Greenbuild 2017 Session Proposals are Due THIS FRIDAY!

By Alexander Landa


This Friday, January 13th, proposals for Greenbuild 2017 educational sessions will be due. This is a really exciting opportunity for anyone interested in getting more involved with green building, as over 20,000 people attend the conference every year. If you're involved in sustainable design, construction, and operations practices for buildings and communities – and their impact on the environment, people, and the economy – then you this is a great time to get involved. This is the world's largest green building conference and expo – and it's coming to Boston! Don't miss out on this opportunity. To make matters more exciting, Greenbuild will be co-locating with ABX next year!

Interested individuals can go HERE to submit a proposal and learn more.

When you consider a proposal, the Greenbuild website lists a few format styles, such as flash charrette, rapid fire, structured discussion, debate, and a lecture.

Recently, the steering committee for the conference identified two new important priorities:

·        Academic Study: Greenbuild has a firm commitment to the role of academic studies in advancing the mission of transforming the built environment. We are seeking proposals that highlight ongoing or recent research that impacts the built environment, the health of building occupants, our communications about it, or human behaviors that relate to it.

·        New Voices: Greenbuild is a place for industry leaders, novices, and a new generation of leaders alike to gather. We are seeking to provide opportunities for new voices to share their experiences, thinking and work with the Greenbuild audience.

The subject areas of focus are: 

  • Health and Well Being
  • Existing Buildings, with a focus on Historic Preservation
  • Innovation in Energy
  • Resilience
  • Social Responsibility, Community Action & Engagement

We're pretty stoked for Greenbuild coming to Boston this year. To celebrate it, we created the “Road to Greenbuild” where we will be holding many related events between now and then. Check it out here.

Reminder! Meet Eric Corey Freed this Wednesday and Talk His XPRIZE for Healthy Buildings

By Alexander Landa


Before the new year really picks up and you're still decompressing from a busy holiday season, enjoy a morning away from the office and meet Eric Corey Freed as he discusses the power of exponential thinking when designing healthy buildings.

Register here!

Wednesday, January 11th, 2017
8:30am-10:15am
50 Milk St., 18th Floor, Hemingway Room
Boston, MA, 02109

Full details:

The way buildings are built today has remained relatively unchanged for nearly two hundred years. The $9 trillion a year global construction industry is responsible for nearly 60% of climate change emissions, a third of landfill waste and a shocking array of negative health effects.

Even the most advanced construction projects in the world continue to use ancient techniques of modular assembly, relying on painstaking human effort to construct dead & ancient materials of wood, steel, and concrete. Construction is driven by standards and codes to ensure economy and safety, but in the process fail to protect people from larger risks.

In 2016, the XPRIZE Foundation set out to establish a “moonshot” for construction by creating the XPRIZE for Healthy Buildings. In this talk, you’ll learn how the team approached this unique opportunity to develop a way to (literally) grow buildings by fusing synthetic biology, genomics, parametric modeling and 3D printing to create a disruption and paradigm shift that could switch us from a PETRO-chemical world, to a BIO-chemical one.

Eric Corey Freed: 

Named as one of the Top 10 “Most Influential Green Architects” in the world, Eric is an architect, author, and speaker, as well as a frequent guest on CNN, Fox News, PBS and HGTV. He’s published 11 books, and has dedicated his career to helping people create sustainable and healthy buildings. In addition to being an award-winning architect, he advises manufacturers, developers, and Fortune 500 companies on how to improve the health, energy, and water impacts of their products, portfolio and systems.

Licensed Architect; LEED Fellow, US Green Building Council; Voted “Best Green Architect” by San Francisco Magazine

1/26: Introduction to the Living Building Challenge

By Alexander Landa


The Living Building Challenge is still a new concept to many, and to those folks, it can be quite confusing. What makes this building standard unique is the time devotion needed – you can't just make a building, have it look good day one, and then let it go. You need to keep this design Net-Zero (energy, waste, water) for a year before it even has a chance at being qualified. 

Interested now? Get the primer from us on January 26th – register here!

During this 3-hour morning session, we will cover projects in Massachusetts, including a presentation followed by a discussion, answering any remaining questions you may have.

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the basic philosophy of the Living Building Challenge

2. Describe the key components of the program

3. Discuss the rationale for restorative design principles

4. Identify and locate the resources provided by the International Living Future Institute for deeper engagement

Healthy Materials Sponsor Profile: Bergmeyer

By Alexander Landa


The Healthy Materials Summit on October 26th was an awesome event! We couldn't have put everything together without the help of a hosting committee, the volunteers, and especially our sponsors. An extra big thank you goes to Bergmeyer for really helping to make the Summit happen.

Bergmeyer is an architectural firm devoted to meeting every single one of their clients' needs, while going above-and-beyond their expectations. They don't just aim for a building – they create an entire environment that meet their clients' vision and visual desires, and factoring in concerns of durability, functionality, budget, and schedule.

We appreciate their devotion to sustainability, as they make it one of their primary goals and services when working on new designs. As of writing, they have been recognized by the GBCI as a LEED Proven Provider within the Interior Design and Construction rating system, with over 50 certified projects, and with 50 percent of their technical staff being LEED Accredited.

Thank you for helping with the Healthy Materials Summit – we look forward to working with you more in the future!

Network Drive Burlington Campus Achieves Seven LEED EBOM Gold

By Daniel Whittet


Network Drive is a commercial office center located in Burlington, Massachusetts originally developed as a campus for the computer software company Sun Microsystems in 1997. Currently owned by Network Drive Owner LLC, there are now seven office buildings sharing close to 1 million sf of office and research space supporting high-tech companies with a combined central utility plant centered on 114 acres of land.

The LEED project boundary encompasses 80 acres of landscaped grounds and hardscape close to the buildings creating the campus, which is surrounded by 34 acres of native conservation land. Originally conceived by Sun Microsystems in the late ’90s to have the look and feel of a university campus, the project was a natural fit for the LEED Campus approach to certification. This method allows buildings to take credit for shared attributes on a site and achieves separate LEED certification for each project, building space, or group.

As part of the LEED attempt, Network Drive management worked with AHA Consulting Engineers to benchmark and initiate several innovative approaches to improving the campus environment while reducing energy and resource consumption. A completely new front end to the original building operation system was completed with a recommissioning and upgrade of controls. Parking lot lighting was converted to LEDs with a Zigbee Mesh Network control system that allows pinpoint management of site lighting to reduce energy consumption and light pollution while improving safety. Water use was reduced 30% in buildings and 75% on the landscape irrigation. Transportation options were implemented that included a bike-sharing service and regular shuttle initiatives to reduce conventional commuting trips by 31%.

The connected landscape and walkways of the site allowed the project to receive credit for sustainable food purchases at the centrally located Sebastian's café. The spacious dining facility uses organic local produce and seafood from Reds Best, a local networked seafood provider. A project with Green City Growers also allows tenants to get fresh produce from raised-bed gardens onsite, which contributed to a LEED Pilot credit, and the waste diversion policy includes composting of all food waste at an offsite location.

The LEED project team was able to use the building automation system upgrade to initiate a monitoring-based ongoing commissioning plan that includes fault testing algorithms and system optimization. A flat plate heat exchanger in the central plant provides free cooling for intensive data center spaces during winter months.

The comprehensive LEED EBOM rating system involves a performance period during which project team members initiate plans, policies, benchmarking, and recommissioning of building assets to upgrade properties and the environment around them. “LEED for Existing Buildings Operation and Maintenance (EBOM) is a challenging and time-consuming process,” stated Patrick O’Neill, assistant vice president of Nordblom Management Company. “We feel the outstanding success of the Network Drive certifications is a testament to the quality of the original design and the commitment of the management team to continuous improvement.”

All the buildings have been awarded LEED EBOM Gold with Energy Star scores above 80.

Daniel Whittet, LEED AP, is a sustainability consultant at AHA Consulting Engineers.

USGBC Online Education: Social Equity Credits and LEED

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.

We're proud to show Shawn Hesse's – USGBC MA Board President & architect at emersion DESIGN – presentation on Social Equity Credits and LEED. The USGBC  gives credits for social equity, meaning you have another checkbox you can hit when designing a project, or looking to retrofit an existing one. These credits are Social Equity in the Project, Social Equity in the Community, and Social Equity in the Supply Chain.

Shawn's presentation is a primer to social equity in the built environment, discusses potential problems with social equity, and introduces each of the three LEED credits, their intentions, and documentation requirements.

You can register for this presentation here.

Happy New Year! We're Going to Start 2017 Strong

By Alexander Landa


Read the full January 2017 newsletter here!

It's already 2017! How did that happen so quickly? Well, now that the holidays are over, we're keeping the positive vibes and we're going to be starting 2017 off with a bang.

Spoilers for our upcoming Annual Meeting in a few weeks – we're going to be announcing a game, and it's going to be quite…ENGAGING! This new program will shine the spotlight on those who really make an impact in our Chapter, and we're really excited to get this going. We will also recap the advocacy victories of 2016 and announce new Board members for the 2017 cycle.

From there, we will be holding our Building Tech Forum on February 16th – a unique event exploring how green buildings are a part of the smart cities of the future. Join us for this mixer combining technology with the building sector.  Science and the future are awesome.

Also, please join us on January 11th for a morning educational session with Eric Corey Freed, as he walks us through the power of exponential thinking in green building design. Register.

Sign up for our newsletter and event notices here

Read the full January 2017 newsletter here!

Join TechSandBox on 1/12 for a Panel on High Performing Green Buildings

By Alexander Landa


On January 12th, our friends over at TechSandBox will be holding a meeting with a panel session to discuss High Performing Green Buildings. On this Thursday evening gathering, learn from local industry leaders about new technology, how to use them properly, taking environmental/financial impacts and effects, and considering ROI.

The panel will feature Elijah Ercolino (Director of Building Automation Services at Boston University), Michael Fitzgerald (General Manager at MIT Endicott House Conference Center), and Chriss Schaffner (PE, LEED Fellow, Founder & President of The Green Engineer, Inc.) This discussion will be moderated by Brad Rolph. 

Register here!

Thursday, January 12th, 2017
5:30pm – 8:30pm
 

Jan 11 – Discuss Exponential Thinking in Creating Healthy Buildings with Eric Corey Freed

By Alexander Landa


Before the new year really picks up and you're still decompressing from a busy holiday season, enjoy a morning away from the office and meet Eric Corey Freed as he discusses the power of exponential thinking when designing healthy buildings.

Register here!

Wednesday, January 11th, 2017
8:30am-10:15am
50 Milk St., 18th Floor, Hemingway Room
Boston, MA, 02109

Full details:

The way buildings are built today has remained relatively unchanged for nearly two hundred years. The $9 trillion a year global construction industry is responsible for nearly 60% of climate change emissions, a third of landfill waste and a shocking array of negative health effects.

Even the most advanced construction projects in the world continue to use ancient techniques of modular assembly, relying on painstaking human effort to construct dead & ancient materials of wood, steel, and concrete. Construction is driven by standards and codes to ensure economy and safety, but in the process fail to protect people from larger risks.

In 2016, the XPRIZE Foundation set out to establish a “moonshot” for construction by creating the XPRIZE for Healthy Buildings. In this talk, you’ll learn how the team approached this unique opportunity to develop a way to (literally) grow buildings by fusing synthetic biology, genomics, parametric modeling and 3D printing to create a disruption and paradigm shift that could switch us from a PETRO-chemical world, to a BIO-chemical one.

Eric Corey Freed: 

Named as one of the Top 10 “Most Influential Green Architects” in the world, Eric is an architect, author, and speaker, as well as a frequent guest on CNN, Fox News, PBS and HGTV. He’s published 11 books, and has dedicated his career to helping people create sustainable and healthy buildings. In addition to being an award-winning architect, he advises manufacturers, developers, and Fortune 500 companies on how to improve the health, energy, and water impacts of their products, portfolio and systems.

Licensed Architect; LEED Fellow, US Green Building Council; Voted “Best Green Architect” by San Francisco Magazine

December 2016 LEED Certified Buildings

By Alexander Landa


We're always happy to see more LEED Certified buildings in Massachusetts! Every building that becomes certified deserve a little more credit, so we want to put the spotlight on some recently certified designs in Boston.

Shout out to Boston University's Law Auditorium (left) for obtaining 2009 Gold certification on 12/22/2016! This design stands out for achieving 24/26 points in Sustainable Sites, 5/6 for Innovation in Design, and 10/14 in Materials & Resources.


Next up is 3200 Washington Street, a multi-family residential home that is registered to become LEED for Homes MR v2010 certified. Earlier in December, the Harvard Ed Portal became LEED Commercial Interiors 2009 Silver certified, largely thanks to its 84% Energy Star Qualified Equipment rating.