2024 Board of Directors Election

Boston University

I come from a deep domain experience in building energy efficiency, Distributed Energy Resources, HVAC controls and operations—from Planning, Commissioning through warranty, to Operations of LEED and NetZero and retrofit projects.

What is your background in the green building industry?

My background in Green Buildings is lifelong; growing up in a passive house design with solar PV in Northwest Montana. It continues today building roadmaps for BU’s Climate Action Plan, bringing some of the most advanced green buildings in the City of Boston online, and working with elected officials and serving in first every BERDO committee to focus on decarbonization of built environment.

List organizations in the building and/or environmental industries you are actively involved in:

• Longtime ASHRAE member 

Briefly list your areas of expertise. For example; energy, renewable energy, water, indoor air quality, resiliency, health and wellness:

I have deep Built Environment domain experience in energy, renewables, energy efficiency, Covid response and indoor air quality, operational resiliency and recovery.

Describe any involvement and interactions with Built Environment Plus (USGBC MA) in the past five years:

I am newish and I’m diving right in.

What will you bring to the Board of Directors?

I will bring the perspective of the institutional owner in Boston with eye towards innovation and opportunities for successfully business models to address the challenges of the Built Environment.

Pennrose

I’ve been in the affordable housing world for over 8 years, working at a CDC for 6 that focused on bringing green development into our affordable developments, both new construction and rehab/adaptive reuse. I’ve worked at a national development company for 2.5 years now, learning about energy efficiency programs and policy priorities beyond Massachusetts. Affordable housing faces unique pressures – scarce public funding combined with mission-driven development and sustainability priorities have pushed our industry to get creative about green building.

What is your background in the green building industry?

I have completed several adaptive reuse and rehab projects that improve the energy efficiency, material health, durability, and overall sustainability of affordable homes. I’ve also worked on a new construction Passive House development, several solar PV and solar thermal systems, and have participated in training programs through Neighborworks, USGBC, and Enterprise to advance my knowledge of green building.

List organizations in the building and/or environmental industries you are actively involved in:

• N/A. I have been a co-chair of A Better Cambridge, a citywide housing advocacy group in Cambridge, since 2019 and have served on several panels and working groups based on my housing work.

Briefly list your areas of expertise. For example; energy, renewable energy, water, indoor air quality, resiliency, health and wellness:

• Renewable energy, resiliency, IAQ testing, wellness goals and certification, active design

Describe any involvement and interactions with Built Environment Plus (USGBC MA) in the past five years:

I initially joined the BE+ board in 2021. Before then, I had participated in several roundtables, emerging professionals sessions, and the green building showcase.

What will you bring to the Board of Directors?

A board role at BE+ allows me to bring our community knowledge to my company, plus my experience with affordable housing finance and development priorities provides important context for BE+ policy work. I’m excited to expand my role on the board, spending more time engaging with specific initiatives.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)

Emily Jones serves as the Senior Program Officer for LISC Boston’s Green Homes + Green Jobs Initiatives.

In this role, Emily convenes experts to provide relevant trainings for the field; supports owners, property managers, and other stakeholders to help them complete desired energy efficiency and clean energy projects; and drives progressive policy that results in clean, efficient, and equitable energy for Massachusetts’ affordable housing sector.

Before joining LISC in 2016, Emily was Director of Partnerships for Union Capital Boston, a nonprofit that transforms social capital into opportunity. Emily has also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, and worked and served as an AmeriCorps Member with City Year Boston. Emily holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography and a master’s degree in Public Policy.

What is your background in the green building industry?

Over the past eight years, Emily has supported the deployment of $3.5M+ for affordable housing partners to engage in building decarbonization upgrades. She launched the STAR Solar Program, which has provided portfolio-wide solar analyses for 40+ multifamily affordable housing organizations across Massachusetts and spurred 7.7MW of planned solar installations to date.

Her policy advocacy efforts have resulted in the creation of Passive House incentives for affordable housing through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Mass Save, and Massachusetts’ Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program; as well as the inclusion of $50M for affordable housing decarbonization via the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources’ Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Decarbonization Grant Program.

She is currently focused on ensuring the deployment of significant building decarbonization resources via the creation of a $300M Zero Carbon Renovation Fund and/or related decarbonization legislation at the state level.

List organizations in the building and/or environmental industries you are actively involved in:

• NESEA (BuildingEnergy Boston 2021 Content Committee Member), Enterprise Green Communities 2020 Criteria Advisory Group Member, PHMA, LEED Green Associate, Zero Carbon Renovation Fund Steering Committee Member, Building Electrification Accelerator Steering Committee Member, MA Net Zero Building Coalition Member, Boston Green Ribbon Commission’s Climate Bank Steering Committee Member

Briefly list your areas of expertise. For example; energy, renewable energy, water, indoor air quality, resiliency, health and wellness:

• Energy efficiency, renewable energy, electrification, resiliency, policy advocacy for equitable building decarbonization resources

Describe any involvement and interactions with Built Environment Plus (USGBC MA) in the past five years:

I am new to Built Environment Plus.

What will you bring to the Board of Directors?

I will bring a focus on equitable building decarbonization via connections to the affordable housing sector, as well as a community-informed policy advocacy strategy.

Metropolitain Area Planning Council (MAPC)

In my roles on the Government Affairs team at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and now as Director of the Department, I am focused on helping cities and towns achieve the necessary and ambitious net zero emissions targets set in statute. For me, this focus is mostly legislative and budgetary– ensuring that state statute and programs are making needed actions simpler, incentivized, and directed to meet the needs of historically underserved populations. It is also grounded in coalitions- both staffing coalitions of municipal leaders and in working together with policy experts to bring the best ideas to agencies and legislators.

What is your background in the green building industry?

I’m a passionate advocate for creating policy levers that incentivize healthier buildings for people and the planet. In my role on the Government Affairs team at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and now as Director of the Department, I am focused on helping cities and towns achieve the necessary and ambitious net zero emissions targets set in statute. For me, this focus is mostly legislative and budgetary — ensuring that state statute and programs are making needed actions for building decarbonization simpler, incentivized, and directed to meet the needs of historically underserved populations. It is also grounded in coalitions- both staffing coalitions of municipal leaders and in working together with policy experts to bring the best ideas to agencies and legislators.

List organizations in the building and/or environmental industries you are actively involved in:

Briefly list your areas of expertise. For example; energy, renewable energy, water, indoor air quality, resiliency, health and wellness:

• Renewable energy
• Air quality
• Water

Describe any involvement and interactions with Built Environment Plus (USGBC MA) in the past five years:

I’m newer to working with Built Environment Plus. I’ve had the opportunity in the past four or so years to work with Built Environment Plus for the creation of the opt in stretch code in statute alongside other organizations and key legislative decision makers.

What will you bring to the Board of Directors?

I am most excited to bring my experience of state and local advocacy and coalition building to the board. I have a track record of creating connections across silos of policy expertise, bringing together experts from public health, water, natural gas and land use to weigh in when it matters the most, and working with formal and informal coalitions to work towards shared goals. I am really excited about the opportunity through serving on the Board of Directors to collaborate on ways for BE+ to be in more of those rooms. I also bring expertise from past board service, including chairing a membership committee. We have an opportunity in Massachusetts to lead an agenda for a sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. Municipal and state governments are looking for solutions for how to achieve our 2050 emissions targets and BE+’s voice is a critical part of that work.

To align with our strategic plan, we are seeking the representation of experts from a variety of sectors involved in the design, construction, and operation of our built environment. BE+ currently has 14 Board members. According to our bylaws, we can have no fewer than seven and no more than 19 Directors. In addition, BE+ seeks a diversity of perspective from its Directors across professions, areas of expertise/interest, as well as gender, age, race, and ethnicity.

In order to increase the diversity of the board and potential participation by members, the BE+ board has embarked on a new process to support greater participation by members:

1. The nomination period is from 11/8 to 12/13.
2. There are three methods to get nominated to the board:
               a. Members can nominate themselves
               b. Members can nominate other members
               c. A Board selected Nominating Committee will nominate members to the Board.

Seats are organized based on the following professional sectors: Design Consultants, Construction/Manufacturing, Owners/Operations, Policy/Advocacy, Other Fields not named above (e.g. Education, Utilities, Law, Community Development, Clean Energy, etc.). Seven of those seats are reserved for one representative from various professions outlined in the table below.   

After the nomination period is complete, the Board and the Nominating Committee will vet the candidates and bucket them according to the categories noted in the tables below. The Board has discretion to increase/decrease numbers in each Professional Category by 1. to align with our strategic plan and diversity goals.  The Board will vote on the final Ballot and number of Board members for the year.

Board Composition

In 2024, we are aiming to have fifteen elected and one appointed Board Members. Seven Board seats are not up for election this year. There are two incumbents seeking reelection.

Design Consultants:

There is one open seat with one incumbent Director seeking reelection.

• Open: incumbent seeking reelection – Kristen Fristch, Elkus Manfredi

Construction/Manufacturing:

There is one open seat:

• Open

Owner/Operations:

There is one open seat with one incumbent Director seeking reelection.

• Open: incumbent seeking reelection – Becca Schofield, Pennrose

Policy/Advocacy:

There is one open seat:

• Open

Other + EPMA: Fields could include Education, Community Development, Finance, DEI, Clean Energy, Fundraising/Development, etc.

There is one open seat:

• Open

BE+ has identified these priority professional categories for new board members and encourages people from these fields to be nominated:

• Building Operations & Maintenance (energy)
• Construction/Manufacturing
• Community Development
• Government/Advocacy
• Land conservation and management

In addition to specific sectors in the field of design, construction, and operation of our built environment, the board is looking for expertise in specific areas:

• Development/Fundraising
• Finance
• Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
• Legal

A BE+ Board Member…

• Has knowledge of BE+ mission, goals, and objectives and is able to promote them effectively;
• Has the experience and influence needed by BE+ and/or can also represent one or more disciplines that can help balance the Board’s membership;
• Has showcased leadership skills in their community and can use their experience to successfully work with the rest of the Board and its committees;
• Is capable of being an active public representative of the organization and can successfully include others in the work of BE+;
• Is a member in good standing of BE+. Double-check your membership status by visiting the BE+ Join It membership profile by clicking the blue MEMBERSHIP button in the upper right-hand corner of our website.

The Board as a whole cannot have more than two Directors from the same company or organization at a time. A board member should expect to commit an average of 3-6 hours a month. Monthly commitment may vary based on initiatives, committee work, and events.

Board members are expected to… 

• Review financial statements and the budget and to otherwise help the board fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities;
• Familiarize themselves with bylaws and other organizational documents;
• Attend at minimum fifty percent of board meetings per year either in person or virtually;
• Read board materials in advance of monthly board meetings and to come prepared to ask questions and participate in discussions.
• Currently the board meets once per month virtually or in person;
• Serve on one or more committees of the board and actively participate in committee work. Current committees include; Education, Community Building, Governance, and Advocacy;
• Be an active community member of Built Environment Plus
• Secure a minimum of $1500 necessary for BE+ to achieve its mission, whether from the Board member’s own organization, from personal contributions or in using personal relationships and connections to actively recruit sponsorships and memberships. Alternatives to actual monetary contributions include supporting efforts to bring in monetary resources (such as teaching courses, participating in panels, etc.).
• Responsibly represent the organization to their respective communities and advocate for BE+’s mission, programs, and services as appropriate.
• Support initiatives and events, panels, etc. to further the organization’s mission. These may include efforts around DEI, elections, educational programming, advocacy efforts, etc. This is an active and engaged Board.

Each board member is required to vote and have an informed decision after a thorough assessment of an issue. Specific tasks which will need groundwork and a vote by Board members include:

• • Decisions on policies, goals, objectives, and priorities;
  • Collaboration with other Board members and staff in the process, updates, and approval of specific strategies and objectives;
  • Nominate and vote officers for the BE+ Board;
  • Oversee and evaluate the strength and success of the projects and programs and make sure that these projects and programs are reaching the appropriate goals needed by the organization;
  • Approve and oversee operation, property, and equipment budgets;
  • Facilitate selection, employment, and evaluation of the Executive Director;
  • Support the Executive Director in fulfilling their job duties;
  • Review and update the Strategic Plan as required.

BE+ seeks an experienced green industry professional who has connections and the ability to bring new members/sponsors to the organization. We seek a board leader to help cultivate the board’s leadership role in support of staff as part of a broader commitment to increase awareness about the importance of our mission, influence public policy, and expand our reach. Preference for candidates who have prior board member experience.