New Communications Intern, Belinda Xian

By Grey Lee

Hello!

My name is Belinda and I'm excited to be working with USGBC MA this summer as a Communications Intern. 


I am a rising junior at Tufts University, where I am majoring in Civil Engineering. I grew up reading Ranger Rick and spending time outdoors, so I've always been interested in making society more sustainable and environmentally-friendly. In high school, I chose Civil Engineering so I could impact the world in the physically largest way possible, and I haven't looked back since! Working with USGBC to spread interest in green building and sustainability is definitely something I'm looking forward to.

In my free time, I enjoy painting, reading, and nagging friends and family members to recycle properly. I look forward to an exciting summer here!

Become a WELL AP: Join our June class!

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

The WELL Building Standard is commanding the attention of property owners throughout our market area. The Chapter invites any professional who is interested in taking the WELL AP exam  to join us for an in-depth professional exam preparation course.

Join us Thursday, June 16th, from 8:30am – 5:00pm in Boston. 

Reserve your seat today!

If you are interested in taking a comprehensive day-long class of the WELL Building Standard, sign up now. You can be a part of the earliest wave of WELL Accredited Professionals in Massachusetts. We welcome professionals from all sectors of the building industry: owners, operators, designers, engineers, builders and occupants interested in mastering and practicing the new standard. 

The WELL AP Exam Prep Class will have ten sections which will be given over the course of one day (see content section below). A light breakfast, full lunch and snacks throughout the day will be provided. A hard-copy exam study guide will be provided to all students.

The course will be lead by Blake Jackson, LEED AP, AIA and WELL AP along with USGBC MA Chapter Staff (more about presenters in the link below). 

For more information regarding the WELL Accredited Professional Examination, please refer to the International WELL Building Institute. Fees for the exam go up on June 30th, so the time to get accredited is now! 

Reserve your seat today!

 

The intro to WELL you need

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

Join thought leaders and practitioners for a concise introduction to the WELL Building Standard followed by a roundtable discussion. We are excited to welcome professionals from all sectors of the building industry, owners, engineers, builders and occupants interested in the new standard. 

 Tuesday, May 31, 8:30 – 10:30am at our headquarters in Boston. Register here.

 

We will be watching a segment from the USGBC's Education platform to bring all in the room up to speed on WELL and then having a moderated discussion on the future, impact and evolution of the standard. Below is some information on the WELL content that will be covered: 

 

The Introduction to the WELL Building Standard presentation provides an overview of the WELL Building Standard ideology, structure, and certification process. The medical basis for the concept categories is introduced along with design and construction strategies to create healthy buildings. The time has come to elevate human health and comfort to the forefront of building practices and reinvent buildings that are not only better for the planet—but also for people. This presentation will introduce how to do this using the WELL Building Standard as the framework.

 

Objectives

Articulate the financial, societal, and environmental benefits of WELL certification
Identify the role of the International Well Building Institute and the WELL Building Standard
Recognize the structure of the WELL Building Standard
Explain the 7 concepts of the WELL Building standard, the strategies to achieve them, and the health impacts they address
Summarize the certification process of the WELL Building Standard

 

 If you are interested in having this session count towards your LEED credential, please self-report at USGBC.org and use GBCI: 0920003583 when referring to the session.

Register here to attend this important educational session.

 

Performing Resilience: How to Get It Done

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

 

Join the USGBC MA Chapter for an important morning program on implementation of resilience.

Tuesday, 6/14/16 from 8:30- 10:30am

Sign up here.
 
We are all hearing about the importance of this topic. We have participated in information sessions and presentations about the dangers of sea level rise, increased storm intensity and other issues connected to resilience. We have memorized the new shoreline maps and we “get it” that our infrastructure is going to need some help, big time.
 
How do we actually get resilience done? What are the practical things we can do as developers, designers, implementers and users of buildings and building systems?
 
The USGBC community has developed LEED Pilot Credits for resilience which are immediately available actions that every building project could incorporate – they are reasonable steps that any property can benefit from.
 

  • Filippo Masetti at SGH will talk about improving the resilience of buildings subject to coastal flooding and the new LEED resilience pilot credits.
  • Arlen Stawasz of Perkins+Will will present on the RELi Action List they have developed for designers.
  • Michael Green of Climate Action Business Association (CABA) will share their “BARS” program of resources for small businesses' response to sea level rise.

 
Jim Newman of Linnean Solutions will facilitate.

Join us for a sequence of important tool-sharing presentations, and a conversation among peers who are on the front lines of responding to the changing baseline of environmental conditions for our communities. 
 
Join us to learn steps you can take right now in your practice, at your company, or for your organization, to implement resilience in your building projects.

When
June 14th, 2016 8:30 AM   through   10:30 AM
 

Location
50 Milk St, 17th floor, “Milky Way” conference room
Boston
 

Platinum Building Tour Next Week: EMD Serono

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

Come out on Thursday, May 26th, from 5:30-7pm in Billerica!

Register here to attend.

Free for Chapter Members!


Join your green building colleagues for a tour of the EMD Serono Research & Development Institute in Billerica in the Unity and Sagamore buildings. The Unity building, containing 140,000 gsf of laboratory and support space, is connected to the newly renovated office space of the Sagamore building by an enclosed pedestrian bridge. The Unity building achieved LEED Gold certification in 2011, the Sagamore building achieved LEED Platinum certification in 2015. The Unity building is a state-of -the-art biology and chemistry research facility which houses 200 scientists dedicated to research in cancer biology, cancer immunotherapy, oncogene signaling, medicinal chemistry, molecular modelling, protein engineering, therapeutic antibodies and manufacturing cell lines across its key therapeutic areas. The Sagamore building is a former pilot scale Protein Production Laboratory which has been transformed into an open concept office space where project teams can collaborate, communicate and share knowledge, while further having the access to private project rooms for heads down work. The combined building space comprises 237,000 sf of laboratory and office space housing 450 employees in total.

This event is sponsored by JLL Construction.

The tour will take place from 6:00-7:00pm. EMD will host us for a social event afterwards with drinks and appetizers from 7:00-8:00pm. 

Getting to Zero: Sustainability from your core

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

Come to this awesome program with sustainability expert Barbra Batshalom:

Register here

When
Tuesday, May 24th, 2016 8:30 AM through 11:00 AM

Where
50 Milk Street, 18th Floor
“Hemingway” Room
Boston, 02109
 

 

The future of our planet and our profession depend on our ability to co-create collaboratively and achieve levels of synergy that transform our impact. Net Zero, LEED and the 2030 Challenge define performance targets. Yet, critical gaps remain between rising performance goals and the organizational capability to consistently achieve them. AIA 2030 data shows that 57% of gsf uses energy modeling, meaning 43% doesn’t. Most teams don’t know what the anticipated energy use is. Firms also report that LEED certified projects, which tend to have more commitment and higher levels of integration, have 24% lower pEUI than non-LEED projects, yet LEED still represents a small percentage of a firm’s portfolio. 

 
The project delivery process is the life-blood of your business yet most firms try to achieve these ever-higher performance targets using the same old delivery process that doesn't achieve performance.This session provides participants with practical frameworks and proven methodologies to transform their practice from “random acts of sustainability” to consistent capability based on cultural change, clearly articulated methodologies, truly integrative design and effective use of metrics to achieve continuous improvement. Come with specific questions and scenarios and we will address them in this session. 

Sponsor Spotlight: Forbo Flooring Systems

By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow


Forbo Flooring Systems, a bronze-level partner of ours, 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, and has an entire section of their website devoted to explaining this. 


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:

  • The company collects installation off-cuts and helps repurpose end-of-life waste into new products.
  • The company makes flooring in clean, efficient factories, powered by 100% renewable electricity.
  • Forbo uses Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as the independent methodology of measuring their impact on the environment.
  • Forbo Flooring Systems has published Environmental Product Declarations for our individual floor covering products. 
  • The group conscientiously applies green design principle to all products and processes. In order to live up to its promise to reduce its environmental footprint by 25% in 2015, all their collections are engineered and designed to commit to this goal.

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 National Case Study: Sustainability will Reshape Real Estate Development and Investment in Mexico

By Nicolette Mueller, USGBC National


This article was previously published in Mexico by Inmobiliare as “Predicting the Future: How Sustainability will Reshape Real Estate Development and Investment in Mexico by 2020,” in Spanish. It was reproduced in English on USGBC National's website. 


With increasing market penetration over the last four years, sustainability has been a strong and growing trend in real estate investment in Mexico. This rate of change and adoption of sustainability means that even bigger changes are ahead for commercial real estate developers and investors.

By the year 2020, Mexico’s real estate market will have

  • More green and third party-certified properties.
  • More investors looking closely at metrics that identify best industry practices.
  • More citizens, corporations and governments seeking solutions for the impacts of climate change.

It’s a bold forecast based on some rapidly maturing trends. 

More green building

More than 10 years ago, leading real estate companies in Mexico embraced the concept of delivering third party-certified green buildings with one or more LEED ratings. Mexico has consistently shown strong year-over-year growth to become the seventh largest market for LEED projects globally, with more than 14.5 million square meters of LEED-certified space. This growth continues unabated with Dodge Data and Analytics reporting that Mexican firms are anticipating 60 percent of future projects will be green.

Smarter investors 

Driven by tenant demand for buildings that demonstrate superior energy and water efficiency and higher performance for occupants, the global market for green building continues to expand. Energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment have emerged as important economic signals to many of the largest property investors around the globe. Institutional investors, such as pension funds, endowments and insurance companies, realize that a building’s sustainable attributes directly affect the risk profile and financial performance of their real estate investment portfolios. Investors are turning to GRESB assessments and benchmarks as a way to identify sustainability-based risks and opportunities within their real estate portfolios.

GRESB is an industry-driven organization committed to assessing the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance of real assets globally, including real estate portfolios and infrastructure assets. GRESB uses a quantitative tool that benchmarks a property company or fund’s sustainability performance at the portfolio level to include management policies and practices that result in implementation of energy and water efficiency techniques alongside a series of best business practices.

In 2015, 707 property companies and funds participated in GRESB, reporting their sustainability performance while benchmarking against peers in similar property sectors and regions. Jointly, these participating companies represent $2.3 trillion in property value, with equity ownership positions in approximately 61,000 assets spanning more than 50 countries. The 2016 assessment period begins in April.

Stronger demand for action

Awareness of the risks of climate change and the need for resiliency and mitigation efforts are high in Mexico. From the Mexican national legislature to the Mexico City government and spanning global corporations to family-owned enterprises, there is strong agreement that climate change poses considerable threats to the economy and to society, and there is a growing urgency around mitigating risk.

As GRESB CEO Nils Kok recently pointed out, “The real estate sector is responsible for 81 percent of electricity consumption in North America. Energy and electricity are inputs for economic production—the energy is used to run buildings and appliances, in the same way that manufacturing facilities use energy to produce widgets.”

If buildings are a part of the emissions problem, it follows that the built environment must be part of the solution. Countries want a strong and thriving economy that maximizes inputs while minimizing waste, which provides the foundation for businesses to respond in a real way to address climate change.

By 2020 these things will be a reality—and the market rewards for early adoption and leadership will have long since been received. Help bring Mexico forward as a global leader in sustainability.


Check out the original story here (if you can read Spanish) or the USGBC translation and reproduction here!

MA House Budget cuts 5% of environmental spending

By Anthony Lucivero, Advocacy Fellow

As you might have heard as the news broke last week, the Massachusetts House Ways & Means cut spending on environmental protection by 5%.  This is a big disappointment, as the total spending on the environment will continue to be less than 1% of the total MA budget.  

However, there is a slight silver-lining.  There were a number of amendments that saw increases in funding for certain environmental programs.  

The increases are (from the Environmental League of Massachusetts):

  • Climate Change Adaptation & Preparedness – increase of $150,000
  • Department of Agricultural Resources Administration – increase of $640,000
  • Department of Environmental Protection Administration – increase of $125,000
  • Division of Ecological Restoration – increase of $75,000
  • DCR State Parks and Recreation – increase of $2.1 million
  • Community Preservation Act: received a $10M transfer from the FY2016 Consolidated Net Surplus 
  • Established a farmland protection advisory commission
  • Statewide habitat conservation plan – increase of $100,000

So what can we do going forward?  As a community, we need to keep the pressure up to let legislators know we want more than the bare minimum for environmental protection spending.

We're listening: Here's the Survey

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


Can we get your feedback? Please take a couple of minutes to check in with us through this 9-question survey. We really appreciate knowing what you care about. So we can keep putting together good stuff for you!

 

Here is the link!