Neil deGrasse Tyson Announced as Greenbuild Closing Plenary Speaker

By Rebecca Collins

 


We are extremely excited to announce that acclaimed astrophysicist and cosmologist Neil deGrasse Tyson will be the Closing Plenary speaker for Greenbuild 2017 in Boston! 

While most popularly known as the host of the television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and the podcast/television series StarTalk, Tyson is an accomplished scientist whose professional research interests are broad, but include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of our Milky Way. He was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in public schools through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia. He is the recipient of 19 honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award given by NASA to a non-government citizen. Tyson is also the fifth head of the world-renowned Hayden Planetarium in New York City and the first occupant of its Frederick P. Rose Directorship and he is a research associate of the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.

The Closing Plenary will take place 11:00am – 12:30pm on Friday, Nov. 10, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The Closing Plenary is included in the 3-day and 4-day conference passes and the Friday day pass. To learn more and register for Greenbuild, visit greenbuildexpo.com

There are lots of exciting Greenbuild announcements being made. In case you missed it, The Revivalists were announced last week as the Greenbuild Celebration performers. Stay tuned for the announcement of the Opening Plenary speaker! And be sure to come to our Greenbuild Mixer with JLL on September 21 for networking and exclusive Greenbuild updates!

QEPrize Recognises ‘tiny’ Innovation

By USGBC MA Communications

A team of four people recently received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) from Princess Anne – the third time the prize has been awarded since 2013. Between them, the team has embarked on a remarkable voyage of discovery, innovation and engineering. This journey has led to almost every one of us having a high quality camera in our pocket, in the form of a mobile phone.

Did you know the first digital image was taken way back in 1973? The ‘camera’ was about the size of a projector. The team of four that created it had invented the first working digital image sensor.

Huge steps forward

Over subsequent years they worked on improving and reducing the size of the image sensors. It is a technology that has revolutionised modern digital photography, transformed medical treatments, enhanced personal communication and expanded our knowledge of the universe.

So, who were the lucky winners of the £1 million QEPrize? The team was made up of Eric Fossum, George Smith, Nobukazu Teranishi and Michael Tompsett; representing a truly global effort, covering the UK, USA and Japan. Diversity of thought and experience was a vital part of developing this technology.

Proud of engineering

David Wright, Director, Electricity Transmission Owner (ETO) and Chief Electricity Engineer, who attended the QEPrize awards on behalf of National Grid, said: “Awards for achievements like this make me really proud to be an engineer. Engineering done well is about changing people’s lives and making the solutions they may not even know they need possible.

“In London we are currently commissioning 32km of power tunnels up to 60 metres below the surface and big enough to drive a van through. This new infrastructure will support the electricity needs of the capital and help support economic growth in the region. This is a £1 billion project, which is coming in on time and on budget.

“In the US, we recently completed the $110 million sea2shore project, connecting the nation’s first offshore wind farm to the grid. This new interconnector is a great example of the future energy solutions we’re putting in place; delivering clean, renewable energy to our customers in Rhode Island.”

National Grid is one of the 12 founding members of the QEPrize, which is the ‘Nobel Prize’ for engineering. Awarded once every two years it celebrates ground-breaking innovation in engineering. The prize rewards an individual or team whose work has had a major impact on humanity.

 

The Science of Lab Design

By Bob Laurence, Manager of Energy Efficiency, Eversource


Northeastern University’s new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex (ISEC) features 234,000 square feet of space that houses a vibrant interdisciplinary research community. The six-story complex is mixed with labs and classrooms organized around one central atrium.

It’s also a really cool building. And, you don’t need a microscope to see the state-of-the-art design and energy-efficient technologies. 

The university worked collaboratively with Eversource and the design team to identify energy-saving measures and technical expertise to jump start the project. Then, they explored financial resources available through the Mass Save program. Armed with energy-efficient recommendations, architecture firm Payette, engineering firm Arup, and general contractor Suffolk Construction then worked together to bring this stunning building to life.

In fact, ISEC is designed to use 75 percent less energy than a typical intensive research building. Let’s uncover the science of this innovative lab design and its technologies.


• Climate responsive building envelope – The complex is equipped with triple-glazed windows, which reduce glass condensation and prevent heat loss. ISEC also features sun-shading aluminum “fins” to maximize daylight penetration while minimizing heat gain. This basically means a huge comfort boost for students and faculty inside the building—while the university saves on energy costs.

• Variable Air Volume (VAV) fume hoods – While a fume hood may be the most important safety feature in a lab, it’s also a big energy user. Labs use tremendous volumes of exhaust to flush out potentially hazardous fumes. Northeastern added high-performance VAV hoods, which exhaust the amount of air required to maintain a safe velocity setpoint. They also reduce the hood’s supply fan speed and maintain the desired temperature and humidity. Simply put, VAVs maximize safety while minimizing energy consumption.

• Enhanced airside systems – Many labs have a dedicated HVAC system, which can often be expensive to operate. ISEC boasts a cascade system that recovers conditioned air from its offices and atrium, then transfers the air to the labs to save energy and costs. In fact, an approximate 50 percent reduction in energy use over baseline building standards is expected, thanks to this highefficiency cascade approach to recirculating warm and cooled air.  


• Occupancy-based airflow controls – Many older labs with low fume-hood counts operate at 10 air changes per hour (ACH) or above, 24 hours a day. Northeastern’s new VAV fume hoods and added airflow controls will reduce its lab ventilation rates from 6 ACH to 4 ACH whenever labs and equipment room spaces are detected to be unoccupied.  

As an added bonus, ISEC is also on track for LEED Gold Certification. Visit www.northeastern.edu/isec to learn more about the building.  

To learn more about Eversource’s energy efficiency programs and green building design solutions, contact Bob Laurence via email Robert.Laurence@eversource.com, or visit www.eversource.com.  

 

Don't miss out on Greenbuild Networking Night!

By James Robe, Outreach and Communication Manager


We're just a month away from our next Greenbuild Networking Night as part of our Road to Greenbuild. Catch up with old friends, exchange new business cards, and get insider updates about Greenbuild before anyone else. To register for the event, click here.

Our last Greenbuild Networking Night was attended by over 100 members and green building enthusiasts who enjoyed a night of food and drinks. It was great to have our engaging community together in one place again to share our excitement about Greenbuild. Highlights of our past events include Judy Nitsch, Chair of the Host Committee and Founder of Nitsch Engineering, sharing some updates on the Greenbuild committees, and exclusive info from our own Emily Kingston!

 

Event Schedule

5:30-6:00: Networking and drinks

6:00-6:30: Opening remarks, state of “The Road to Greenbuild,” and words from our sponsors.

6:30-8:00: Networking

 

If you become a USGBC MA member, you can get a free ticket to this event. Becoming a member also gives you discounts on our other events. If you're a student, emerging professional, or government official, you can receive a discount for membership to the Chapter. Please email james@usgbcma.org for further details, and register for the event here.

Greetings from our new Outreach and Communication Manager

By James Robe, Outreach and Communication Manager


I am incredibly happy and thankful to have accepted the position of Communication and Outreach Manager for USGBC MA. I first became interested in communication related to climate change and environmental science in college, where I lead all website development for Spire: The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability. Since then, I have made it my personal goal to get involved in communication and education related to science and climate change, making USGBC MA an ideal fit to pursue this mission.

Before joining the team I have worked as a graphic designer at L.L.Bean, and in product management at the strategic marketing company West Cary Group. I obtained my bachelor’s degree at the University of Maine in Mass Communication, Graphic Design, and New Media, with a focus on science communication. I am excited to use my expertise in strategic communication, analytics, and graphic design to further the mission of USGBC MA. As Green-build 2017 approaches, I hope to expand and redesign aspects of our media presence to accommodate the extra website traffic and other needs associated with the event.

If anyone would like to contact me with any questions or just for a greeting, please reach out to james@usgbcma.org.

Sincerely,

James Robe

Outreach and Communication Manager for USGBC MA

August EPMA meeting recap – BERDO with Benjamin Silverman

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!

 

Sanctuary Park in Atlanta Features First Two Buildings in Georgia to Pursue LEED Recertification through the Arc Performance Platform

By USGBC MA Communications

Rubenstein Partners, L.P., a vertically-integrated real estate investment manager focused on value-added office property opportunities, is announcing that Lake View II and The Falls in Sanctuary Park, a 1.6 million-square-foot office park complex in the North Fulton submarket of Atlanta, have achieved LEED recertification through Arc, arcskoru.com, the new performance platform launched by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) in 2016.

Arc uses real-time data to measure sustainability performance in order to facilitate meaningful change and create greener, healthier spaces. Arc’s data-centric approach connects actions and benchmarks performance against itself and projects around it. The new sustainability platform generates a performance score by tracking building activity across five categories including energy, water, waste, transportation and human experience.

Rubenstein Partners, along with a minority equity partner, acquired Sanctuary Park in late 2016. The complex is considered the premier Class-A office park in the high-growth North Fulton submarket and comprised of nine mid-rise buildings within a 152-acre, master-planned environment. The property also offers three zoned development sites that could accommodate an additional 750,000 square feet of build-to-suit office space.

“Rubenstein Partners is thrilled to announce that Sanctuary Park features the first two commercial buildings in Georgia obtaining this highly sought-after LEED recertification,” said Taylor Smith, Regional Director of Southeast for Rubenstein Partners. “Since purchasing the property, we have implemented a number of enhancements that has solidified Sanctuary Park’s standing as the preeminent destination for tenants in the North Fulton market. But earning the certification and benchmarking in Arc has helped our facility serve as a model for other buildings throughout Atlanta and the state to reduce their resource energy usage.”

Charlie Cichetti, CEO and Co-Founder of Sustainable Investment Group (SIG), who served as a sustainability consultant for Rubenstein Partners, adds, “Both the Lake View II and Falls buildings achieved high performing scores during their LEED recertification process, which visibly demonstrates the Rubenstein Partners team’s leadership and commitment to maintaining a sustainable commercial facility.”

“Rubenstein Partners has shown tremendous green building leadership through the use of Arc,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, CEO and president, U.S. Green Building Council and GBCI. “Through Arc, Rubenstein is making data-driven decisions about the health of their building and the happiness of their occupants, while advancing their sustainability efforts.”

Rubenstein has demonstrated a history of proactively pursuing energy efficiency and green initiatives. In 2003, Rubenstein’s predecessor entity, based in Philadelphia, obtained certification for the first Energy Start commercial offices in Philadelphia.

About Sanctuary Park

The Sanctuary Park nine-building complex enjoys a secure and private park-like setting unique to the North Fulton market and is centrally located with quick and easy access to Georgia 400 via Haynes Bridge or Mansell Road along Westside Parkway. Seven of the nine existing buildings are LEED and Energy Star certified and onsite amenities include three conference centers, two full-service cafes, two state-of-the-art fitness centers, a manicured softball field and pavilion with an active softball league, two gated entrances, complimentary shuttle service to and from the North Springs MARTA station and secured building access.

About Rubenstein Partners

Rubenstein Partners, founded in September 2005, is a private real estate investment management and advisory firm with operations throughout the Eastern United States.  The firm is led by its founder, David Rubenstein, and a group of senior real estate executives, and is focused on directing and managing value-added office real estate investments, primarily in markets in the Eastern United States that encompass more than two-thirds of U.S. office space inventory.  Rubenstein Partners’ predecessor company, The Rubenstein Company, LP and affiliates, founded in 1969, was one of the largest private owner operators of Class A office real estate in the Mid-Atlantic, owning and operating a portfolio of assets valued at approximately $1.2 billion at the time of its disposition in 2004.  Since 2005, Rubenstein Partners has, on behalf of its investors and clients, invested in more than 10 million square feet of office real estate assets throughout the Eastern United States.  For more information, visit www.rubensteinpartners.com.

 

Leed Gold Certificate for Forbo Warehouse

By USGBC MA Communications


Leed Gold certificate for Forbo warehouse

Forbo Flooring Systems is the first company to receive a LEED Gold Certificate for a warehouse in the Netherlands. The Forbo LEED certified warehouse has also been nominated for LEED project of the year and the company has been nominated for the Leadership Award for Manufacturers.

 

Making a difference by saying #iwill

By USGBC MA Communications


This week is #iwill week, seven days of events up and down the country that celebrate the benefits of youth social action – and encourage more youngsters to get involved.

“I felt that the Scouts had given me so much over the years that it was time for me to give something back to my local community” – Sam Smith, Network Operations Technician, National Grid.

It also marks the third anniversary of the #iwill campaign, a UK-wide movement that aims to make involvement in social action, such as fund-raising, volunteering and campaigning, a normal part of life for 10-20 year olds by 2020.

National Grid is a founding partner of Step Up To Serve, the charity that co-ordinates the campaign. And the business recognises the enormous benefits that youth social action brings, such as strengthening communities and developing the character and skill of the young people who take part.

 

Reaching their potential

Graham Frankland, National Grid’s Corporate Responsibility and Citizenship manager, said: “We support #iwill because we want to see young people reach their full potential and they can do this by gaining vital life skills through volunteering, fundraising and campaigning.

“The skills they learn are highly valued in the world of work. And through their social action, the communities where they live also benefit.

“We encourage all our employees to support young people and help them get involved in social action. Many of our employees are involved with organisations such as the Scouts and Guides, which have a great heritage of getting young people involved in their communities and learning new skills.”

 


Sharing is caring – Sam Smith, Network Operations Technician, National Grid.

Network Operations Technician Sam Smith is one of the employees with first-hand experience of the benefits of youth social action. He volunteered as a Scout leader so he could share the skills he’d learned during 13 years as a Scout – such as map reading, hiking, first aid and cooking – with a new generation of youngsters.

“I felt that the Scouts had given me so much over the years that it was time for me to give something back to my local community,” said Sam.

“I started to help out at my local troop as a young leader and after two years I became an adult leader. I wanted to share everything that I’d been taught over the years, from the basics of first aid right through to organising a camp with young Scouts.”

 

On the right path

As well as sharing his skills, Sam gained valuable new ones, including team working and networking, planning and organisation, fundraising and management. All of which provided a fantastic foundation for his future career path.

He said: “I gained so much from volunteering with the Scouts. Skills that will stay with me for life. I’ve learnt how to be patient and understanding with young people, how to be a role model to them, and how to act professionally.”

The Scout Association aims to support young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, so they can play constructive roles in society

 

Greenbuild Announces Rock Band The Revivalists to Headline Annual Celebration

By Rebecca Collins

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Informa Exhibitions just announced that American rock band The Revivalists will perform at the 2017 Greenbuild Celebration, sponsored by Kohler, scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 9 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Museum of Science in Boston. 

While you may not know this up and coming band by name, you've probably heard their hit “Wish I Knew You,” which reached No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart back in May. The Revivalists were formed in New Orleans in 2007. The group's sound has been described as “a Crescent City-rhythm spin on jam-band jubilee.” The band released its latest album Men Amongst Mountains in July 2015, via Wind-up Records, and in March 2016 was named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of “10 Bands You Need to Know.” 

Tickets to the Greenbuild Celebration are included in the purchase price of a four-day conference pass, three-day conference pass, Thursday day pass or can be purchased separately by members of the sustainable building community for $75 – $100 each, depending on when they are purchased (early bird deadline is September 7!).

We can't wait to party at the Greenbuild Celebration and we hope you'll join us! In the meantime, we hope you join us at our September Greenbuild Mixer with JLL on September 21. More Greenbuild announcements are being made every week so stay tuned for even more Greenbuild updates!