter. We will also showcase what members are doing outside of the chapter.
If you are a member and would like to be profiled or to contribute in any way, please use the contact us page.
Thank you-
The Membership Committee
Notifications