Getting to Net Positive: Environmental Advocacy Roundtable: Dec 8

By Grey Lee, Executive Director


Our collaborative Environmental Advocacy Roundtable convened Thursday morning at the BSA Space. Each quarter, the USGBC MA Advocacy Committee and the Boston Society of Architects Government Affairs Committee put together an agenda and host relevant stakeholders. The group synergizes expertise in building science and policy with champions of environmental advocacy. If we can get the buildings to be done the right way, we can respond to a lot of environmental and social challenges.

About 15 leaders at the intersection of green building and sustainability advocacy attended. Represented were: 

  • BSA Committee on the Environment (COTE)
  • USGBC MA
  • BSA Government Affairs Committee (GAC)
  • AIA Massachusetts
  • Sierra Club
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • Metropolitan Area Planning Council
  • Climate Action Business Association
  • Green Realtors
  • Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership

As a roundtable, the group shared the various priorities each organization is focused on for advocacy. This was quite a list – and great to know the breadth of work and how much overlap there is. These overlapping priorities are not really duplication of efforts, as each group is coming from a different angle, but help us to see where we could collaborate more.

Major areas for integrating our advocacy work include:

  • Carbon pricing

Legislation will be introduced on Beacon Hill to continue to advance this notion, starting with a low $10/ton price for carbon. Michael Green of CABA explained the situation. The revenue would be redistributed to taxpayers, though exactly how needs to be determined. Some advocate for larger transportation projects, others to return it at the municipal level. It is important to ensure social equity is balanced in the logistics of a carbon price, both morally and for the practical reason of assembling the political will from a wide variety of affected stakeholders. CABA models indicate it is somewhere between $70-$120M – thus not a huge sum to really fight over, nor to really consider for infrastructure projects. We discussed how environmental policy will shift focus to states and cities as the national arena becomes a no-fly zone for advancing sustainability.

  • Net zero policies and codes and zoning

While net zero legislation similar to last session's S.1771 will probably be introduced, it will also probably go nowhere. Kate Bubriski of the USGBC MA explained how our committee is pushing for municipal-level effort similar to Cambridge. Already, cities and towns like Newton, Lexington, Northampton and Concord have expressed an interest in developing a long-range net zero energy plan. How local efforts bump heads with the single statewide building code will be a problem. AIA MA is exploring “optional” components being added to the code which may help move sustainability improvements closer to requirement, but avoid knee-jerk opposition from the dominant trade groups and safety-focused entities which are the majority on the Board of Building Regulations & Standards. Roundtable members are concerned that this is a very slow process and want to work with municipalities to approach the net zero goal using incentives and zoning. Even micro-zoning.  

  • Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Planning (CAMP) – legislation vs executive order

While the CAMP legislation championed by Senator Pacheco did not make it through Beacon Hill this past session, it did result in the Executive Order 569 “Establishing an Integrated Climate Change Strategy for the Commonwealth.” Sam Milton of USGBC MA described the E.O. as a compromise in the spring during the energy omnibus bill negotiations. Pacheco will be re-introducing and continuing to push forward. The E.O. only applies to state agencies; it can't require any other party to do anything, nor does it authorize any new spending. It also would end whenever the Governor leaves office. We will continue to monitor this – supplying agencies with feedback as the E.O. asks, and to make way for the legislation.

  • Global Warming Solutions Act implementation and regulation promulgation

We analyzed how there are two major areas for advocacy – legislative and regulatory. The Chapter has generally focused on legislation, but AIA MA noted it can be easier to adjust things at the regulatory level. For the landmark Global Warming Solutions legislation, the SJC ruled the Commonwealth would have to get going with implementing regulations to attain the 80% redx of GHGs by 2050 (as per GWSA). The Implementation Advisory Council has formed to support the promulgation of new regs. Steve Long of the Nature Conservancy described how they will be arranging informal info sessions to help concerned parties learn about strategies to reduce GHGs such as natural carbon absorption (forestry and pasture management), resilience, and adaptation. The draft release of the regs, to take public comment, starts 12/16/16 – stay tuned!

Other areas explored included home energy assessments and scoring – perhaps creating a voluntary score registry to avoid the opposition of Mass. Association of Realtors, which feels requiring an assessment would compromise deal flow in the residential market. We discussed the alternative portfolio standard which requires utilities to source energy into the grid from a variety of types of generation, and this may be a way to advantage co-generation from biomass, facilitating renewable thermal energy solutions through the electricity grid. We heard about wood construction and how that could be a good thing for sustainability and conservation, but that it is a wood industry battle to fight against fire safety priorities, rather than the design community. As the technology and applications grow, we will see more reason to monitor this issue.

As we parted, after a fast two hours, we realized MAPC will be following C-PACE to ensure resilience gets into the picture, and CABA is following through on net metering. Sierra Club will continue to promote energy efficiency. AIA MA, among other things noted above, is also looking at zoning reform. You can review the USGBC MA's priorities here

I hope you will join our Advocacy Committee – our meetings are the third Thursday of each month at our headquarters in Boston.

Climate Ready Boston December 2016 Report

By Alexander Landa


Today on December 8th, 2016, the city of Boston government released their December 2016 Climate Ready Boston report. This report is designed to help residents of the city discover resilient solutions to adjust to climate change. Climate change has already affected Boston for the worse, with increased rain, snow, flooding, and extreme heat. CRB worked together with the Green Ribbon Commission and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to deliver these findings and analyses.

The results of this work and research have cumulated to address the challenges, leading to the creation of four components:

  • Updated Climate Projects: Examining the four climate factors of extreme temperatures, sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and storms.
  • Vulnerability Assessment: Looking at future risks such as extreme heat, stormwater flooding, and coastal & riverine flooding.
  • Focus Areas: Research focused on Charlestown, Charles River, Dorchester, Downtown, East Boston, Roxbury, South Boston, and South End.
  • Climate Resilience Initiatives: These future plans include updated climate projections, prepared and connected communities, protected shores, resilient infrastructure, and adapted buildings.

Read the full report here.

USGBC MA to Host Sessions at MED|Ed in April

By USGBC MA


We here at the USGBC MA are pleased to announce that we will be sponsoring events at MED|Ed April 4th & 5th at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. Our sessions are expected to revolve around sustainable, high-performance, and net positive solutions for the built environment. 

Read excerpts from the full press release below: 

The exhibit area will provide opportunities for product manufacturers to display healthy products to the design and construction professionals who attend the event. Visitors will also be interested in sessions produced by USGBC MA which include:

  • LEED v4, Arc, and other USGBC rating and disclosure systems
  • International Living Future Institute (ILFI) – Living Building Challenge
  • Living Community Challenge, Living Product Challenge
  • Net Zero Energy Building Certification, Declare, Just and Reveal
  • Harvard’s LIVING LAB Initiatives
  • Northeastern University Energy Systems Society (NU-ESS)
  • Sustainable Performance Institute
  • WELL Building Standard; Resilient Design Institute
  • And more


Complete descriptions and additional sessions are available at http://www.mededboston.com. Grey Lee, Executive Director, describes USGBC MA activities for better buildings and corresponding environmental and social benefits. “We know buildings are better when they are certified through the LEED system, the WELL system, and when they achieve the Living Building Challenge and associated petal challenges. Utilization of the EPA's Energy Star system and other similar tools combine to improve building operations and management. Using various components of the broad matrix of building assessment processes leads to reduced energy use and corresponding greenhouse gas reductions, reduced water consumption, reduced toxicity and improved indoor environments for occupants. These environmental and social benefits are shared by many of our peer organizations, professional associations, and municipal and state jurisdictions, leading to sustainability for our communities.”

Richard Vendola, MED|Ed Facilities Boston Principal notes, “To support our goal to deliver high-performance green and sustainable building solutions to every member of the New England design and construction team, we are thrilled to expand our educational and product offerings in mechanical systems and engineering. USGBC MA is a front runner in educating the industry in this important area to improve the health of our planet. We are happy to have USGBC MA’s assistance in expanding the knowledge of our attendees in this discipline and directing them to healthy material resources.”

About MED|Ed Facilities ®
MED|Ed Facilities is produced in collaboration with Tradeshow Management Services, Ltd. (TMS), a full-service tradeshow company specializing in conferences and tradeshows for the design, building and construction marketplace. TMS has been affiliated with leading events including AEC SYSTEMS, ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX), Build Boston, Residential Design & Construction, Ecobuild America, Federal Construction Outlook Conference, BIM Expo, and Construction Technology. The event is held in cooperation with the Construction Specifications Institute Boston.

Healthy Materials Sponsor Profile: USG

By Alexander Landa


Following the Healthy Materials Summit in October, we're still thankful for all of our sponsors from this monumental event. USG deserves thanks not only for sponsoring HMS, but for their everyday devotion to healthy materials and sustainability

USG isn't tied to any one particular product, rather, they focus on anything from wallboard and ceiling suspension systems, to acoustic panels and more.

They're committed to sustainable products that are designed, manufactured, distributed, and used in a way that's meant to leave less of a footprint on the environment. As of writing, more than 200 of their products have Greenguard certification, with plenty more to come.

See more of their sustainability mission by watching their video here.

Thank you for an awesome Healthy Materials Summit! We look forward to working with you more.

Reminder: LEED Exam Prep Course One Week From Today

By Alexander Landa


Register now!

One week from today is our next LEED Green Associate exam prep course! The holiday are busy, sure, but furthering your career is timeless. Becoming LEED accredited gives you a massive advantage at your current role, or any future jobs you may be interested in. Our all-day training session covers everything you can expect during an AP exam, so you can go into testing day confident. 

Our LEED exam prep courses have always been incredibly successful. See for yourself with a recap of our October 2016 LEED exam prep course. We have proven success, as evident by testimonials by past attendees:

“I just wanted to say thank you again for organizing the LEED review session last week- it was extremely helpful. I took the GA exam this morning and passed without too much trouble! I look forward to attending more USGBC events in the future,” – C.A.

“Thank you very much for the training!  It was clear and informative–I am looking forward to taking the next steps.  It was also just nice to meet the other people in the training and to be in such a beautiful space. Thank you very much,” – L.S.

“My notes had things in them like 'be sure to know this' and 'expect questions about these numbers.' I focused on those items as I studied material, and they all turned out to be accurate.  Your practice exam questions, too, were very helpful and gave a good feel to what to expect,” – T.H.

Attend our next events and go into your exams prepared!

Register here!
Wednesday, December 14th, 2016
8:30AM – 5:00PM
50 Milk St, 17th Floor, Hercules Conference Room
Boston, MA, 02109

Announcing the inaugural Northeast Summit for a Sustainable Built Environment 4/28-4/29

By Alexander Landa


Coming up April 28th & 29th, 2017, will be the inaugural Northeast Summit for a Sustainable Built Environment (NESSBE). Coming to New Haven, CT, this unique event is a joint effort by the CTGBC, Yale University School of Forestry and Office of Sustainability, and the Living Building Challenge: Connecticut Collaborative. Other local regional green building organizations will be joining in as well!

For these two days, join in on the conversation about the connection between human health and sustainability. Topics will revolve around health & happiness, biophilia & biomimicry, energy & water, materials, and urban agriculture. 

This event will be in addition to other USGBC summits, though now this one is designed to work with the larger community of building professionals, academics, and owners. It is expected that this summit will travel to different locations each year.

If you're interested in presenting, find out more here. Sponsors can go here for more information.

Healthy Materials Sponsor Profile: Beachstone Sustainable Products

By Alexander Landa


To keep up our appreciation of organizations that support healthy materials, we want to thank those who sponsored the Healthy Materials Summit in October. One of these groups, Beachstone Sustainable Products, deserves recognition for their devotion to sustainability.

Beachstone really takes sustainability seriously, and uses recycled post-consumer materials such as glass and seashells to create residential and commercial products, most notably surfaces and countertops. Their products are 85% by weight recycled, and contributes to 6 LEED points. Beachstone works with designers to create custom pieces all from sustainable materials – they promote other groups becoming green too.

Thank you Beachstone for supporting us, and thank you for being loyal to a healthier environment!

The Battle of the Buildings! Comparing LEED for Homes and PassiveHouse on December 15th

By Alexander Landa


LEED for Homes and PassiveHouse have quite a few similarities – as well as noticeable differences. For those who are still confused about how these two differ from one another, come to our morning session in Boston on December 15th @8:00 AM until 10:00AM to learn more.

Register here!

About the event:

Come to our Passive House and LEED for Homes educational session led by Mike Duclos, regional expert and market leader in Passive House design and Mike Schofield, LEED Faculty and LEED for Homes Expert. We will be comparing and contrasting the two systems and also looking at the market response to each. We will ask the attendees to drive the conversation and allow this expert panel to reflect against each system.

We will take a deep dive into the residential market, what drives change and where we are seeing the most effective strategies for adopting green building. We will also have an opportunity to identify the overlap of the two systems, their philosophies and intents.

For those sustainability experts in the room, we should also be able to outline the value of each system as it relates to Scope 1,2 and 3 GHG calculations and which standard might be more effective for different market segments.

Speakers: Michael Schofield – Senior Project Manager Michael Schofield currently oversees projects across New England, supervising LEED certification and ENERGY STAR® (Homes and High-Rise) ratings of Clearesult’s new construction projects. He directs project managers on building methods and strategies to make improvements cost effective, to create more durable buildings, and to transform the market. Schofield’s work is focused primarily on multifamily and affordable projects. He is certified as LEED faculty and a trainer for ENERGY STAR Homes Version 3. From 2010 to the present, he is delivering trainings on the Energy Code and Smart Building Practices to code officials, builders, and design professionals across Massachusetts. Schofield holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and an M.S. in Energy Analysis & Policy from the University of Wisconsin. He also holds a Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License, and is a Certified Building Commissioning Professional (CBCP).

Mike Duclos – A principal and founder of The DEAP Energy Group, LLC, a consultancy providing a wide variety of Deep Energy Retrofit, Zero Net Energy and Passive House related consulting services.

Mike is a HERS Rater with Mass. Residential New Construction Program, a Building Science Certified Infrared Thermographer, the PHIUS Certified Passive House Consultant responsible for the design and certification of the second certified Passive House in Massachusetts, holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from UMass Lowell, and two patents. He is responsible for two NESEA Building Energy Masters Series Passive House online courses on, and currently has three Passive House certification projects in process.

Register here!

Thursday, December 15th
8:30AM – 10:00AM
50 Milk St, 16th Floor, Edison Room
Boston, MA, 02109

The Distillery Tour in South Boston on 12/1/16

By Bill Womeldorf


If you’ve been to Boston lately, I’m sure you have been welcomed by the presence of many cranes and construction sites. The city is currently experiencing its fastest growth rate in decades and is trying to keep up with new residential development.

However, the residential development at The Distillery in South Boston is much different than the rest of these other developments.

So what’s all the hype about this new building? The U.S. Green Building Council lead by the Residential Green Building Committee scheduled a tour with the developer, Fred Gorton of Second Street Associates, LLC, to find out more.

Resilience to Sea Level Rise: The tour started in the parking garage, which of course is not your ordinary parking garage. In fact, the whole building is raised up about a full level from the ground level below to mitigation damage against sea level rise and storm surges. Fred said he made sure to design the ground floor level as “sacrificial” to prepare his building for the years ahead. He also made a special request to the electric utility to raise all the connections to the building up a level so that a flood would not distribute the building’s resilient electric system.

Sustainable Transportation: The garage will also house a fleet of zip cars, a shareable car system popular in Boston, and free electric charging stations for EV vehicles. When the project was first started, Boston required a substantial amount of parking spaces but since then has deiced they don’t want more cars. Fred has since reduced the parking to a focus on car sharing and sustainable modes of transit like biking.

Mixed Use Community: The development will be home to a lively artist community in South Boston and will feature affordable units. It will also feature an art gallery, grocery store and a cafe that will be able to open up to the outdoors during the summer months. Fred mentioned that the placement of these attractions within the development is geared towards encouraging people to walk more and maintain an active lifestyle.

Centralized Amphitheater: The center of the development will feature a large outdoor multi-level amphitheater where the building’s residents can put on musical shows and events. The exterior porches of the units are also strategically positioned to take advantage of this and actually face towards the outdoor theater stage. Basically, you could be sitting in private on your porch, sipping tea, and watching a live band in front of you.

Edible Gardening on Site: The development is also cherishing the open land, rooftop garden, and outdoor spaces to grow vegetables and flower gardens in the summer months. Well how about the winter? Local food can still be grown on site at the three-story greenhouse located a few steps away from the new development.

Passive Design: The building is designed in such a way so that units take advantage of passive design features like solar heat gain from the sun in the summer, passive ventilation from strategic placement of windows and doors to shading devices like those on the south porches that can be controlled by the residents.

High-Performance Mechanical Systems: The heating systems for the units are air source heat pumps, which are typical for passive house developments. But what’s also important is that all the units are equipped with their own heat recovery ventilation system. This will allow the residents to be exposed to clean and filtered air. Fred has done a lot of research on the topic of the negative health effects from people living near highways and pollution. He hopes that with these ventilation systems, the residents will be sick less frequently and will also have a much more comfortable living environment.

65 Solar Powered Units: Due to the passive house construction style, the building will be requiring much less energy to maintain that the typical new development. Because of this, all the new units can be accommodated by on-site renewable energy systems. Fred also has plans to buy additional land out in Western Mass to build additional solar power for when he decides to add more units to the development.

You can learn more about the Distillery project by contacting ICON Architects or Fred Gorton. The Distillery is a 65 unit LEED-H Midrise Platinum with Passive House Certification in South Boston.

About the Author:

Bill Womeldorf is an energy efficiency designer in Boston, MA. He’s typically the one with the reusable water bottle in business meetings. When we all work together, he believes, it’s possible to solve the climate crisis. You can follow Bill on twitter @BillWomeldorf and read more about carbon neutral buildings on his blog.

Lots Went Down in November, More to Come in December

By Alexander Landa


Read the full December 2016 USGBC MA Newsletter here!

November was a huge month for us. We shared good times at ABX, winterized homes with Youthbuild for elderly citizens to prepare for the winter, and now we're starting to ramp up to go all-in for Greenbuild next year!

Take a look at the list of events below. The big one is 12/15 in Boston: our Greenbuild volunteer recruitment meeting. Join a committee to make a difference.

Did you hear about ARC – the new platform USGBC has created to facilitate data collection to enable existing buildings to go green?

Thanksgiving may have just passed, but that doesn't mean our thankfulness for you has ended. Every day we're thankful for our community. Three days ago was Giving Tuesday, and we raised $2000 thanks to your generous contributions! You're all awesome. 

The USGBC MA is nothing without our community of green building advocates, and I love seeing your smiling faces at events, and connecting with you via social channels.

We have a number of ways that you can get involved still. 

1)  You can still give to our #GivingTuesday campaign  – growing our movement for #MoreGreenBuildings!

2) You can help with our  student scholarships and advocacy campaigns.

3) Our 2017 mentoring program is starting to get into gear. If you're interested in mentoring someone – or being mentored – learn more here.

4) If you have been looking to get involved with  Greenbuild 2017 – come out on 12/15. Also, we're building out sponsoring partners now, so if you want to be featured as part of the biggest green building event of the year, contact us to learn more.

Thank you again for your ongoing work with us!

Read the full December 2016 USGBC MA Newsletter here!