January Chapter Newsletter

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

[The note referenced here was sent to our over 10,000 subscribers]

 

A recap of 2015 with the Chapter:

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thank you for being a part of what we do to advance the cause of Green Buildings in Massachusetts. Look at everything we have going on in our January Newsletter. There is a list of highlights to some of the best stories from 2015. Thank you especially to our members!

Because of your efforts, we are leading the nation in many aspects of green building. I am confident that we will continue to serve as a beacon of inspiration to our colleagues throughout the land in 2016.

 

Many of you reading this have yet to join up: please do. It's easy to connect with us and wear our badge. As a committed member, you help us grow our ranks and grow our influence in policy arenas, in the market transformation process and in our communities in general.

 

Join us and come to our Annual General Meeting in Boston on 1/21 at 5:30 – 7:30. 

 

Please take a second to review the upcoming events we have at the USGBC MA Chapter:

Tuesday 1/12/16  Embrace the Net Zero Future!  Gather for a training with Eric Corey Freed (the Organic Architect) – in Boston from 8:30am-12noon

Also Tuesday, evening, 1/12/16 Join us for the joint mixer with I2SL – the Labs People – at Sacco's Bowl Haven in Somerville from 5:30-7:30pm

And if you want to scale the Net Zero reality, look at what the City of Cambridge has done – we'll hear from Susanne Rasmussen on their Net Zero Action Plan on Thursday, 1/28/16 from 8:30-10am

And if you are interested in running for our Board, or helping someone motivate and be nominated, take a look at our election process page here.

Thank you for being a part of our mission. I look forward to seeing you in 2016 at one of our upcoming events. Feel free to send me a message and say hi! 

Best wishes,
Grey Lee

 

EnerNOC: Don't miss the EnergySMART Conference

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

Every year hundreds of people attend the EnergySMART Conference for actionable insights and inspiring speakers on all topics related to energy management.

Find out why in our quick highlight reel video.
[Watch the EnergySMART 2015 highlight reel]

Watch the Video

This year, get in on the action. EnergySMART 2016 (April 4-6 in Greater Washington, DC) will be packed with sessions focused on what's happening in energy management today and will offer opportunities to network with others in your field. Make sure to register before January 29th to get $250 off the full price of the conference. 

See you at EnergySMART!

EnerNOC: Committed to Sustainability

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

We are excited to have EnerNOC as a sponsoring supporter of the USGBC Chapter. EnerNOC has been committed to sustainability for many years. Read more here

Consider attending the EnergySMART conference in Washington DC, April 4-6, 2016. EnergySMART 2016 is about charting that change, and placing you ahead of it. Join top enterprises, energy service providers, and technology leaders to rethink the industry and refine your approach to energy management. Keynotes include: Gen. Colin Powell, Daniel Pink and Andrew Winston.

As the nation's leading provider of energy intelligence software and solutions, EnerNOC is deeply committed to environmental stewardship and actively strives to make the world cleaner and greener for future generations. To achieve that, we focus on six core areas:

  • LEED Gold certification for our headquarters
  • Implementing energy efficiency best practices
  • Being carbon neutral
  • Reducing waste
  • Engaging employees
  • Community outreach
  • Focused leadership through our sustainability committee

LEED Gold Certification

 

EnerNOC’s new headquarters, located in the Innovation District of Boston, was one of the first newly constructed LEED Gold Certified building in the Seaport, and it enables an environmentally and socially responsible environment that improves the quality of life for our employees and the community.

Energy Efficiency

EnerNOC employees have applied their expertise in energy services to act as the commissioning agent at the Boston Headquarters to improve the efficiency of all HVAC, lighting, and audio visual systems, which helps to limit environmental impacts, decrease operating costs, and meet greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Carbon Neutral

In October 2006, EnerNOC became a carbon neutral company – the first in the energy management industry. EnerNOC offsets 100% of our carbon footprint with Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) for wind, solar, and other renewable energy credits. Our carbon footprint includes our daily business operations.

Waste Reduction

EnerNOC is committed to reducing the amount of waste and toxins that are hauled to and disposed of in landfills or incineration facilities. EnerNOC’s daily operations include reusable supply stations and a single-stream recycling program designed to make recycling simpler by allowing all acceptable recyclables to be collected in one bin. The Sustainability Committee is working with our Facilities department to develop waste baselines and pilot programs to further curb the amount of material destined for local landfills.

Reducing E-Waste: As a technology based company EnerNOC is fundamentally concerned with e-waste, which is the fastest growing waste stream in the U.S. and accounts for approximately 220 million pounds of waste per year. EnerNOC partners with The Big Green Box to ethically dispose of spent batteries and portable electronics to divert this material from the waste stream to a centralized recycling facility where it is sorted by chemistry type and processed for recycling.

Employee Engagement

EnerNOC engages employees in reducing their carbon footprint through Practically Green, a company which custom designed an interactive website that helps to build awareness and drive action for EnerNOC employees to adopt healthy, sustainable lifestyles at home and in the workplace.

  • Water Works: EnerNOC employs building strategies that increase water efficiency to reduce the burden on municipal water supply and wastewater systems. As employee awareness is a large factor in conservation, the Sustainability Committee is also developing methods to measure usage, set water savings goals, and encourage employee water conservation.
  • Green Commutes & Communities: EnerNOC's Green Benefits program provides a combination of discounts and reimbursements to reward employees who make eco-friendly consumer purchases including fuel-efficient vehicles, ENERGY STAR certified appliances, car-sharing programs, and solar panels for home installation. EnerNOC also participates in The Food Project's CSA program, which delivers sustainable and locally grown produce to the Boston office during the growing season.

Nominations are Open for our Board of Directors

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

It's time for a Board Election!

Are you interested in running for a Board of Directors position with the U.S. Green Building Council, Massachusetts Chapter?

All the information you need to find out your eligibility and how to nominate yourself (or others) is on this page (and associated links).

Nominations will be received between 1/4/16 and 1/18/16 (at noon).

Voting will commence at 5pm on 1/18/16 until 6:30pm on 1/21/16 (at the Annual General Meeting).

 

Chapter Board of Director Responsibilities

In general, a Director is expected to:  

  • Uphold the principles upon which the Chapter is founded; 
  • Act as a steward of the organization in all respects;
  • Provide oversight of the Chapter’s relationships and activities;
  • and Maintain the solvency of the Chapter, including
    • Review and approve budgets
    • Support the Chapter’s fundraising efforts by contributing or causing to be contributed $1500 per year

 

In particular, Directors are expected to:

  • Attend meetings, currently held monthly alternately on first Thursdays (in person) and first Mondays (as a conference call) from 5:30 to 7:30pm 
  • Elect officers at the first meeting of the newly elected Board
  • Participate in at least one committee by attending at least half the scheduled meetings or activities

 

The following categories have been designated to reserve at least one seat in this election cycle:

  • Corporate Sustainability,
  • Healthcare,
  • Education,
  • Planning and 
  • Finance & Banking

 


Social Equity and LEED – Webinar Now Active!

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

The Chapter is thrilled to share another contribution to the community on the USGBC National Education Platform. Board Member, Shawn Hesse, originally shared this presentation at a Green Breakfast in 2015, where he wow'ed the crowd of professionals and students from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Over the last few months, he has developed this Social Equity and LEED presentation for the global audience on the USGBC's Education Platform. We have just aired the webinar to all with a USGBC education subscription. If you do not yet have an Education@USGBC subscription, please click hereUsing this link enables the Chapter to earn a share of the income from USGBC. 

The USGBC has identified “fostering social equity” as a driving principle in its strategic plan, and in 2014, launched three new Social Equity credits as part of the LEED v4 Pilot Credit library. The three credits; Social Equity in the Project, Social Equity in the Community, and Social Equity in the Supply Chain reward project teams for implementing best practices in improving social equity.

To see the webinar, click here!

 

 


Happy New Year!

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

Hello Everyone!

Greetings from 2016!

I hope you are enjoying the transition of the years. 

We are really looking forward to a big 2016. You will see:

  • More great education – for general knowledge, GBCI & AIA credential maintenance and deep technical dives
  • Strong advocacy for green-building-friendly policies in Massachusetts and beyond
  • Powerful networking within our community, and connecting to other organizations
  • Innovation in industry mentoring and sustainability know-how
  • Fabulous celebratory events to mix and mingle
  • and lots and lots of sharing of the stories of our community

We can't wait to get going. See you soon. Make sure you sign up for our Annual General Meeting on 1/21/16 in Boston.

Thank you for your support, and see you soon!


 

Meet our Members: Alana Spencer

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


Alana is a Sustainability Project Manager at Vanderweil Engineers focusing on LEED, Sustainable Design, and Energy Efficiency in the C+D and built environments. Vanderweil is primarily a MEP engineering firm and she works on the Sustainability Team within the firm. They offer integrated MEP/Sustainability services for their projects.  

Currently, she co-chairs the Events Committee at the USGBC-MA chapter.  This Committee organizes green building events throughout the year in the Boston area. Their goal is to raise awareness on all the amazing achievements in green building projects and products (LEED, Energy Star, Living Building Challenge, etc…) here in Massachusetts while educating those who attend our chapter’s events to inspire the continual growth of sustainability in the building community. If you have an idea for an event or on how they can enhance an event, your feedback is vital, feel free to reach out to them. This is a great community to be involved with, feel free to join the committee as well.

In her spare time, Alana works with various sustainability groups in the Boston area, continues to expand her sustainability knowledge base, and travels as often as she can. She's looking ahead to getting more involved in improved Resiliency efforts here in Boston and also learning more about the WELL Building Standard. On the Myers-Brigg test, she's an INTJ which translated into Star Wars characters, is the equivalent of Palpatine – so you know she is serious about sustainability with such a personality.

Fannie Mae: Spotlight on Green Building Certification Pricing Break

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

Published on Written by Posted in LEED

 

This article was previously published on fanniemae.com. Read the full article.

More multifamily owners are pursuing Green Building Certifications for their properties now than ever before. Fannie Mae Multifamily is continuously innovating, improving our financial products to match our customers' financing needs. Offering the new Green Building Certification Pricing Break is part of that innovation.

The Pricing Break reduces the all-in interest rate on loans for multifamily properties with eligible green building certifications by 10 basis points (0.10 percent).

This October, SolTerra took advantage of the Green Building Certification Pricing Break on its $3.8 million mortgage loan for The Woodlawn, a LEED Platinum multifamily property in Portland, Oregon. With 10 bps off the all-in interest rate, SolTerra will save $24,551 in interest over the loan term. These savings create value for SolTerra and pay back the LEED certification cost in less than five years.

Congress passes funding and tax incentives for green building community

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

Published on Written by Posted in Advocacy and policy

 

Congress has passed a sprawling spending bill and tax extenders package that covers funding for all federal agencies and includes short- and longer-term extensions for a number of popular incentives for businesses and consumers. Based on an initial review of the package, it is generally a win for those in green building.

The omnibus would provide $11 billion for programs under the Department of Energy, a $794 million increase above 2015. Specifically, the Buildings Technologies Office received a $28 million increase for next year. The bill also funds programs like the Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institutes at $70 million and provides $10 million for a competitive funding opportunity to achieve deeper energy efficiency improvements in small and medium-sized buildings.

Funding levels at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were not as successful, at $8.1 billion, which is a $100 million reduction from last year’s funding. Although funding for agencies like EPA isn’t high, the good news is that the bill does not contain many of the problematic policy riders that had emerged through the appropriations process this year. USGBC commends Congress for removing policies that would have limited opportunities to pursue greater energy and water savings.

A number of real estate and energy incentives were also included for a two-year extension, one year retrospective for 2015 and one year prospective for 2016. This includes:

  • The 45(L) New and Efficient Homes Credit
  • The 179(D) Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction, with a standards update for 2016
  • Parity for employer-provided mass transit and parking benefits

The tax package also includes a five-year extension of tax incentives for wind and solar energy producers. The deal extends the 30 percent solar investment tax credit and a credit for solar-powered, energy-efficient properties for three years before winding it down for two years. Also, the deal extends the wind protection tax credit for two years before a three-year phase-out. The deal allows projects to claim the incentives once construction has been initiated, as opposed to after the project is completed. The Joint Committee of Taxation estimates these changes in total are expected to infuse more than $23 billion into the renewable energy market over the next decade.

Here's hoping that the beginning of next year is as productive as the end of 2015!