Review Article 37 at Our Boston's Evolution to Green Event 12/7

By USGBC MA


Come join us to connect with the City of Boston and to learn about their quest towards carbon neutrality. We will convene a discussion in the City's efforts through policy, reviewing Article 37, present ambitions towards net-zero and looking at the market's appetite for green real estate. 

Register for Boston's Evolution to Green event here!

The event intends to convene the real estate sector with policy makers and those who are stakeholders in the the transition towards a more environmentally friendly and marketable downtown. 

Stay tuned for presenters and event schedule.

Wednesday, December 7th, 2016
5:30pm – 7:30pm
Boston City Hall
1 City Hall Square
Boston, MA, 02201

Some information on Boston's environmental policy:

In January 2015, Mayor Martin J. Walsh updated the Greenovate Boston Climate Action Plan, reaffirming long-standing goals to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 and establishing new goals to ensure that Boston is prepared for the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels and more frequent temperature extremes and precipitation events.

Boston Zoning Code Article 37, Green Buildings (Article 37) and the Boston Climate Change Preparedness and Resiliency Policy (Resiliency Policy) and Checklist (Resiliency Checklist) ensure that major building projects are planned, designed, constructed, and managed to minimize adverse environmental impacts; conserve natural resources; prepare for climate change; promote a more sustainable city; and enhance the quality of life in Boston. All proposed projects subject to or electing to comply with Zoning Article 80B, Large Project Review are subject to Article 37.

Register here!

USGBC MA Sponsored ABX Session B68 – Designing for Net Positive Water and Energy

By Alexander Landa


Coming up November 15th to 17th will be ABX 2016! As part of the Northeast's largest building industry conference and tradeshow, Architecture Boston Expo, the USGBC MA Chapter will be sponsoring multiple panels this year. This year, we're hosting multiple panels, so let's take a look at Wednesday's panel, B25: Designing for Net Positive Water and Energy.

Net positive energy is a key component in the battle against climate change. Buildings emit nearly 50% of carbon emissions, and architects can play a leadership role in moving beyond incremental reductions to regenerative design now. Net positive water design is more nuanced. Institutions of higher learning can provide thought leadership by advocating for global water awareness, even if water is plentiful on a local level. Regulatory agencies are not prepared for the conversation, but in some cases are helpful in moving demonstration projects forward. In this session, you'll hear from architects who are designing net positive energy and net zero water systems for a 16,000 SF, two-story campus building. Topics explored: – Performance goals and philosophy behind net positive design – Design concept and construction details behind energy systems – All aspects of water systems, including rainwater collection, filtration, composting, grey water treatment, and storm water management – The regulatory and permitting processes.

Speakers

Jason Forney AIA, LEED AP Principal Bruner/Cott Architects

Jason Jewhurst AIA, NCARB Senior Associate Bruner/Cott & Associates

B68: Designing for Net Positive Water and Energy
Wednesday, 11/16
3:30PM – 5:00 PM
Room 157C

Register here!

Come to the Biomimicry & Living Building Exploration Event Sat. 11/5

By Biomimicry New England


Our friends over at Biomimicry New England are holding an event this Saturday, November 5th in Amherst, MA, entitled Biomimicry & Living Building Exploration. Instead of spending your Saturday sleeping or catching up on YouTube, make it a productive weekend (and save sleep for Sunday!) by attending this informative event discussing and touring living buildings.

From 9:30AM to 4:00PM, this day will feature lectures as well as tours of two new living buildings, followed by a panel discussion on bio-inspired planning.

The program will include a lecture and tour of the Hitchcock Center by architect Sam Batchelor of designLAB architects. Jason Jewett of Bruner/Cott will discuss the design of Kern Center at Hampshire College and lead a tour of that building. This will be followed by a panel discussion about biomimicry and urban planning.

Panelists will include: Josh stack, Counselor at law & Resilience; Jim Newman, Linnean Solutions and Elisha Long, CV Properties & Biomimicry Professional. Moderator, Peter Lawrence, Biomimicry New England.

Register for the event here!

November 2016 USGBC MA Newsletter

By Grey Lee


Read our full newsletter here!

Greetings, all!

I hope no one was too freaked out last night – I was on red alert all day. It is fun to get a little “out there” and get in the swing of the holidays, keeping us bright as the temps drop.

What are you working on at the end of the year here?  How are you contributing to net positive outcomes through the built environment? 

At the USGBC MA, we are exploring what it means to make a difference. How can we help you push the envelope? How can we help you lead your firm or organization to more audacious goals?

There's a lot of momentum in our community. A lot of goodwill.

Our Emerging Professionals (EPMA) recently held a fun networking event (at Peabody Office thanks to the Behr team for a great presentation). There was some mad ping-pong and the jenga-scraper was consistently high before crashing.

The EPMA was also busy earlier this month producing a tour of the new UMass Boston: University Hall complex. An awesome new green building! Thanks to Pare Corporation for sponsoring and the whole team for guiding us and teaching us. It is awesome to spend time with our emerging pros – the up-and-coming and super energetic principals of the future!

We continue to convene a leading conversation to inspire, educate and nurture our movement.

The Healthy Materials Summit drew together over 150 people to engage on that important topic. If you didn't get to go to the Healthy Materials Summit, get the full recap here and try to go to next year's event! See pictures from this year's event here.

Pretty soon our community will come together at ABX – make sure you are registered. And register for our sessions in the “green building” track – what an amazing collection of instructors. Truly leaders in our work. If you're looking to network, join us for our Pre-Mixer with Amanda Sturgeon on Nov. 14, and the Quebec is Quality Reception Nov. 16

And if you want to help us lead, please come out and join us. The next big event is our All-In Party on 12/15 at Nitsch Engineering. This will be your opportunity to step onto the stage and work with our organizing team to host the most wicked green Greenbuild EVER!

We still have lots coming up soon! We have another WELL AP exam prep course November 22nd, and a LEED exam prep course November 29th.

Thanks for your support, your energy, and your commitment to transforming the built environment for net positive benefit.

Thank you,

Grey

Read our full newsletter here!

Want to stay in touch? Spend one minute and sign up for our newsletter here!

Let's Get Hyped For ABX In Two Weeks!

By Alexander Landa


Coming up November 15th to 17th will be ABX 2016! As part of the Northeast's largest building industry conference and tradeshow, the USGBC MA Chapter will be sponsoring multiple panels this year. This expo is going to feature a lot more than just sessions and panels, however. With interactive workshops, speakers, virtual reality, and more, ABX is going to be a great way to engage with the building community before the holiday season starts up.

Big names and startups alike will be in the exhibitor hall throughout the week. Window, hardware, flooring, and other vendors will be bringing out their A-game to inform all in attendance about their new innovative products and strategies. The interactive floor plan can be found here.

There will be three days of demos for a Construction Training Zone so you can see daily demos that show off best practice installation techniques for energy efficient remodeling and construction. Full details here.

If you're going to learn as much as you can, see the full list of workshops here. The sessions we're sponsoring can be found here. For a full list ABX 2016 speakers, go here.

Some of our favorite events we're sponsoring are:
A05: Good Medicine: the WELL Building Standard
B44: Mapping the Materials Universe: Lessons and Strategies
B68: Designing for Net Positive Water and Energy
C21: How Green Building Make Your Clients Smarter – Harvard Study

What would a big event like this be without partying a bit? On Monday 11/14, Amanda Sturgeon will be speaking at the ABX Pre-Mixer: Living Building Challenge. Register for the pre-mixer here. You can also attend the Quebec is Quality Reception + USGBCMA Project Showcase on Wednesday 11/16. Register for this project showcase here.

Two weeks from today is the first day of ABX 2016! We're getting super excited to go and hope to see you there!

 

The Next USGBC MA Mentor Cycle is Going to Launch Soon!

By Rebecca Slocum


The USGBC MA Emerging Professionals committee is working to further develop a mentor program for USGBC MA members. In an effort to foster relationships in the green building community, this program aims to connect Emerging Professionals with Experienced Professionals.

  • Mentee | Would you benefit from having someone to speak about Professional Development with?

  • Mentor | Are you an Established Professional willing to share knowledge & insight?

If you’re interested in becoming a mentee or mentor please submit your information below. The success of this program is dependent on our ability to gather a great group of sustainability professionals – Help us spread the word!

Please direct specific questions to Rebecca Slocum or the EPMA Committee.

Healthy Materials Sponsor Profile: Forbo Flooring

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 Forbo Flooring for really helping to make the Summit happen.

Forbo is a dominant global player in the introduction and service of high-quality, commercial floor coverings & total solution flooring projects that include Linoleum, Vinyl, Luxury Vinyl Tiles, and Flocked Flooring.  You can find their floors in buildings such as healthcare, senior care, education, commercial offices, government contracts, leisure & hospitality, retail, public buildings, social housing, industry, and transport– so basically any and every type of building. 

Forbo's floors can be found in multiple continents and in a variety of settings and contexts.  Their commitment to excellent design and responsible production is unfaltering.  The company is notably interested in how its operations interact with and affect human health and the environment.


The company is committed to its sustainable practices; as they note, “From how they’re made to how they perform, we make truly sustainable floors that are good for people, good for buildings and good for the environment.” Forbo reduces, reuses, and recycles. Consider the following:

Forbo has an internal awareness program, “The Forbo Way to Win,” that fleshes out their sustainability policy and strengthens employee engagement by providing a platform for them to contribute to efforts in reducing energy consumption, the use of raw materials and waste. The company's clear commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship makes them the perfect partner for us at USGBC MA! 

Read more about the company on its website, and check out their Health and Environment page

USGBC MA Sponsored ABX Session B49 – Thriving in an Age of Rising Seas

By Alexander Landa


Coming up November 15th to 17th will be ABX 2016! As part of the Northeast's largest building industry conference and tradeshow, Architecture Boston Expo, the USGBC MA Chapter will be sponsoring multiple panels this year. This year, we're hosting multiple panels, so let's take a look at Wednesday's panel, B49: Thriving in an Age of Rising Seas.

The City of Boston's Living With Water Design Competition called for international teams to submit designs to increase Boston's climate change resiliency and overall sustainability. A group of green building leaders and social activists issued a challenge, called Thriving With Water, which encouraged participants to set a higher goal for their competition entries, and work to transform the problem of climate change into an opportunity to create a more economically, socially, environmentally, and culturally vibrant and sustainable Boston. Challenge components included: – Work with people and organizations – Explicitly recognize the relationships between human, natural, and social systems – Design for the dynamic nature of coastal areas – Design for long-term resiliency. This session presents a model that is grounded in the belief that to regenerate the vital life of our coastal communities we need to support that life-our life-with a dynamic environment and thriving people and organizations.

Andrea Atkinson Executive Director One Square World

Jim Newman LEED AP O+M Partner Linnean Solutions

Adeola Oredola Consultant

David Queeley Director, Eco-Innovation Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corp

Dr. Sarah Slaughter CEO and President Built Environment Coalition

B49 – Thriving in an Age of Rising Seas
Wednesday, 11/16
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Room 157B

Register here!

USGBC MA Sponsored ABX Session B44 – Mapping the Materials Universe: Lessons and Strategies

By Alexander Landa


Coming up November 15th to 17th will be ABX 2016! As part of the Northeast's largest building industry conference and tradeshow, Architecture Boston Expo, the USGBC MA Chapter will be sponsoring multiple panels this year. This year, we're hosting multiple panels, so let's take a look at Wednesday's panel, B44 – Mapping the Materials Universe: Lessons and Strategies.

Living Building Challenge teams, as well as LEED V4 teams, find a selection of high-quality, healthy products, but the range is limited. What benign, high performing products do we need to complete our projects? We explore the hardest specification sections and the most opaque market sectors, inviting discussion and exploration of the greatest challenges. Low toxicity, high performance, durability, and affordability… how can these and other factors be achieved simultaneously? How have working project teams addressed this challenge?

Speakers

Lisa Carey-Moore Sustainability Analyst Integrated Eco Strategy

Lisa Goodwin-Robbins RA, CCS, LEED Architect Specifier Kalin Associates

Jason Jewhurst AIA, NCARB Senior Associate Bruner/Cott & Associates

Charley Stevenson LEED AP BD+C Principal Integrated Eco Strategy

B44 – Mapping the Materials Universe: Lessons and Strategies
Wednesday, 11/16
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Room 109A

Register here!

 

Last Night's EPMA HallOlympics Was a Good Time!

By Alexander Landa


Last night's EPMA HallOlympics event was a blast!

Decked in our best athlete costume (or in the Behr Pro guys' case, Colonial attire), the Peadbody Office floor welcomed our Halloween party. We had good food, drinks, healthy competition, and an informative presentation by Behr Pro on their devotion to creating green-friendly paint products.

Thanks to Peabody Office for hosting the event at your awesome Boston location, and thanks to Behr Pro for sponsoring.

(Thank to Brian Fontaine for the group picture!)