Our Greenbuild Mixer with JLL

By James Robe, Outreach and Communication Manager


As the sun started to go down over One Financial Center in Boston on Thursday Sept 21st, over 90 passionate professionals came out for our Greenbuild Mixer with JLL. Drinks were shared over the beautiful skyline view overlooking South Station at our venue. Seeing our community come together is always inspiring for us at USGBC MA, but we were also impressed by the amount of new faces at the event, whether students from Boston’s many universities to new individuals with growing interest and professional level expertise in green building.

Welcoming the crowd was Jennifer Christakes, Regional Manager from JLL, who spoke about the excitement of Greenbuild approaching and the importance of sustainability in our state.

Kate Bubriski, Senior Associate at Arrowstreet, commented on the sense of community within the green building industry. She thanked our Local Partners and Regional Outreach organizations, who have all been supporting Greenbuild on a local level.

Our very own Celis Brisbin, Acting Executive Director of USGBC MA, talked about the importance of standing up and taking responsibility for the health of Boston as a city, as we remain in a flood zone.

We cannot wait for Greenbuild to come, and it was apparent from the energy of participants at our networking event that our community is also ready for the conference and expo.

Thank you to our friends at JLL to thank for this wonderful networking opportunity!

Union Point Development

By USGBC MA Communications

Union Point is a 1,500-acre re-development of a former naval air station south of Boston, which grew from collaboration between three towns, a visionary developer, local conservation commissions, and the state office of economic development.

Linnean guided decision-making around integrating sustainable water, wastewater, and energy infrastructure systems, and the potential to pursue a range of certifications for additional sustainability goals. Linnean helped the project team develop a common vision guided by sustainable and regenerative development parameters, and identified innovative technological strategies for urban infrastructure.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diagram depicts preliminary monitoring plan for the new development.

EMPA September Meeting with Boston Resilient Design on 9/18/2017

By Julie Salvatoriello, Emerging Professional MA committee

The EPMA met on the third Monday of September for their monthly committee meeting. With Greenbuild just one more month away and the end of the year approaching fast, agenda items centered around networking opportunities, expo volunteer opportunities and holiday parties (and how the BMC rooftop garden tour at the Boston Medical Center had been sold out for weeks!).


Pictured Above: EPMA Committee Meeting Feature Presentation

 

The meet up landed mere days after hurricane Harvey hit the U.S. mainland. John Gravelin, Project Manager at Linnean Solutions, kicked off his presentation on “Resilient Design in Boston: Responding and Adapting to Climate Change” with an image of three new hurricanes. Katia, Irma, and Jose were all pictured together with the remnants of Harvey still visible in the satellite imaging. In his presentation, Gravelin described resilient design as preparing “buildings, cities and communities to respond to and adapt to the hazards of climate change.” The image of almost 4 hurricanes at once emphasized the real importance and necessity of intelligent resilient design.

One of the more poignant points Gravelin makes is how much of current resilient design applications that are found today are more focused on protecting buildings and infrastructure, and not, to his dismay, focused so much on the health and lives of people. Resilient design has a few uphill battles to climb, including the necessity for areas outside of flood zones to still have a resiliency plan as so many flood zones don’t take climate change into account or are based on models that just aren’t accurate enough. Even the focus on flood damage ignores that the type of disruption that causes the most deaths are heatwaves, which affects all infrastructure.


Gravelin emphasized the need for all communities to have resiliency plans and support services, and for those services to including supporting community gathering places and organizations. He emphasized that communities supporting each other have been found to be a perfect place to begin a resiliency strategy. It was a good reminder that, though we were brought to the meet up by green building, it’s people that we design and build for.

Join us next month for our October EPMA meeting on Monday, October 16th at 6pm for updates on our upcoming events, a feature presentation provided by Andrew Breiter-Wu and, of course, snacks!

 

 

Project SIM Unlocks Inertia Issues

By USGBC MA Communications


If you’ve ever tuned in to a TV talent show, you’ll be familiar with the plate spinning act. Plates balanced on poles must be kept spinning at an optimum speed and constantly adjusted so that they don’t wobble and tumble.

There is an analogy here with Great Britain’s electricity grid, albeit with a dash more technology involved! We need to monitor the stability of the grid to keep system frequency within strict limits. It’s a constant balancing act between supply and demand.

 


Real-time data – Bernie Dolan, Business Change Manager.

Project SIM takes our ability to monitor the grid to the next level. Until now, system inertia – which is a measure of how stable the grid is at any moment – could only be estimated at specific points in time. These estimates gave us a snapshot but not the full picture.

Now, for the first time, a new GridMetrix system pioneered by Reactive Technologies, can provide data 24/7, based on actual, continuous inertia measurements. This is important on two levels. Firstly, it will give us clearer insight into how inertia changes on the GB system and we’ll be able to respond more quickly.

Secondly, we currently spend £50 million a year on managing the effects of inertia. From a consumer point of view, better data means we will potentially be able to develop more cost-effective ways of managing the system.

 

Behind the Story

Project SIM has its roots in an earlier innovation project called SAMUEL. We also worked together with Reactive Technologies on this piece of work. Both projects are funded via Ofgem’s Network Innovation Allowance (NIA). The allowance is a way of encouraging advances in state-of-the-art technology that benefit customers.

The SAMUEL project focused on demonstrating a new way of broadcasting signals across the network. It uses existing infrastructure and deploys Reactive Technologies’ Grid Data Measurement System (GDMS). Instead of using the Internet, GDMS harnessed system frequency as a communication channel to send instructions to electrical equipment.

During the project, Reactive Technologies built a series of five load banks around the country. These are devices that allow us to generate a small deviation of system frequency in a controllable way.

Sensors detect these tiny changes in frequency. Encoded messages can be sent to control demand side response services. It’s a new and hi-tech way of helping us to balance the system and keep it stable. For Project SIM (SAMUEL Inertia Measurement), the same assets were used but applied in a different way – this time to analyse inertia around the clock.

 

Why inertia matters

Britain’s energy system is undergoing a transformation, with more renewable sources of energy such as solar connecting to the network. Historically, our power was supplied by large power stations that provided higher levels of inertia because they use large rotating masses in the form of turbines.

Inertia is important to the grid because it acts as a buffer to fluctuations in frequency, helping to smooth their effect.

In contrast renewable sources, such as wind farms, do not detect changes in frequency and so do not provide inertia. Solar panels don’t have any moving parts, so when the sun stops shining, they stop generating power straight away. This acts to reduce inertia on the system.

As the amount of intermittent energy such as wind and solar on the network increases, the importance of managing inertia grows too. A sudden drop in frequency causes stability problems. For example, embedded generation, connected directly to the distribution network, can disconnect from the system as a precautionary measure.

 

Benefits and looking ahead

Project SIM is important because it will help us understand and deal with inertia better. The benefits of Reactive Technologies’ GridMetrix tool and its unique ability to accurately measure grid inertia are wide-reaching.

Our control rooms will be able to make better-informed decisions thanks to access to real-time data. We will also look to build models based on this information so that we can predict inertia issues before they affect the stability of the grid. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce the overall cost of managing the system, which in turn benefits consumers.

Project SIM is just one of the innovation-led projects we’ve undertaken in 2016/17. In total, we’re investing the £6.7 million innovation allowance in a variety of studies. They range from better solar forecasting through to a reduction in our use of greenhouse gases. You can read more about the NIA projects here.

There’s also more work ahead to realise the full benefits of Project SIM. The technology has proven its ability to monitor inertia changes in real time. The next step is how to channel that data into making actual load adjustments to help balance the system. It’s not the whole solution, but it will help us keep those plates spinning successfully!

 

Codman Academy Charter Public School’s Lithgow Building Renovation, designed by MDS, is on track to achieving LEED Gold certification

By Nereyda Rodriguez, RA, LEED AP BD+C Associate, Director of Sustainable Design


Codman Academy Charter Public School provides a transformative education that prepares students for success in college, further education and beyond. Its K-8 Lower School is housed in the historic 1890 Lithgow Building, located in the heart of Codman Square. Previously a vacant retail building, MDS designed the comprehensive renovation and adaptive reuse that converted its interior into a vibrant school.

Our design approach was inspired by the theme: “A Walk in the Woods“ and draws on Trauma Informed Design principles. The design incorporates a warm palette with elements of nature to create nurturing and safe environments where young scholars will flourish. Core classrooms are supported by adjacent breakout space and tutor rooms for small group instruction. 

Good air quality, access to natural light, and acoustical privacy were key components to our design approach. Floors, ceilings and walls keep both mechanical and reverberation noise down within the teaching spaces and were constructed to meet the LEED for Schools acoustical prerequisite requirements. Mechanical spaces are highly efficient displacement systems and all new light fixtures are LED.  The school opened for the 2015-16 school year and is on track to achieving LEED Gold certification.


 

About MDS

MDS/Miller Dyer Spears is an architecture, planning and interior design firm based in Boston. Specializing in programmatically and technically complex renovation, expansion, and adaptive reuse projects, the firm works with institutions, schools, public agencies, developers, and communities to design buildings and spaces that enrich the user experience, advance mission and strengthen community. MDS is an adopter of the AIA Architecture 2030 Challenge and committed to reducing GHG emissions of the built environment and creating environments that support user health and wellness.http://www.mds-bos.com/

 

Cadmus: Rising to the Top!

By Louis Areniello

The Cadmus Group LLC (Cadmus), a leading consultancy in energy, climate, homeland security, the natural and built environments, public health, and international development, has earned a spot on the 2017 Hot Firm Award list, a Zweig Group ranking of the top 100 fastest-growing architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms in the United States. Placement on the list is based on revenue growth over the past three years. Cadmus has ranked five times since 2011.


Careers in Sustainability Panel at Northeastern

By Emily Kingston

We had a great turnout on September 19th for the Careers in Sustainability Panel at Northeastern. Co-hosted by the NU Energy Systems SocietyUSGBC MA’s Emerging Professionals, and the USGBC MA Greenbuild Volunteer committee, the event generated some great conversation from six stellar sustainability professionals.


Our panelists included: Alex Testa, Structural Engineer at Silman; Ryan Montoni, Project Manager at The Green Engineer; Blake Jackson, Sustainability Design Leader at Stantec; Lindsey Machamer, Senior Engineer at Pare Corporation; and John Gravelin, Project Manager at Linnean Solutions. The panel was expertly moderated by EPMA’s co-chair Aminah McNulty, Marketing Coordinator for Brown, Richardson + Rowe.


The panelists shared their unique experiences and varied career paths to their current position, the things they wish they knew when they started out, and tips for networking your way to your dream job. 

Join us for more events like this one including: How to Network at Greenbuild coming up on October 26th at Boston University and consider registering today as a volunteer at Greenbuild to take advantage of some incredible sustainability career opportunities.

 

Boston Redevelopment Authority Votes to Approve 321 Harrison Development

By USGBC MA Communications

Nordblom Company and Rubenstein Partners to Build 235,000 SF

Class A Office Property on Prime Site in Boston’s South End

September 16, 2016 – Boston – Nordblom Company and Rubenstein Partners, L.P. are proceeding with development plans for 321 Harrison, an eight-story, approximately 230,000-square-foot, Class A office property, following last night’s vote by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) approving the project.   Affiliates of Rubenstein and Nordblom acquired the 321 Harrison development site, and the adjacent existing office building at 1000 Washington Street, for $75 million in January 2015.

“We’re pleased to receive BRA approval for this exciting project,” said Ogden Hunnewell, Executive Vice President and Partner of Nordblom Company.  “This is an opportunity to build a great building that will continue the strong momentum we are seeing in this up-and-coming mixed use area of Boston, adding high quality space into a submarket with limited supply.”

“321 Harrison is positioned in the midst of a transforming urban neighborhood that we believe is poised for further growth,” noted Deke Schultze, Senior Vice President of Rubenstein Partners, L.P., and director of the New England region.  “We plan to create headquarters-quality corporate office space in this outstanding location and tap into the increased demand we are seeing here.”

The Rubenstein/Nordblom partnership was particularly drawn to the site’s strategic location in a rapidly improving section of the downtown South End/Back Bay office submarket.  321 Harrison and 1000 Washington, which together would comprise 466,000 square feet and are planned to be connected at the lobby level under the approved development plan, are centrally located near a wide array of amenities, including abundant retail and dining opportunities.  Ease of access is provided by entrance ramps to the Massachusetts Turnpike, Southeast Expressway and I-93 just a short distance away.  Logan International Airport is a seven-minute drive from the site, which is also served by the MBTA’s Silver Line and offers convenient shuttle service to South Station.

 

New System Operator Incentives

By USGBC MA Communications

 

New technologies and models of power generation and distribution promise great benefits for consumers and society. As GB’s electricity system operator (ESO), National Grid is keen to hear from customers and bill-payers about the best way to make sure that we deliver on our commitments.

Audrey Ramsay, Future Operability and Incentives Manager, Commercial, Electricity.


Ofgem is the regulator for the ESO and sets us incentives that mimic the forces of a competitive market. This helps to make us more efficient and innovative, resulting in better standards of service for customers and ultimately bill payers.

We’re due a new regulatory and incentives framework from April 2018 that will run to 2021.

Last July, Ofgem set out its thoughts on this new framework and asked for feedback. We held three ‘rapid development’ workshops with subject matter experts (SMEs) from around National Grid to frame our proposals to Ofgem for its consultation.

We’ve published these proposals as 12 outline work packages, with associated incentives. Our purpose in doing this is to show how we could meet the requirements of our enhanced System Operator role by carrying out extra incentivised activities alongside our core functions as ESO.

We’re keen to hear what our customers and bill-payers think of them. What they tell us will inform our submission to Ofgem during its statutory consultation period this autumn. Ofgem will then publish its proposed changes to the ESO licence by the end of 2017.

As Ofgem set out in its working paper, the 2018-21 period could be a time to try new, innovative approaches to regulation that could potentially form part of a more enduring regime after 2021.

 

Students and Emerging Professionals: It's time for Greenbuild!

By Emily Kingston

Are you….

  • Passionate about green buildings?
  • Interested in pursuing a career in a green building related field?
  • Looking to network with the best and brightest in the green building industry?
  • A full-time student or emerging professional age 25 or under?

Then join your peers and volunteer at Greenbuild (the largest green building conference in the world) in Boston this November 8-9, 2017! Volunteer responsibilities include administrative people management, recycling logistics, and other supportive roles. By clocking in an 8-hour volunteer shift, volunteers will be able to

  • Receive a FREE 3-day pass
  • Network with green building leaders and professionals
  • Connect with students and emerging professionals across the nation
  • Attend Greenbuild sessions featuring renowned speakers with a passion for sustainability
  • See the latest and greatest products and services in the Expo hall

Can’t wait till November and want to hang out with green building enthusiasts now? Then join us at one of our upcoming events!

9/21/17 – September Greenbuild Mixer with JLL

9/29/17 – Northeastern’s Energy Conference

10/10/17 – Greenbuild Volunteer Meeting

10/16/17 – Emerging Professionals of Massachusetts Monthly Meeting

10/26/17 – How to Network at Greenbuild and Build Your Career in Sustainability