Grid Modernization Jan 31 Morning Session Recap

By Alexander Landa


The morning of January 31st was an engaging one. Ben Pignatelli of the Boston DPU came by our Boston office to talk grid modernization in Massachusetts, why it's important, and the steps we can take to get the entire city there.

Grid modernization goes beyond just looking at the electric wires' topic – we can start looking at new technologies, sustainable design, and how we can factor in smart cities (which you can learn more about at our upcoming Building Tech Forum).

Other states are ahead of us in the grid now – and if we've proven that we can become the #1 state for LEED buildings, then we can become the leader in grid mod too!

If you aren't able to attend morning events due to work conflicts, fear not! We're now doing live webinars for a discounted price. Simply sign up for a webinar ticket for our morning sessions and we'll email you the details. Just click the button from work, home, the cafe, or wherever you are in the morning, and watch from anywhere!

Don't forget – Chapter members get discounts to every event we hold. Become a member today and become an integral part of our community.

Sponsor Highlight – National Grid's Innovative ConnectedSolutions Program

By USGBC MA


We can never thank National Grid enough for being a Platinum Sponsor, and we're thrilled that they stopped by our Annual Meeting last week to give a tight, efficient presentation. Paul Wassink and Mark Stafford took the floor to discuss – for the first time ever publicly – the new ConnectedSolutions program, which is something every business owner should care about.

We're talking free money! If you sign up, you can qualify to get a direct rebate for curtailing peak electricity loads. It's awesome.

Summer is a bad time for electricity demand, with everyone blasting the air conditioner seemingly 24/7 until October. National Grid wants to combat peak electric demand, and by reducing electric use by just a few hours a day during the summer months, you can help reduce emissions, infrastructure costs, and energy prices overall. And save money!

In the summer, the electric grid is pushed to its limit, meaning power plants must be sized and to meet the spike in demand. Peak timing is considered 10am-8pm on weekdays, especially in the late afternoon, so if you can go just a few hours, or even a few minutes, without cranking up the AC on full blast, a huge difference can be made.

Saving energy is more rewarding! When you lower energy consumption during demand response events, there are some clear incentives: Capacity payment becomes $20 per kW per year, and for performance payments, $0.75 per kWh during events.

 

Read more about ConnectedSolutions here.

Follow National Grid's lead and become a sponsor of the USGBC MA Chapter!

 

Mayor Walsh Tours Energy Positive Homes Under Construction in Roxbury

By City of Boston


BOSTON – Monday, January 30, 2017 – Mayor Martin J. Walsh on Saturday toured four new homes under construction in Roxbury that will produce more energy than they consume. These high performance green homes will be certified LEED Platinum, the U.S. Green Building Council's highest rating for sustainable design. The Mayor was joined by Jonathan Kantar the principal of Sage Builders LLC and the project developer, Place Tailor, a Roxbury based building crew, and representatives from the Highland Park Project Review Committee.

“Homes that generate as much energy as they use exemplify the kind of innovation that makes Boston a world leader on climate action,” said Mayor Walsh. “With these new homes, we are taking another measurable step toward our goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.”

The development is part of the E+ Green Building Program which is managed jointly by the Boston Planning and Development Agency, the Department of Neighborhood Development, and the City of Boston Environment Department.

All of the homes being built will be energy efficient with highly insulated, air-tight walls and windows, LED lights, solar panels, and water-efficient plumbing. The design features, which include energy recovery ventilation, ensure lots of fresh air while allowing the homes to keep a consistent temperature throughout the year with minimal heating in the winter or cooling in the summer. Building materials are selected and installed so as to ensure a healthy indoor environment for the occupants and minimal impact on our natural resources.


The residential development located on 156 Highland Street includes two buildings totaling four homeownership units. The front building, which is two and a half stories and designed in a Greek Revival style, includes two side-by-side homeowner units. Each has three bedrooms and a two and a half baths, totaling approximately 1,300 square feet of living space. The rear building, which is also two and half stories and is rendered in a Carriage House style, includes two stacked units; each has two-bedrooms and one bathroom, totaling approximately 1,000 square feet. All four units will have separate front and rear entrances, a dedicated parking space, and an exterior patio space. The site includes advanced stormwater management practices, stone work salvaged from the site, and indigenous drought resistant landscaping. The four units will be sold to homeowners, three at market rate and one as an affordable home for a family with an income at or below 80% of the Area Median Income level.

Place Tailor, a young Roxbury based building crew with an expertise in high performance construction, was brought on by Sage Builders both for their technical and local expertise.

Piloting new practices like these E+ Green Buildings that are net-positive reflects some of the strategies outlined in the City's Updated 2014 Climate Action Plan for reducing Boston's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 and for achieving our new goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Building account for almost three quarters of Boston's greenhouse gas emissions. Boston's E+ Green Building Program is playing a critical role by achieving significant emission reductions and by pioneering the next generation of high performance green buildings. Boston will continue to pilot net-positive building practices with new and expanded E+ Green Building and E+ Green Communities offerings.  Please visit EPositiveBoston.org for more detailed information and updates on new opportunities to lead the way.

This week Massachusetts was named the 2016 top state for LEED buildings in the U.S. Green Building Council's annual ranking of top states, with Boston's leadership at the forefront of the state's work.  

The E+ Green Building Program's sponsors include Eversource and National Grid, as well as the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Massachusetts USGBC Chapter, and the Boston Society of Architects/AIA.  
 

MIT Media Lab is Pushing Boston to Become a Smart City with Smart Fixtures

By Alexander Landa


MIT has always been known for their innovation and scientific prowess, both around Cambridge & Boston and around the world. The MIT Media Lab spinout group, Changing Environments, has made something pretty cool for the greater Boston area – Soofa.

The Soofa bench is solar-powered, and has a charging station for mobile devices as well as the ability to connect to wireless devices. These benches are now in 65 cities in the U.S., such as New York, Los Angeles, and more, and even in other countries like Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, and others.

Boston is a great location for these technologies, such as the Soofa Sign (also solar-powered) that displays public transit times, weather, events, and other city information. If you're around the area and want to see the signs, go to Kendall Square in Cambridge, and Porter Square in Cambridge & Somerville. 

It's thanks to innovative groups like this that are pushing existing technology and cities to become smart cities. The internet of things is a real thing, and it's time to embrace it.

To hear more about the internet of things and smart cities, come to our upcoming Building Tech Forum on February 16th!

Trump's List for Infrastructure Projects Include Energy Storage and Grid Modernization

By Alexander Landa


Donald Trump's short time as President has already been dynamic and controversial, to put it bluntly. He's already said some things that is making the green community worry, but it looks like he's also considering to do some good in there as well. According to a Forbes article, Trump is looking to create projects relating to energy storage and grid modernization.

In Trumps Priority List of Emergency & National Security Projects, he lists off 50 items in his plan, some relating to the environment. Project #9 – Plains and Eastern Electric Transmission Lines – would carry massive amounts of energy of Oklahoma wind power to the southeast. Project #16 – TransWest Express – would move energy from Wyoming to Arizona, California, and Nevada.

Project $49 – Energy Storage and Grid Modernization – will create utility-scale batteries to store renewable energy, estimated to grow 8-times to 2.1 gigawatts by 2021.

Amazingly, these campaigns all together could add 9 gigawatts of zero-carbon, renewable power to the American grid – enough for 5 million homes.

If you're interested in learning more about grid modernization, come to tomorrow's morning session. For those interested in hearing more about innovative technology, attend our Building Tech Forum in a few weeks. Don't forget that members get discounts to every event we hold! Become a member now.

Triumph Modular: Emergence of 10-Year Buildings for Long-Term Campus Planning

By Linda Bee at Triumph Modular


The January/February 2017 issue of Facility Manager Magazine features an article titled “The Surprising Emergence of 10-Year Buildings for Long-Term Campus Planning.”  It’s written by Rusty Williams whose focus here at Triumph Modular is educational and special-use buildings.  The article explores how colleges and universities are turning to modular construction for much quicker time-to-occupancy, and to have the option to expand, relocate or remove buildings within 8 to 10 years.  Read the full article from APPA Facilities Manager Magazine.

How can you use modular buildings in long-term campus planning?

Here are a few excerpts from this timely article:  Conventional wisdom says that there are two kinds of buildings: permanent and temporary. Most construction is considered permanent – designed to last 100 years or more. Temporary structures have typically served a more tactical purpose such as “swingspace” used during construction or in the event of a flood, fire, or other unforeseen circumstance. But, increasingly, schools are seeking facilities that combine the aesthetic characteristics of permanent buildings with the option to expand, contract or remove the building entirely within a relatively short timeframe.

Choosing Modular Construction

For example, Harvard University recently opened
a new “Life Lab” in the innovation district of their Allston campus. The existing i-Lab has been used for five years as an incubator for dozens of startups and entrepreneurs. Harvard wanted to offer a similar facility with state-of-the-art wet lab space nearby to support research and development of new biotech, pharma, and other life-science technologies. Flexibility, along with speed-to-occupancy, were the primary reasons that Harvard chose modular construction.

A New Norm: An Adaptable, Configurable Campus

As surprising as that may sound, planning for reconfiguration or relocation after a relatively short period may become the norm for new buildings. Facilities need to support rapidly changing technology and encourage cross-department collaboration so it’s almost certain that modifications will be necessary within a decade.  Google presents a similar vision for the future of buildings in their planning for a new campus in Mountain View California. In the company’s overview video, David Radcliff, Google’s Director of Real Estate perfectly summarizes the challenge facilities planners face when noting Google’s approach to design a development – “How will we work 15 or 20 years from now? We don’t know exactly what it’s going to be, but we know that it needs to be incredibly flexible space.”

Joining ILFI – a new Collaboration

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

In 2016, the Living Future Collaborative Boston (a.k.a. The Collaborative) connected with the USGBC MA Chapter, which had both been good friendly peer organizations with lots of overlapping members, to begin to work jointly more formally.

USGBC MA has officially signed an MOU with the ILFI (International Living Future Institute) to share staff resources and co-market our events.

Thus, Collaboratively, we will continue to work together to advance Living Buildings and other components of the ILFI.


 

Greenbuild Boston 2017 Legacy Project Call for Proposals

By USGBC MA


The USGBC Massachusetts Chapter is pleased to announce that we are currently planning our 2017 Greenbuild Boston Legacy Project! Similar to what Los Angeles did for Greenbuild 2016, and what Washington D.C. did in 2015, Boston is planning to make sure that the city – and the world has a whole – never forgets the impact that can be made by the green building community. Below, you will find information on how you can submit a proposal to see your idea come to life, which will remain a staple of Greenbuild history forever.

Request for Proposals

Legacy Project Greenbuild Boston 2017

On November 8, 2017, USGBC Massachusetts Chapter and the City of Boston will host the 2017 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. Our parent organization, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) organizes this annual event, which will bring over 30,000 sustainability leaders and advocates to our region.

Click here to read this information as a pdf. 

The theme for the Boston conference is “ALL IN” to encompass the breadth and diversity of the sustainability and green building movement drawing on Boston’s status as the place where it all began. Along these same lines, USGBC and USGBC MA seek to leave Greater Boston with a lasting gift. The “Legacy Project” will provide a significant contribution to greening the local area, while striving to meet some, if not all, of the following criteria:

  • Serves as a permanent gift of ongoing service to the Host city;
  • Serves people of varied socio-economic backgrounds;
  • Is Greenbuild oriented (i.e., showcases sustainable and green practices and benefits);
  • Is community supported;
  • Has an educational aspect.

Important Dates

  • Issuance of RFP – January 27, 2017
  • Deadline for Submission of Questions to USGBC MA – February 17, 2017 (by 5:00pm EST)
  • Responses to Questions returned by – February 21, 2017
  • Proposal Submission Due Date – March 6, 2017 (by 5:00pm EST)
  • Finalists selected by Legacy Project Committee – March 13, 2017
  • Final Presentations/Judging to Boston Greenbuild Host Committee – March 21, 2017
  • Selected Legacy Project Announced – March 23, 2017

Chapter Member Profile: Andrea Love of Payette

By USGBC MA

Every Friday, we like to give thanks to members of our Chapter who stand out for their valuable contributions to our community. Andrea Love, Director of Building Science at Payette, is a member of our Board of Directors and frequently goes out of her way to support our Chapter’s mission. Just last night Andrea made it so we could hold our Annual General Meeting at Payette, and that deserves an extra thanks.

Her role as building scientist has her pushing the performance and lowering the environmental impact of every project she’s involved in, with a strong focus of bringing in new sustainability knowledge through research and project exploration.

Additionally, she leads a number of internal research projects, and currently is the Principal Investigator on the 2012 AIA Upjohn Grant on “Thermal Performance of Facades” a research project focused on thermal bridging. She also leads the firm’s efforts on the AIA 2030 Commitment, tracking and benchmarking the performance of projects across the firm. On top of all of the above, she’s a Lecturer at MIT in the Department of Architecture’s Building Technology group where she teaches a class on building envelope performance.

Annual General Meeting Recap

By Grey Lee, Executive Director


See more photos in our Flickr album.

What an amazing community of practitioners!

Last night, graciously hosted at Payette at Atlantic Wharf, we gathered as a community for the 9th Annual General Meeting of the USGBC MA Chapter. 

Our agenda was extensive, yet efficiently delivered:

  • Report on the state of the organization
  • Introduce and thank the Staff
  • Thank the Membership and Sponsors
  • Hear about our extensive advocacy work
  • Learn about the Greenbuild opportunity
  • A word from our Platinum Sponsor, National Grid
  • Announcing our MOU with the International Living Future Institute
  • Introduce the ENGAGE game
  • The Volunteer Appreciation Ceremony
  • Conclude the Elections for the Board of Directors

It was great to see so many wonderful people who have been a part of this community for so many years. It was delightful to have just as many new faces show up to connect with our mission.

I had the honor and privilege of providing remarks and presenting to the assembled 100+ crowd the “State of the Chapter” report.

We are proud of our 600+ dues-paying members and 35 contributing Sponsoring Partners. We have strategic relationships with media organizations, academic institutions and community groups like the Codman Square NDC, Youthbuild and the Acadia Center.

I was able to share the work we have done to advance our mission through advocacy: describing our priorities for the coming legislative session and some of our victories from the recent past.


We will continue to push for net metering equity to “fix the solar bill” so low-income communities can benefit from the advance of distributed solar generation. We will fight to expand PACE to the residential sector in Massachusetts so this effective financial tool can be used on houses, not just commercial properties. And we are working with municipalities to emulate the Net Zero Action Plan process which was so successful in Cambridge – so more communities can get on track to dramatically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

We celebrated our victories on net metering, on strengthening energy efficiency in the building code, and with commercial PACE. Advocacy is a place where all of our members can really make a difference.

We also celebrated the impressive 22.35 MSF of newly LEED certified space in Massachusetts which means we are #1 in the USGBC Top Ten States for LEED. This stunning achievement was only possible because our community has worked, and continues to work, so hard to attain. People make a difference. People like those in the room last night are leading their firms, guiding their clients, and attaining excellence in the built environment. Congratulations and let's help each other to continue this trajectory.

Judy Nitsch, Co-Chair of the Greenbuild 2017 Host Committee conveyed the major points of the Greenbuild effort and invited members to participate in the work through the many subcommittees.

We heard from Paul Wassink at National Grid about their new Demand Response program. Building operators can engage with their power provided to shed loads at peak demand to save premium rate charges and to help improve the sustainability of the entire grid system.

Alex Landa, our Communications Manager, introduced our new individual member participation platform, ENGAGE. This new survey-like-game system enables a person to track the things they do which support our mission. You get points for helping us do advocacy, providing education instruction, doing service work or other things. You can help our community by serving as a Mentor and get points that way too. We will run the contest every quarter to see how much friendly competition we can generate in the coming months.

Thank you to our all-star volunteers who earned worthy recognition last night for their work to support our organization.


 

Shining Star of the Chapter: Bill Wolmedorf of the Residential and Emerging Professional Committees
Stepper-Upper: Jess Halvorsen on Events
New Hit Wonder: Aminah McNulty of Emerging Professionals
Special Recognition: Lindsay Machamer for Tours, with Emerging Professionals
And, Emerging Professional of the Year: Jenna Dancewicz

We also recognized departing Board Members: Jim Newman, Carolyn Day, Sandy Brock and Brice Hereford.
I did make a point to recognize our Board and explain how their board status prevented them from being in the running for these volunteer awards. But they can play the ENGAGE game!

Noteworthy Volunteers beyond the award-winners included: Matt Smith, Ryan Montoni, Kate Bubriski, Rebecca Slocum, Jared Gentlucci, Suzi Price, Kristen Malayk, Craig Foley, David Bliss, Jasmine Abdollahi, Adrian Charest, Jessie Miller, Bill Tobin, Kimberly Le, Molly Cox, Mark Pignatelli, Dana Anderson, Andrew Vitvitsky, Chris Meier, Alana Spencer, Julia Musso, Jason Zogg, Tony Ransom, Emma Corbalan and Blake Jackson.

And finally, to conclude the formal event, we announced the new Directors for our Board:

Henrietta Davis, former Mayor of Cambridge MA
JC Courtney, Siemens Industry
Rebecca Hatchadorian, Arup

Re-elected Directors were:

Barbra Batshalom
John Dalzell
Shawn Hesse
Ethan Lay-Sleeper
Jim Jones
Michael Fiorillo
Mike Davis
Carrie Havey


​These join the continuing Directors: Andrea Love, Ben Myers, John Markowitz, Johanna Jobin, Darien Crimmin, Steven Burke and Samira Ahmadi

Thank you to all who came out to celebrate our march toward victory!

And, special thanks to all who made out to the after party at Little Biddy's on Pearl Street. See you next time!