Join Us For Healthy Materials Summit 2016 In Cambridge October 26

By Grey Lee


Healthy materials is a topic that every green building proponent and advocate must engage on. Join us on 10/26 for a day of exploration, inspiration, and hands-on “how to” events with experts from the field of building materials science. What do you need to deepen your understanding of? What resources do you wish you had? Join us for the Healthy Materials Summit at Google in Cambridge to connect with your colleagues to share how to structure healthy materials concerns into every project you work on.

Speakers include Brent Ehrlich from Building Green, Rebecca Calahan Klein of Global Health Exchange, and Monica Nakielski of Partners Healthcare. USGBC Massachusetts Chapter Board Member Barbra Batshalom of the Sustainable Performance Institute will share how firms can systematically embrace healthy materials and the International Living Future Institute's Greg Norris will update us on the Living Product Challenge. Stay the afternoon for a full workshop on that!

We know buildings need to be net positive for our society – not just places to get things done or pretty things to marvel at.

The industry has come a long way since the first oil price shocks and energy efficiency became synonymous with a good building. Now, with net zero and passive house certifications, we have ways of really asserting the energy performance of a building.

Next is health. We are moving fast to embrace buildings as places to improve quality of life (or work) and improve physiological effects on occupants. The LEED system (v4) is incentivizing transparency in materials – considering their health effects. The Living Building Challenge has the Red List of “no-go” materials. The WELL building standard was developed to force thinking around health outcomes and materials concerns are right there.

Come out an participate with this community in a deep dive to get better with the tools, the terminology and the techniques that will be standard practice in the coming months and years.

We look forward to seeing you at the Healthy Materials Summit!

If you're interested in attending, you can find tickets here.

For those interested in sponsoring, you can find all of that information here.

U.S. Building Owners Show Strong Support for Better Designed, Healthier Buildings to Improve Employee Wellness

By Alexander Landa, Outreach and Communications Manager


According to a Sept. 15 press release from the USGBC, for building owners, developers, managers, and investors, designing and constructing healthier buildings is proving to be a clear business benefit. The results of a SmartMarket Report and Dodge Data & Analytics released the initial report.

The “Drive Toward Healthier Buildings 2016” report supports the notion that the design and construction industry in the U.S.. is more widely accepting building practices that are physically, mentally,and socially healthy for occupants. Two-thirds of building owners consider healthier buildings to be important, with most of them believing that these buildings will lead to higher employee satisfaction and engagement.

“Our world is confronting massive challenges that affect our physical, mental and social well-being,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, chief operating officer, USGBC. “We know that programs like USGBC’s LEED green building rating system and IWBI’s WELL Building Standard provide key solutions to business leaders who are looking for the best way to create healthier, more sustainable buildings. We will continue to educate and push the market to prioritize human health in the built environment, which has benefits that extend beyond the building itself to the cities, communities and neighborhoods where we live.”

The five primary healthy buildings features are better lighting/daylighting exposure, products that enhance thermal comfort, spaces that enhance social interaction, enhanced air quality and products that enhance acoustical comfort. It's likely that the use of these features in designs moving forward will increase, alongside other further innovation techniques.

Our Chapter of the USGBC supports this notion wholeheartedly, as evidenced by our upcoming Healthy Materials Summit. To be held October 26th, 2016 in Google's Cambridge office, this event will cover topics related to the use of materials in buildings. Learn about how industry leaders are leveraging health product declarations (HPDs) and environmental product declarations (EPDs) to create buildings that improve the quality of life for their occupants and build their corporate brand.

You can read the full press release here.

Massachusetts and California Share Top Energy Efficiency Ranking

By Alexander Landa, Outreach and Communications Manager


On September 28th, 2016, The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released its 2016 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard yesterday, with the good news that Massachusetts is still ranking #1, and tied with California.

In the press release from Acadia, MA's score – its highest to date – increased in thanks to adopting the most recent IECC 2016 and ASHRAE 90.1-2013 as part of the state building code. All of these factors contribute to a lower energy cost for new homes and businesses.

“Massachusetts is on the winning path, but there is still plenty of work to do to make the most of this low-cost, clean resource,” said Amy Boyd, Senior Attorney at Acadia Center. “We should celebrate our success, but then return to the hard work that it takes to accelerate strategies to reach the homes and businesses that still need help lowering their energy costs,” Boyd said. “Making smart use of all the data that new technologies can provide utility companies will reduce costs, make processes more transparent, and keep us on track to stay on top of the ACEEE rankings,” Boyd concluded.

The state of Massachusetts is incredibly devoted to energy efficiency. The state's current three-year plan is expected to bring $8.1 billion in economic benefits, among other positive impacts.

You can read the rest of the press release here.

Getting Ahead of 2017 Energy Codes

By Alexander Landa, Outreach and Communications Manager


If you didn't get the chance to join us on Tuesday, September 27th, then you missed a great presentation on Energy Codes. In this course lead by Chris Schaffner, LEED Fellow and founder and President of The Green Engineer Inc., the morning was engaging and informative, enlightening those who attended to become more aware about MA's new energy code.

The state's new energy codes maintain the state's leadership position on building energy codes, and also re-aligns the Stretch Energy Code with the Base Code, simplifying the situation in Stretch Code Communities. This is important for professionals in the green building industry, so you can become update with the changes for commercial buildings, and the pros/cons of compliance options.

Of course, USGBC MA's devotion to education won't stop here. In the future, we will be holding more events similar to this!

If you're interested in emerging practices to get you ahead of the game, our Healthy Materials Summit is only a month away. Also in October, we will be holding an educational session with EnerNOC to go over details regarding renewable energy.
 



Member Profile: SMMA's Steven Burke

By Caitlin Forbes


As SMMA’s Sustainability Manager, Steven is responsible for LEED administration on various projects, as well as facilitating project teams, clients, and consultants in delivering sustainable design practices, applications, and documentation. Steven balances his time between sustainable corporate and residential projects and advancing green schools, currently working on Waltham and Somerville High Schools as well as Shark Ninja’s Corporate Headquarters. Steven is coleading the team curating the panelists for our upcoming Healthy Materials Summit, and we're excited to be working with him.

After obtaining Master's of Science in Sustainability Management at Columbia University, Steven became immersed in the built environment, seeking to advance the comprehensive benefits of what he defines as sustainable design: capitalizing on aesthetics, energy and water performance, durability, return on investment, and space functionality. The notion that sustainability is simply buying some materials with recycled content is dated; instead, Steven focuses on the new model of “Net Positive” buildings that give back more than they take. 

A thought leader in sustainable design strategies, Steve has chaired discussions at the Building Energy Conference, Architecture Boston Expo, and Building Technology Forum. For his additional work with the USGBC, Steven led the Green Building Bike Tours, presented on LEED v4 for Schools at the NESEA conference – ultimately turning it into a National Webinar – and now acts as a USGBC Board Member and Treasurer.

Check out Steven’s thoughts on Why LEED Matters for Future Generations.

Attend The Next USGBC LEED Exam Prep Course Oct. 19

By Alexander Landa, Outreach and Communications Manager


Take a break from reading books and Google searches, and come join us for a day-long LEED Exam Prep Course instead! On October 19th, our event will help bring you up to speed with LEED practices, to help you prepare for your exam.

For real estate professionals, architects, engineers, students, and anyone else who has a passion for green building practices and LEED, this course is designed for individuals of all knowledge levels, and to cover a vast majority of exam topics.

In addition to this course, there are a few other ways you can prepare. You can catch up with the LEED Green Associate Handbook, and the LEED Core Concepts Guide, for starters.

 

Wednesday, October 19th, 2016
50 Milk Street
18th Floor, Hemingway Room
Boston, MA

Register here.
Learn more about the course here.

New Balance Headquarters Design by Elkus Manfredi Architects Wins Green Building Showcase Building of the Year Award 2016

By Alexander Landa, Outreach and Communications Manager

 


 

Contact Information:
Name: Alexander Landa
Phone: 617-752-2422 
Email: amlanda@usgbcma.org                                                                    

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Balance Headquarters Design by Elkus Manfredi Architects Wins Green Building Showcase Building of the Year Award 2016

[Boston, September 26, 2016] At the 2016 Green Building Showcase awards held on September 22, 2016, at 888 Boylston Street in Boston, MA, Elkus Manfredi Architects was awarded the 2016 Green Building Showcase Building of the Year Award for its design of the New Balance Headquarters located in Brighton, MA. The LEED Platinum-certified design was recognized for its commitment to being environmentally-friendly and healthy for occupants, as well as being a prime example of modern engineering. Standing out among other green buildings in the contest, the new Balance Headquarters signifies the impact that forward-thinking companies – in partnership with designers such as Elkus Manfredi – can have on the built environment.

Completed in September 2015, the five-story, 250,000-square-foot New Balance Headquarters building is the sole LEED v2009 CS Platinum project in the United States to achieve all Indoor Environmental Quality credits, and only the third in the world. New Balance leadership envisioned its new headquarters as a state-of-the-art environment that would not only carry the company into the 21st century as a leading force in its core business, but also embody the corporate commitment to the health and well-being of its employees, its community, and our planet. The LEED Platinum certification of the new Headquarters is testament to that commitment.

Created by the USGBC’s Massachusetts Chapter, the annual Green Building Awards Program acknowledges the achievements of recent green building projects in the Commonwealth. All of the buildings featured in this event have made strides to ensure they are healthy for the environment and are prime examples of modern sustainable architecture.

For the Showcase event, the Chapter was honored to welcome distinguished real estate professionals representing the institutions of Harvard, MIT, BioMed Realty, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Cambridge Redevelopment, who noted that the New Balance Headquarters project outperformed others in the five criteria that were the basis for this distinguished award:  social equity, innovation, replicability, and positive environmental and economic impact.

Congratulations to Elkus Manfredi Architects and New Balance on this outstanding achievement.

-end-

 

It's Not Too Late To Attend The 2nd Annual Energy Conference Sept. 30th At Northeastern University

By Alexander Landa, Outreach and Communications Manager


Are you free this Friday at all? Well, if you want an excuse to begin the weekend early, it's not too late to attend the Second Annual Energy Conference on September 30th at Northeastern University Campus. Organized by the Energy Systems Society, this event will be covering a wide array of topics relating to energy, such as looking at renewable energy from an entrepreneur standpoint, and making connections between big data analytics and energy.

As described on the event's homepage, “The mission of the Northeastern University Energy Systems Society (ESS) is to bridge the gap between industry and academia, as well as development and sustainability. Engaging students and professionals from across the energy spectrum, the conference will establish a solution-based discussion to energy problems. This will not only serve as a knowledge platform, but will also help address serious sustainability issues that the current world faces. Conference registration will be open to the general public, including students, staff and faculty from neighboring colleges and universities, industry and government representatives, and other organizations in the Greater Boston and New England area. 

This unique event will be taking place Friday, September 30th, from 8:00AM to 7:00PM at Northeastern University's Curry Student Center (360 Huntington Ave., Boston MA).

You can register here.

A Thank You For A Great Green Building Showcase 2016

By Alexander Landa, Outreach and Communications Manger

Congratulations to all who participated in the biggest and best Showcase ever!

It was amazing and wonderful to see the Chapter community come together to celebrate some really great green buildings.


 


Green Building Showcase 2016 was a huge success! We want to thank all of you for attending what is one of the most important nights of the year for us. Without you, this event wouldn't happen. All of the speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and the community as a whole all helped bring this night to life, and it came out great.



Of course, one of the best parts of this event was simply being inside the beautiful 888 Boylston building. 888 Boylston proves how far we've come with technology and innovation. Not only is it absolutely gorgeous, both inside and outside, it's also environmentally-friendly (otherwise it wouldn't be the best place to hold an event, obviously). With an awesome view of the city, unique lighting, and modern amenities, this is proof that green buildings can be fun as well as incredibly practical. At least one point during the event, everyone in attendance stopped, looked around, and said “This building is beautiful.” They aren't wrong.


 


The night started with a lot of energy right off the bat. For what was probably the only time this will ever happen, over half of the attendees arrived early. We're going to assume this is proof that everyone was really excited to be there! Once everyone got upstairs and settled in, everyone went straight to networking and enjoying the heavy apps and drinks. Before speakers went on stage, everyone had the chance to check out the boards and vote for their favorite entries in the Green Building Market Leadership Award Series. It wasn't easy to pick favorites with all of the amazing entries.



From there, the stars of the night took the stage to deliver some enlightening and energetic speeches. Bryan Koop, Liyang Wang, Mark Stafford, Austin Blackmon, and Grey Lee all showed why the room was packed, and why the Green Building industry deserves to be in the spotlight. These are the people changing Boston for the better, modernizing our wonderful city and giving an already-historical city more landmarks to stick out. Also thanks to Rick Fedrizzi for attending!


After a short pause for more food and mingling, it was time for the final votes to be cast for the winners of the night.


To wrap up the night on a good note, the winners were announced. The winners of all 8 categories went up to the stage to claim their awards, ending with the Green Building of the Year Award. The winners were:

Water Efficiency: HDR, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Energy Efficiency: Columbia Construction Company, Fisheries & Wildlife New Field Headquarters

Site: HDR, Thea & James M. Stoneman Centennial Park at Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Health and Wellness: Elkus Manfredi, New Balance Headquarters

Social Equity: The Green Engineer, Boston Public Library Johnson Building Renovation

Resilience: The Green Engineer, Smuttynose Brewery

Materials: CannonDesign, Novartis Cambridge Campus Expansion

The judges created a Green Building of the Year Special Merit Award for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Fisheries & Wildlife Headquarters building due to it's exemplary performance as a large net zero energy building that they felt needs to be seen more often.


And in the end, the 2016 Green Building of the Year went to Elkus Manfredi for their entry of the LEED Platinum New Balance Headquarters in Allson!



The night didn't end there, of course. What would an event be without with more networking, exchanging business cards, meeting new people, and of course, desserts and drinks. No one was seen with a frown at the end – the entire floor was filled with laughter, handshakes, hugs, and smiles all around. Who wouldn't have fun in the wonderful 888 Boylston and free food/drinks?


Again, we want to thank everyone for coming. Without all of your support, this night wouldn't have happened. Thanks to the major sponsors, the host Boston Properties, the awards committee, judges, the various volunteer teams from Turner, Elkus Manfredi, Duplessy, the bartending staff, and especially the many speakers for creating contributing to a great time.

We can't wait for next year's event, and for everything else in-between now and then.

If you didn't get the chance to see September 2016's newsletter, you can catch up with everything going on here.

Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you soon!


 

Green Building Bike Tour Was A Success!

By Steven Burke


The green building bike tour had another successful year, with beautiful weather to boot! Our tour of the East Boston Greenway was an excellent excuse to explore and cycle the up-and-coming neighborhood of East Boston. The tour was lead by Alison Richardson, Principal at Brown, Richardson & Rowe, Inc., and prime designer of the East Boston Greenway, with supplemental help from Katie Davis of Harvard Green Building Services, and Steven Burke of SMMA and the USGBC MA Board.

We gathered at Maverick T station on Saturday morning to kick off our adventure. Some highlight stops  included Bremen Street & Memorial Stadium Parks, the East Boston Public Library, the Logan Greenway Connector and the Consolidated Rental Car Facility for Logan Airport. Alison Richardson walked us through the complex history of the Greenway, sharing stories about land acquisition, community input and the design process. Since its opening in 2007, the Greenway has helped transform the communities of East Boston by providing safe and cared-for spaces of refuge, exercise, gathering and play. 

We concluded our tour at KO Pies, a delicious local icon where we enjoyed views of the HarborArts Shipyard Gallery and the sounds of the Marina. 

Special thanks to our sponsors Xquisite Landscaping, Inc. for sponsoring the event, and our co-promoters Women In Design

See you next year for the next bike tour– ride on! 

Special thanks to Ami who helped coordinate this wonderful experience, but unfortunately, could not attend due to a knee injury. Feel better!