Smart Crowd for Smart Cities

By Grey Lee


We had an excellent program last night for our Building Tech Forum. 


Fraunhofer was the perfect venue to help us connect as a community of practitioners dedicated to improving the built environment.


Here are a few photos; we'll post more of a re-cap next week. 


Thank you to all of our sponsors and exhibitors.


Many thanks to our panelists and the engaged crowd. Thank you for attending and making the 2017 Building Tech Forum a success.


 


Learn More About Building Tech Forum Display Sponsor, Engie

By Engie


The USGBC MA Chapter is thrilled to be working with some amazing organizations and companies for the Building Tech Forum on Feb 16th, 2017. For this event, we're working with some of our unique partners, and one such company is Engie, and they're going to be bringing in a fresh new perspective to our community! 

Here's more about them:

ENGIE Services is a facilities management solutions provider that prioritizes energy efficiency for private and public customers across North America. Our experts design, develop and manage smart, sustainable solutions for customers. World leading governments and organizations entrust ENGIE Services’ tailored solutions to operate and maintain their office towers, airports, hospitals, recreational and industrial facilities. Part of the ENGIE Group, ENGIE Services has both the structure and resources to carry out technically and financially complex and long-term projects such as P3s. This capacity enables us to guarantee results and manage asset lifecycles to meet specific performance criteria with a focus to rationalize energy use and reduce operational costs.

The ENGIE group develops its businesses (power, natural gas, energy services) around a model based on responsible growth to take on the major challenges of energy’s transition to a low-carbon economy: access to sustainable energy, climate-change mitigation and adaptation and the rational use of resources. ENGIE’s “City and Building of Tomorrow” program supports the development of ENGIE solutions for tomorrow’s cities, communities, and buildings. Its aim is to help local authorities to respond successfully to the environmental and energy challenges they face. The Group provides individuals, cities, and businesses with highly efficient and innovative

 

New Report Reveals Venues Across the Globe are Embracing LEED Green Building

By USGBC


Washington, D.C. (Feb. 16, 2017) – Today, the U.S. Green Building Council released its LEED in Motion: Venues report, which highlights the efforts of convention centers, sports venues, performing arts centers, community centers, and public assembly spaces to transform their environmental, social and economic footprint through LEED certification. The report showcases some of the most impressive green venues around the world.

“The scope and scale of the venues industry is enormous, and the leaders creating these spaces have an important role to play in reducing environmental impact,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president & CEO of USGBC. “By incorporating green practices, venues around the world are positively impacting their triple bottom line – people, planet, profit – while inspiring and educating others to be proactive in the areas of social responsibility and sustainability.”

Venues are large contributors to the U.S. economy. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of conventions and events is expected to expand by 44 percent from 2010 to 2020 – far outpacing the average projected growth of other industries. Annually, the top 200 stadiums in the U.S. alone draw roughly 181 million visitors, and roughly 60 million people worldwide attend a consumer or industry trade show. Waste Management estimates that the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL generate a combined 35,000 metric tons of CO2 each year from their fans’ waste. The convention and trade show industry, one of the largest global contributors to waste, produces an estimated 60,000 tons of garbage each year.

Venues that incorporate LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the world’s most widely used green building rating system, into their buildings enjoy increased cost-savings, decreased annual operating costs and a higher return on investment overall. According to the 2015 Green Building Economic Impact Study, from 2015-2018, it is estimated that LEED-certified buildings in the U.S. will have saved more than $2.1 billion in combined energy, water, maintenance and waste savings.

The report highlights the green strategies and savings of more than 30 LEED-certified venues across the globe, including Orlando Magic’s Amway Center, the first NBA arena to earn LEED Gold certification using the LEED Building Design + Construction: New Construction rating system, was able to save nearly a million a year, including close to $700,000 in annual energy costs alone because of LEED certification.

At one of the most renowned regional theaters in the country, The Old Globe’s 108,000 square foot complex in San Diego, green strategies were implemented so as not to disrupt the buildings’ aesthetics and primary focus on performance. Low-flow fixtures and aerators reduced overall water usage by 32 percent, LED retrofits and timer installations resulted in savings of more than 14,000 kilowatt hours per year, and an increase of recycling bins and staff education created the potential for more waste diversion.

Another prominent example is Shanghai 2010 Expo Center’s implementation of sustainable strategies such as a vegetable roof garden, rainwater recycling system, LED lighting, water source heat pumps, high-efficiency water-use fittings and irrigation, which resulted in the project achieving 82.5 percent annual total water savings and a 93 percent reduction in storm water runoff volume.

LEED is used in more than 164 countries and territories with international demand continuing to grow. According to the Dodge Data & Analytics World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, global green building continues to double every three years. In the next ten years, green building’s growth rate is expected to continue at both the domestic and international levels. USGBC’s recent Green Building Economic Impact Study analyzed the economic impact of green construction on the U.S. economy and found that LEED-certified buildings account for 40 percent of the green construction market’s contribution to the U.S. GDP in 2015. The report also projected that by 2018, green construction will account for more than 3.3 million jobs and generate $190.3 billion in labor earnings in the U.S.


LEED is a simple and effective program for navigating complex, sometimes competing, building and environmental issues affecting humans worldwide. Every day, more than 2.2 million square feet of space certifies to LEED. There are more than 36,300 LEED-certified commercial projects representing more than 5.4 billion square feet of certified space and an additional 53,180 projects, totaling 11.6 billion square feet of registered space.

LEED in Motion: Venues is the latest in a series of reports from USGBC designed to provide a holistic snapshot of the green building movement. The report equips green building advocates with the insight and perspective to understand the use of the globally recognized LEED rating system and to make a strong case for sustainable building activity.

Resources for Materials Transparency

By Steven Burke


In recent years, a new concept of what it means to define a building product as “sustainable” has taken hold. Focus has shifted to consider whole-life (i.e., “cradle to grave”) environmental impact, prioritizing the disclosure of ingredients that may be hazardous to human health. 

Novel standards, such as Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and Health Product Declarations (HPDs), have been instrumental in advancing this new definition of sustainability. Designers’ adoption of what has been labeled the “Materials Transparency Movement,” coupled with the integration of the aforementioned standards into green building rating systems, has prompted manufacturers to slowly, but steadily, move toward more health- and eco-friendly production.

In response, a diverse group of industry experts—designers, construction professionals, specifications writers, and consultants—convened to standardize the process, keeping it in line with the movement’s goal of transparency. Drawn together by their shared experience incorporating these standards into past projects, the group offers guidelines for fellow designers, developers, and building owners to develop projects that take into account the effects of materials on the environment and building occupants.

The group set out to accomplish three primary goals: Provide a unified language that can be used across disciplines, from design to construction; ensure that this language can be applied to specifications, regardless of whether the subcontractor is a materials expert; and publish materials in an easily shareable format.

These efforts resulted in various resources, all meant to encourage collaboration and conversation. They are all housed here – Check them out, share them, and let us know what you think.

Originally posted here.

Local nonprofit helps consumers support renewable energy and save money on electric cars!

By Mass Energy


​Mass Energy Consumers Alliance, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, is excited to be part of USGBC’s Building Tech Forum on February 16th. Our mission to make energy more affordable and sustainable manifests in two major ways: 1—we influence individuals to take action around energy use in their own homes through a variety of “group-buying” programs. We encourage them to take advantage of the most practical new energy technologies. And 2—we use the lessons learned and momentum of their participation (“membership”) to influence policymakers. Our deep connection to consumer energy needs is why we’re so excited to bring our voice to this conversation on Smart Cities.

Though we offer many programs, our most groundbreaking are shared here. First, our “green electricity” or green power program makes it possible for Massachusetts and Rhode Island electricity customers “make the switch” – in other words, to choose local renewable energy for the electricity they consume. Members of the green electricity program pay a couple extra cents per kilowatt-hour they use in order to match their electricity use with energy from New England sources (like the wind turbine in Lynn, MA—pictured!). You can learn more about our renewable energy program, see a map of all of our renewable sources, and sign up at: www.massenergy.org/green

Mass Energy is also currently running an electric vehicle group-buy discount program, Drive Green with Mass Energy! Anyone can take advantage of big discounts we’ve negotiated for purchase or lease of the Chevy Volt and Bolt, Nissan LEAF, Ford Fusion Energi, Ford C-Max Energi, and Kia eSoul. And Drive Green with Mass Energy discounts are in addition to the state MOR-EV rebate of up to $2,500 and the federal tax credit of up to $7,500. To learn more about how electric vehicles are a great choice for consumers and the environment or to sign up for a test-drive, visit: www.massenergy.org/drivegreen!

We look forward to seeing you at Thursday’s event!

 

OpenDataSoft to Attend the Building Tech Forum!

By OpenDataSoft


The USGBC MA Chapter is thrilled to be working with some amazing organizations and companies for the Building Tech Forum on Feb 16th, 2017. For this event, we're going beyond just sustainability and working with technology companies as well. One such company is OpenDataSoft, and they're going to be bringing in a fresh new perspective to our community! 

From OpenDataSoft:

OpenDataSoft enables any local or national government or agency to become more transparent and accountable to citizens and consumers. Its second generation open data platform is fast to ramp-up and intuitive to use, and transforms data into services without requiring technical expertise.

We are very happy to attend to the Building Tech Forum!

As OpenDataSoft is positioned on Smart city business, attending this event makes sense to us. It would be a great opportunity to meet the ecosystem. 

OpenDataSoft already powers open data portals for many municipalities and agencies worldwide – including the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the City of Paris, the Ministry of Health in Portugal and the Swiss National Railways.

Tickets are still available for the Building Tech Forum! Register here and use the code BTF25 for 25% off any ticket type.

 

Attend ReVision Energy's Event on 3/16 Transitioning to 100% Solar Energy

By USGBC MA


Our friends ReVision Energy (and display sponsor of the Building Tech Forum this Thursday) are holding a great event on March 16th, 2017, Transitioning to 100% Solar Energy: Battery Storage Option.

Transitioning to solar energy saves money and reduces fossil fuel use. Join ReVision Energy for a complimentary educational presentation to learn about battery storage options. They will also outline ways to transition your home or business from fossil fuels to 100% clean, solar energy. 

Please RSVP to Christina at: czlotnick@revisionenergy.com or call (603) 679-1777 for more information. 

 

About ReVision Energy:

ReVision Energy is a full-service renewable energy contracting company that provides a full range of engineering, design, installation and equipment service for homes, businesses, municipal buildings, and nonprofits.

They are trusted as the industry leader in solar design, installation, and service in northern New England. They achieve their vision by maintaining the highest standards of technical accomplishment and customer satisfaction. Fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in the region are shrinking as a result of our installations.

Transitioning to 100% Solar Energy – Battery Storage Options
March 16th, 2017, 6:00pm – 7:00pm
At the Regus Conference Center
35 Village Road #100, MIddleton, MA

Why do We Need Smart Cities?

By Alexander Landa


Smart cities really aren't a product of the future anymore. Cities around the world have already embraced pushing themselves to their limits, with many already employing the Internet of Things and smart devices to catapult their infrastructure to new heights. Over half of the entire world's population resides in urban areas, making it difficult to support such dense areas with existing architecture and resources. It's getting to the point that we need smart cities, rather than calling it a luxury. We need better ways to manage energy, transportation, and the transfer of data.

There isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for addressing the problems that growing cities will face. It will be a sort of a-la-carte procedure with each city having different needs and unique means to meet the demands. 

Some congested cities like many in the UK aren't physically built to handle more vehicles on the road, meaning that will be an urgent priority. The answer isn't clear yet if that will mean fewer cars and more public transport, different commuting patterns, etc, but it will need to be near the top of the agenda.

Like other instances of urban planning, it's not as simple as constructing smart buildings and adding more solar panels that relay statistics to the city. Government officials will have to manage costs (which could actually be less than you might think), how to remove old infrastructure, and training individuals to make these changes.

It will all be worth it, though.

While some of the goals of smart cities are pretty straightforward like fulfilling a person's intrinsic need for technological advancement and pushing the human limit, there will be a significantly higher quality of life for everyone living in these urban areas. We will likely see less waste, better water treatments and retention, better housing options for growing populations, more jobs, more schools, organizations, and public utilities, improved air quality, and more.

It's not impossible, and it's already happening. It's a new and slightly intimidating concept that makes a lot of people nervous and skeptical, but think of the end result and how much better everyone will be once we're living in improved urban settings.

To learn more about smart cities, attend our upcoming Building Tech Forum this Thursday, February 16th at Fraunhofer Boston. Use the code BTF20 for 20% off any ticket type.

 

LEED GOLD for 3 more of Wright Builders’ homes!

By James Robe, Outreach and Communication Manager


Wright Builders feels that home is more than just shelter: homes are the most important buildings in our lives. We believe strongly that every building should be a green building – but especially homes. Why? LEED homes or those that are built to the LEED specifications are built to be healthy, providing clean indoor air and incorporating safe building materials to ensure a comfortable home. Did you know:

As humans, we spend 90% of our time indoors. That time should be spent in spaces that allow us to breathe easy, give us views of nature and daylight, and make us healthier and more productive. 
The EPA estimates that indoor air is between two and ten times more polluted than outdoor air. LEED-certified homes are designed to maximize fresh air indoors and minimize exposure to airborne toxins and pollutants.
LEED certification means healthier, more productive places, reduced stress on the environment by encouraging energy and resource-efficient buildings, and savings from increased building value, higher lease rates and decreased utility costs.

What’s not to like about that!

 

 

Mentoring Kick-Off Recap

By Aminah McNulty


The EPMA Mentor Program Kick-Off event was a great success! People came on the eve of the storm to share drinks, stories, and fun as we got to know our fellow mentors and mentees. We met at Elephant & Castle in downtown Boston for an informal happy hour. While the program is organized to group us by industry, interest, and geography, there was no grouping or categories at this event. People chatted eagerly across generations, industries and experience levels. Two of our mentees were classmates during their masters programs and re-connected at our kick-off after two years of losing touch! 

I was inspired to welcome a new mentee into our community from the world of sales and nutrition. It was great to unpack the USGBC mission of net positive buildings and practices, and hear her experience of the built environment from a health and well-being perspective.