Reminder: Leadership Development with Barbra Batshalom this Thursday!

By USGBC MA


Join the leadership of change! Join Barbra Batshalom and the other warriors of sustainability. Re-arm your charge with Barbra's trade secrets and wisdom from her career of leadership in the sector.

Register here!

Thursday, January 19th, 2017
8:30am-10:00am
50 Milk St, 18th Floor
Homer Room
Boston, MA, 02109

Use the code SPI for 20% off any ticket type!

Despite lots of noise, integrative design is still a myth in most firms. Part of the blind-spot is that we keep looking at design process in the context of the project only, and not the organization – it’s culture, structure, systems, and tools. What are the firm’s expectations? How effective is accountability? Does the commitment to sustainability manifest in all aspects of the firm?

For firms pursuing the AIA 2030 Commitment, your project delivery methodology can make or break success. How does a team measure its effectiveness? Does good collaboration yield better results? Is IP more than a kick-off charrette and “one-hit wonder”? Can IP be achieved in individual project teams if the overall firm culture and methodology isn’t aligned with it?

USGBC’s LEED program now recognizes the importance of integrated process with the new v4 IP credit, so more teams are paying attention to this, but will a LEED credit (again) cause more hoop-jumping without actually providing more value? 70% of a project's performance and impacts are decided in the first 10% of the process, so it's critical to get it right.

This workshop is a practical and applied look at how your firm can truly capture the value provided by institutionalizing IP – and getting the LEED credit follows naturally! Successfully implementing IP requires a clear, shared understanding of what integration means in your firm culture, how individuals in different roles participate and alignment with consultants around your project delivery objectives. Critical efforts happen beyond the project focus and require change management to help everyone feel comfortable.

This is a 100% interactive workshop where you will be guided through an exercise to deconstruct and remap your firm's process, identifying along the way what organizational triggers need to be addressed so that integrative design is actually the bedrock of project management and not an elusive miracle achieved only with the most progressive clients.

You will gain strategies to help you truly embed IP into daily project management practices and participants leave with practical, actionable steps that will help you implement qualitative changes in your project delivery methodology the next day.

USGBC's 2020 vision will use LEED to further global connectedness

By Mahesh Ramanujam


The following is a condensed article from USGBC CEO Mahesh Ramanujam. You can read the full article here.

USGBC's vision for 2020

By combining USGBC’s collective, community-wide creativity and spirit of innovation and our wide range of resources, we will provide best-in-class products, services and programs to the global green building industry with the goal of furthering sustainable building practices across the world with purpose-driven speed.

This requires a digital USGBC. We will continue to invest the necessary resources to develop platforms and technologies that will disrupt the market and offer superior convenience, insight and benchmarking to our customers and the green building community at large. Our continued focus will be to establish ourselves as the number one leader of market transformation and customer experience.

USGBC

Over the next four years, USGBC’s primary focus will be to

  • Further the use of LEED in the global marketplace.
  • Offer best-in-class sustainability education on its Education @USGBC platform.
  • Remain the global thought leader on green building.
  • Serve as the global convener for the green building movement.

USGBC commits to investing in the future by developing the full potential of the diverse, committed and passionate people who power our movement. Only by aspiring to, and ultimately achieving, organizational excellence and optimum efficiency across our movement will we be able to solve the challenges of tomorrow and realize the vision and mission of USGBC within a generation, writing a new story about people and their stewardship of the built and natural environment.

Read the full article here.

Chapter Member Profile: Craig Foley of RE/Max Leading Edge

By Jim Morrison, Banker & Tradesman Staff


Craig Foley always loved homes and architecture, so when his family’s needs exceeded what his theater career would provide, he became a Realtor. A second, concurrent career in energy procurement and management ignited a new passion for energy efficient homes and his niche as a real estate agent with expertise in building science was born. These days, in addition to helping homebuyers in the communities surrounding Somerville buy and sell homes, he teaches other agents about how to properly list, market and talk to potential buyers about energy efficient homes and their components.

Q: How did you go from directing theater to becoming a Realtor?

A: I grew up in Westbrook, Maine, just outside Portland. It’s a very small mill town. I played sports and broke my shoulder playing football as a freshman in high school. There was this really cool theater teacher named Bob Fish who directed the plays at Westbrook High School. Bob was and still is a good director. There was a group of us who got really into creating theater and being on stage and it was a really exceptional experience.

I grew up in a family where no one had ever gone to college before. My mom and dad both worked in the correctional system in Maine. I’m an only child as well, and I just have the ability to really get into something and get engrossed in it. That created a really interesting pathway in my life to open me up to new things and send me to college and then to grad school. I met my wife in the theater as well. Then we had two kids and when the second one was born, I was up for a tenure track position at Salem State teaching theater. I had been focused on working as a director, which I really enjoyed. I didn’t get the position at Salem State and at that point there was no way that I could justify trying to make a living as a freelance director and adjunct faculty member. It was way too much work to do that and have a family.

It was a really tough decision to leave the theater, which I had been passionate about for almost all of my life, and figure out what to do next. I loved homes and I love architecture and what I didn’t expect I would love is the transactional process, the sales part of it and protecting your client’s interests, which became a new passion for me. It’s a complex transaction and people need protection. Good Realtors –and there are plenty of them out there – really take that to heart above all else. That made the transition which I anticipated being very difficult, a whole lot easier.

 

Q: How did you become known as an “energy efficient” Realtor?

A: When the market crashed in 2007-2008, I had the opportunity to develop this energy management firm called InCharge Energy with a friend of mine. That was a really exciting aspect of my life. I made sure that I kept my real estate license too. My partner’s family had some health problems and the firm ended up breaking up, but I left that with this energy procurement experience, along with the real estate experience and that’s what’s lead me to this whole sustainability part.

The work that I’m doing now as a sustainable real estate consultant, my business is focused on high-performance homes. I also do a lot of real estate education. My focus is on green homes and sustainability. I ended up being in a unique place at a unique time at the right kind of market to bring this to light. I love what I’m doing now.

Then I got associated with the Massachusetts Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. That’s where I picked up the building science part of this. I’m going to Orlando [later this month] to speak at the International Builders Symposium, where they have incredible high performance buildings and the pros who know the science inside and out.

I’m also connected with the architects and builders who are leading this field. I’m working on a project with Sage builders right now that we’re putting on the market in May or so. These guys are pushing the envelope. They built four units in Fort Hill with HERS [Home Energy Rating System] ratings of -4 and -17. It’s beyond net-zero. These houses are actually going to be producing more energy than they consume, which is really cool.

 

Q: Is demand increasing for your energy efficiency expertise?

A: Absolutely. More and more people are getting interested in this stuff. Between 2011 and 2015, Realtors’ use of the words “energy efficiency” in the remarks portion of the MLS went up 350 percent. Sellers who have made their homes more energy efficient will benefit from hiring someone who understands these issues, not only in how we value the home, but how we market it. It really makes a difference. There’s no question about it.

Energy efficiency is really about lowering the cost of operating a home. But buyers are also aware of the health impacts of living in a home more now. Some studies show that indoor air quality is five to 10 times worse than outdoor air quality. Customers with kids with asthma are already very aware of that. We’re all also becoming more aware that we have our own environmental impact and the home and vehicle greatly impact that.

Real estate education is critical right now if we want to help move the market in a way that solves some of the energy and environmental challenges that we face. The more we have Realtors engaged and understanding what a high performance home is, the better. You’re crazy if you have a Realtor team and you don’t have an NAR-designated Green agent on that team. A Realtor’s education is incomplete without it. Make that investment so you have at least one member of the team that gets it.

 

Foley’s Five Favorite Things About Living In New England:

  1. Three of the four seasons.
  2. The history.
  3. Small cities and towns with character.
  4. Islands: Peaks, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Hero Island and Block Island.
  5. It’s the best place to be a sports fan.

See the original post here

2017 Board Elections are Going on Now!

By Alexander Landa


As of this morning – Friday, January 13th – 2017 Board elections are now going on.

For members of the US Green Building Council Massachusetts Chapter, you should have received an email this morning asking you to fill out a short survey and to decide who you want to see as a member of the 2017 Board of Directors.

If you didn't receive this email, please check your spam folder, or contact us at info@usgbcma.org.

If you aren't currently a member but would like to get involved, please join as a member now, and we will be sending a follow-up email with voting instructions next week for any new members.

For more information on each candidate and to read their statements, please go here.

USGBC MA More Green Buildings Podcast – The Upcoming Building Tech Forum!

By Alexander Landa

With so much news in the industry – within our organization and outside of it – we want to use as many channels as we can to share what's going on with you. When you're driving home, on public transport, relaxing in a cafe, or just need something to listen to at work, we will be bringing everything important to you in a digestible format.

This is something we've been planning for a while now, and we're super excited to finally start it. From now on, we will be releasing at least one podcast per month, featuring different speakers, themes, stories, and news. For now, we will be hosting the talks on our YouTube account, with a proper iTunes podcast to follow.

This More Green Buidings podcast (<4 mins) is about the upcoming Building Tech Forum! Listen to Grey Lee and Celis Brisbin discuss why you should care about it.

 

Residential Green Building: 12/12/16

By Molly Cox


The Residential Green Building Committee met on January 9th, 2017. We had a presentation from our own Bill Womeldorf, who works at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. He started us off by presenting the idea that earth is not only our house, but also our home. There are no other houses to move into once we trash the one we currently live in. This set the stage for the perspective he shared on the importance of energy efficient buildings.  

Bill continued to display some of the case studies he worked on, and showed us the before and after values of the building. The buildings had impressive returns on investment, and one of the buildings showed a drastic decrease in the EUI (Energy Use Intensity) after the energy retrofit, from 150 down to 58.8. Another home exhibited changes such as installing new LED lighting, attic venting, and adding a solar PV system. Bill recommends retrofitting in stages, to get closer to a zero carbon building. With smaller steps, these alterations appear more manageable as long as the phases are planned out.  

Bill spoke further about Greenhouse Gas emissions, and how buildings are not the sole generator of these emissions. GHG emissions derive both from the building level and the grid level. Some ways to address the grid level emissions include upgrading the pump storage facility, demand management, and on-site renewables, and for buildings we can increase the number of electrical appliances. Bill sparked a great conversation amongst the committee after his presentation, regarding barriers building owners face when they try to increase energy efficiency in their homes, workplaces, etc. To learn more, come join us at our next Residential Green Building Committee!

Some upcoming events include: Leadership Development with Barbra Batshalom – Leading Organizational Change from Within on January 19th (Register here), Introduction: Living Building Challenge on Jan 25th (Register here). Annual General Meeting on Jan 26th (Register here).

 

Building Tech Forum 2017 Partner Announcement – Siemens

By Alexander Landa


Today we're excited announce that Siemens has become a sponsoring partner of our upcoming Building Tech Forum to be held February 16th! This unique event will talk smart cities – aka the combination of technology, architecture, and sustainability. You don't want to miss out on hearing from industry leaders about this innovative new trend!

Siemens Corporation is an international leader in electrification, automation, and digitalization. As one of the world's largest creators of energy-efficient and resource-saving technologies, this group is at the forefront of supplying systems for power generation and transmission as well as medical diagnosis.

There are some leaders in production that will turn a blind eye to sustainability and environmental awareness – but not Siemens. As a leader in the energy industry, such as by supplying energy efficiency solutions to control energy prices and increase the reliability and performance of power supplies – they still make it their goal to have minimal environmental impact. They are devoted to factoring in the wider community and protecting the environment,  they sustain the natural resources we all need to live, properly balance concerns of the economy, environmental protection, and social responsibility, and aim to educate everyone they interact with on why we need to aim for a more sustainable future.

Thank you for working with us on the Building Tech Forum – can't wait to see you there!

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Boston's green building market transformation

By City of Boston / John Dalzell


As green building practices began to emerge as a viable tool for reducing the environmental impacts of buildings, Boston made an unprecedented commitment to urban sustainability by enacting Zoning Article 37. Making it the first city in the nation to require private developers to adhere to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, Boston set out not only to drive green building practices but to transform the local building industry.

The zoning regulations promulgated by Article 37 require all building projects over 50,000 square feet to demonstrate their sustainability strategies using the most appropriate LEED rating system. Prior to issuance of a building permit, the City’s Inter-agency Green Building Committee determines if a project has fulfilled all the necessary LEED prerequisites and has earned enough points to meet the “certified” level. During the permitting and review process, and through additional development requirements, many projects increase their LEED green building commitment to Silver, Gold, and even Platinum.  While certification is not required, almost two-thirds of all projects subject to Article 37 seek the market benefits of building green certification through USGBC / GBCI.​

“I am proud that 10 years after Article 37 was enacted, Boston is still leading the nation in meeting the energy, environmental and climate change challenges of today and tomorrow,” commented Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “Our innovative leadership in green buildings is only possible because of all the stakeholders, building owners, workers and businesses working together to build a better Boston. While we know that the work continues, we look forward to celebrating these and so many other achievements with the green building community when we welcome Greenbuild to Boston later this year.”

Ten years after the enaction of Article 37, through the work of the Boston Planning and Development Agency and the department of Environment, Energy and Open Space, Boston is known as an innovation leader and is home to an impressive portfolio of green buildings. With growing demand for green and healthy work spaces, many of Boston’s existing Class A office buildings have responded by seeking LEED for Existing Buildings (now LEED v4 for Building Operations and Maintenance) certification: a certification program designed to implement and validate sustainability measures—water, energy, waste, and transportation—for owners and managers of existing buildings.  

In 2013, the owners of One Boston Place, led by their team at CB Richard Ellis, achieved LEED Gold for Existing Buildings. With a projected $213,000 annual savings and an investment payback period of approximately 1.3 years, the project has documented the following annual savings:

  • 18,000,000 kWk of energy (electricity and steam)
  • 3,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions
  • 12,000,000 gallons of potable water
  • 182,000 pounds of trash

(Source: CB Richard Ellis)

Grey Lee, executive director USGBC Massachusetts, reflected on this important milestone. “USGBC Massachusetts is proud to celebrate Boston's leadership and 10 years of achievement with Zoning Article 37 Green Building,” he said. “Our building professional practitioners have implemented and are operating green buildings that enable net positive outcomes for our community, and our world.”

Building on the success of Article 37, the city launched the Boston E+ (energy positive) Green Building program, to pilot the next generation of high-performance LEED Platinum buildings. With six units completed, four in construction and another 60 in permitting status, Boston is proving cities are at the forefront of sustainable practices. Today, with the city’s Climate Action Plan and a wide range of programs and initiatives, Boston has been twice ranked the most energy-efficient city in the nation

To learn more, visit the websites for the Boston Planning and Development Agency and the Article 37 Green Building and Climate Resiliency Guidelines.

Read the original article on the USGBC site here.

USGBC Online Education: The Greenest Schools: LEEDv4 New Construction for Schools

By Alexander Landa


Did you know that we provide online education resources through the USGBC to help you maintain LEED Accreditation? Instead of (or in addition to) going to in-person workshops, these online resources allow you to maintain accreditation from anywhere, anytime, at your own comfort. 

Register for the presentation here.

Steven Burke and Martine Dion of SMMA | Symmes Maini & McKee Associates present on LEED v4 For Schools, which is a rating system for new school projects in Massachusetts pursuing state reimbursement funding. This course will enable you and your teammates to have confidence knowing what to expect in approaching LEED v4 school projects. You will learn the essential differences related to prerequisites and the new credits that are changing the game for green buildings. 

Objectives

  1. Describe and identify the major differences between LEED 2009 for Schools and LEED v4 for Schools, including the new concepts, terminology and the new credit categories and credits.
  2. Help identify how the new and updated LEED v4 referenced standards may influence new schools design projects, including a discussion around potential for altered design process and outcome when comparing LEED v4 for schools to LEED v3 Schools projects.
  3. Outline some specific impacts for the various members of the project team in reaching LEEDv4 for Schools advanced sustainability goals, as well as highlight how the new LEED v4 for Schools credits will require changes to a schools project’s specifications and construction administration.
  4. Help attendees learn about the new materials transparency credits addressing EPDs (environmental product declarations) and HPDs (Health Product Declaration).

City of Boston Achieves Energy Efficiency Gains with Capital Improvements to its Iconic Buildings

By USGBC MA


The following is an article by the City of Boston's Office of Public Facilities. Read the original here.

BOSTON – Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced recent capital improvements to three of its iconic buildings completed by City of Boston Public Facilities Department will yield nearly $50,000 in annual utility savings for the lifetime of the installed improvements at the Central Library in Copley Square, City Hall and 26 Court Street. The project will also eliminate over 140 tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year, which is equivalent to removing more than 40 cars from the road for a year.

“I am proud Boston is leading by example in pursuing environmentally-friendly, sustainable and cost-saving options for our improvement projects,” said Mayor Walsh. “These improvements are a win-win effort, and I look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts with utility partners to continue making progress towards becoming a more energy efficient city.”

Boston's Public Facilities Department partnered with Eversource on the comprehensive building infrastructure and energy efficiency upgrade projects, with Eversource providing technical expertise and helping the City secure Mass Save program incentives to offset the overall cost of the upgrades to the three buildings.

“Eversource has been working closely with the City of Boston on innovative projects to make the City more energy efficient for many years,” said Tilak Subrahmanian, Vice President of Energy Efficiency at Eversource. “We commend Mayor Walsh and city leaders for demonstrating Boston's commitment to energy efficiency, and providing cities and towns across the country with a model they can follow.”

Last year, Mayor Walsh and the City's Public Facilities Department unveiled new high-efficiency LED exterior lighting on Boston's City Hall. The new fixtures wash the building in a warm white light, and also have the capability of projecting a wide-range of color options, which allows the City to light the building to acknowledge a variety of civic and celebratory events. The Public Facilities Department saved $30,000 on the installation through a Mass Save utility efficiency incentive, and expects to achieve $12,000 in energy savings annually.

During 2016, the Walsh Administration and Eversource also completed energy efficiency projects at the Central Library's Johnson Building, and additional projects at 26 Court Street. The energy efficiency upgrades installed in the Central Library's Johnson Building qualified to receive a $57,000 Mass Save incentive. Those improvements to the building's interior lighting and HVAC controls are expected to save the City $22,000 annually in reduced energy costs. The installation of five high-efficiency condensing boilers at 26 Court Street received a $50,000 Mass Save energy efficiency incentive. The five boilers are expected to reduce the cost of heating the building by $13,000 annually.

“Continuing to make this building more energy efficient through the Central Library Renovation Project was a major priority, and Mayor Walsh's continued commitment to the library and energy efficiency in the Capital Plan enables all of our buildings to offer great spaces on a sustainable basis now and into the future,” said David Leonard, President of the Boston Public Library.

Boston's large buildings and institutions contribute approximately 50 percent of the City's greenhouse gas emissions. The City's updated Climate Action Plan provides the framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. As a key means of reaching the greenhouse gas reduction goals stated in the Climate Action Plan, the City is leading by example by reducing the energy intensity of its own municipal buildings and working with its utilities to incentivize energy efficiency upgrades.