
The BE+ Carbon and Energy Community brings together architects, designers, construction managers, and sustainability professionals to address carbon and energy in the built environment.
Reach out to carbonenergy@builtenvironmentplus.org with any inquiries, questions, or concerns.
Topics & Speakers
September 2023 - Best Practices in Lab Design
Subject Matter Experts
Tom Scarola | Managing Director, Engineering & MEP Services | Tishman Speyer
Tom Scarola joined Tishman Speyer in 2002 and currently oversees MEP and sustainability engineering design of international and domestic development projects. He is presently part of the design management team for the 2.4 million square foot all-electric headquarters building for JP Morgan Chase in midtown Manhattan. He has worked on several development projects in Boston, most recently the Enterprise Research Campus (ERC) at Harvard University. In partnership with Breakthrough Properties, Tishman Speyer is involved in the design, construction and operations of several lab buildings, three here in Boston. Tom has over 45 years of experience in the construction industry. He has served on numerous committees and boards including the U.S. Green Building Council and both New York State and City Sustainability Policy Advisory Committees.
Ari Greenberg | Senior Associate, Carbon Neutral Engineer | BR+A
Ari Greenberg is a Senior Associate at BR+A Consulting Engineers in Boston, MA. As an integrated member of both the HVAC design and sustainability consulting teams, he focuses on developing strategies that push the boundaries of building decarbonization and keeping those strategies on track throughout design and construction. His work focuses on efficiency and electrification for hard-to-heat and high-energy building typologies in the healthcare, research, commercial, and institutional sectors. Ari holds a B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering with a Certificate in Sustainable Energy from Princeton University and is a registered Mechanical Engineer in Massachusetts.
July 2023 - Ground Source Heat Pumps
Subject Matter Experts:
- John Kastrinos | Senior Associate, Hydrogeology | Haley & Aldrich, Inc.
- Robert Linzer | Managing Director | Brightcore Energy
- Kate Bubriski | Director of Sustainability & Building Performance | Arrowstreet
June 2023 - Building Tech Forum Roundup
In this session, we’ll be looking back and reflecting on the cutting edge building technologies presented at Built Environment Plus’ Building Tech Forum on June 13th. Attend the event to prepare for the discussion!
Facilitated by Axel Jeremie, Assistant Sustainability Consultant at WSP
March 2023 - Brain Break: What’s New for Electrical Requirements in the Energy Code
With so much focus on building heating electrification in the recent months, Carbon and Energy will provide the forum for the less-examined electrical changes to the energy code. There will be invited speakers on lighting requirements and EV infrastructure with emphasis on these topics.
Subject Matter Experts:
Glenn Heinmiller, FIALD, LEED AP, LC | Principal | Lam Partners
Patrick Murphy, PE, LEED AP BD+C, CPHC | Associate Principal, Director of Sustainable Design | R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, LLP
Andy Francis, PE | Electrical Project Engineer | Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
Bruce Swantin | Director of Electrical Engineering | AHA Consulting Engineers, Inc.
February 2023 - Stacking Incentives for Net Zero in MA
Kimbery Cullinane | Supervisor, New Construction Energy Efficiency | Eversource
Jerome Garciano | Attorney | Polsinelli
Eben Perkins | Vice President | Competitive Energy Services
January 2023 - MA Stretch Code Technical Guidance Draft Discussion
2022
December – Year in Review
November – Greenbuild 2022
October – Boston Zero Net Carbon Building Zoning Initiative Discussion
Join the BE+ Carbon & Energy Community for a discussion with members of Boston’s Zero Net Carbon (ZNC) Building Zoning Initiative team on Boston’s Zero Net Carbon Building and Zoning Article 37 Updates. The 30-day public comment period opens on September 28th. Hear from other industry leaders and share your thoughts ahead of submitting comments.
September – Portfolio Scale Decarbonization
July – BTF ’22, What’s Next?
June – Time Of Use Carbon & Grid Resiliency
Our industry is seeing a big shift in understanding whole-building carbon emissions and therefore the impact of the built environment – in both operational and embodied carbon. While it’s typical to use average electrical grid GHG factors to assess carbon emissions, time-of-use factors can provide an additional layer of information in the pursuit of reducing carbon emissions. At peak electricity usage, peaker plants come online and these typically use more carbon intensive sources. So, how can we avoid peak electricity use and therefore peaker plant carbon emissions, while also improving the resiliency of the grid? The panel discussion will include topics like demand management, energy storage, and grid-connected buildings, among others, to debate the opportunities and challenges from a building to its electrical grid.
May – Electrifying Affordable Housing
Courtney Koslow | Development Director at Beacon Communities
Michelle Apigian AIA, LEED AP, AICP, CPHC | Associate Principal | Practice + Sustainability Leader at ICON architecture
James Petersen, PE | Principal at Petersen Engineering
April – ASHP Domestic Hot Water
Jake Littman, CFPS, CPD, CET | Plumbing and Fire Protection Senior Engineer at WSP
Rob Aldrich, PE | Principal Mechanical Engineer at Steven Winter Associates
March – ASHRAE 209
Chris Schaffner | Founder and President of The Green Engineer, Inc.
Julie Janiski | Partner at Buro Happold, BE+ Board Member
Samira Ahmadi | Founding Principal of enviENERGY Studio
Ben Brannon | Building Performance Engineer at Arup
February – BERDO + BEUDO
Hannah Payne | Carbon Neutrality Program Manager at City of Boston
Seth Federspiel | Climate Program Manager at City of Cambridge
January – Electrifying Labs & Life Sciences
Ari Greenberg, PE, LEED AP BD+C | Senior Associate, HVAC/Sustainable Design at BR+A
Andrew Wang, AIA, LEED AP | Senior Project Manager, Design at Related Beal
Matthew Fickett, AIA, CPHC, LEED | Director or Science and Technology at SGA
2021
December – Schools
Kimberly Cullinane | Supervisor, New Construction | Energy Efficiency at Eversource
Julia Nugent AIA, LEED BD+C | Principal at HMFH Architects
Martine Dion FAIA, LEED AP BD+C | Principal, Director of Sustainable Design at SMMA
November – Boston’s Zero Net Carbon Building Zoning
October – Current Events and Roundtable Planning
This month’s roundtable will start with a brief current events update on what has been happening locally and then we will open up the space for others to share or comment.
The majority of the roundtable will be spent actively engaging the group to understand what the future of this roundtable should look like. This space is for the community to have dedicated time to connect and work together on Carbon & Energy related issues and opportunities in the built environment.
BE+ members and IBPSA Boston members can sign up for the session for free. People new to BE+’s roundtables without membership can also attend for free.
August – Let’s Prep for DOER Input
Interested in sharing your thoughts on the Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code? The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has just a year left to develop and promulgate the next MA stretch energy code. They are required to hold at least five public hearings throughout the state during the process yet have not released a schedule as of now. While we wait for the hearings to begin we want to proactively gather the Building Community to discuss priorities and recommendations.
This will be the first of monthly roundtables on Carbon and Energy. This month’s session will take place this Thursday, August 19, from 9-10am, and will focus on gathering input from Massachusetts building industry practitioners on the direction of the state’s Stretch Energy Code. We want to hear both your fears and hopes for the code.
BE+ invited IBPSA members, a community of energy modeling professionals in the Boston area, to attend and form a dedicated “breakout room” focused on the role of energy modeling in the Stretch Energy Code. Now is your chance to share testimonies on energy modeling requirements in the current code, and provide input on potential new directions for the code in the future.
Depending on attendance, we’ll have additional breakouts to gather thoughts on efficiency, electrification, renewables, and other.
The result of the breakout room discussions will be a letter drafted to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) on behalf of Built Environment Plus and IBPSA Boston, summarizing the discussion.
BE+ members and IBPSA Boston members can sign up for Thursday’s session for free. People new to BE+’s roundtables without membership can also attend for free.
Community Stewards
Community Leadership

Joelle Jahn
Co-Chair
Senior Associate / Technical Principal of Built Ecology at WSP

Stephen Moore
Co-Chair
Senior Building Systems Consultant at Steven Winter Associates, Inc.

Julie Janiski
Board Liaison
Partner at BuroHappold Engineering

Kate Bubriski
Board Liaison
Director of Sustainability & Building Performance at Arrowstreet

Chad Laurent
Board Liason
Principal, Cadmus Group LLC