2013 Massachusetts LEED Project Showcase

By Grey Lee

 
Thank you to all who came out to the first inaugural Massachusetts LEED Project Showcase at Google’s LEED Gold Office Space in Cambridge last night! 
 
The evening was a spectacular success, with over 150 guests in attendance to celebrate the 200+ projects in MA that have achieved LEED certification since the beginning of 2012. It was great to see such a bright and passionate group of green building professionals gather together to support the mission of the USGBC to promote the design, construction, and operation of sustainable buildings and communities in Massachusetts. With all of your support, we are moving closer to our goal of making every building a green building within one generation!
 
Many guests expressed their interest in becoming new members of the Chapter!
 
A big shout-out to all of our wonderful volunteers and board members who contributed their time and energy to make this night such a successful event for the green building community!
USGBC MA Staff & Board of Directors.
 
This event would not have been possible without our volunteers who helped set up boards and greet guests throughout the night!
 
And a special shout-out to our Green Schools Program Manager, Steve Muzzy, for all of his support in putting this Showcase together. 
 
Steve Muzzy with Green Schools Fellow, Phoebe Beierle.
Finally, a big THANK YOU to Google for graciously hosting us in their new LEED Gold Office Space in Kendall Square. Thank you to our hostess Tiffany Colt for all of her help in putting together this event!
 
Tiffany Colt, our Google hostess.
The evening featured displays of around 65 LEED-certified projects with representatives of many project teams present to celebrate their amazing achievements. 
 

 

Bob Andrews of AHA Consulting Engineers with Kathy Arthur of NStar as well as Holly Miller and Meng Howe Lim of Gund Partnership.
 
Our friends from the New England Real Estate Journal were also present to conduct interviews with representatives from our sponsors about their featured projects.
 
Maxine Ramos from NEREJ interviews Mark Stafford, Account Executive Architect and Engineer Program of National Grid, our Platinum Chapter Sponsor.
 
The presentation portion of the evening featured project presentations from Google and 5 of our sponsors.
 
Our esteemed USGBC MA Executive Director kicking off the project presentations.
Tiffany Colt introduced us to some of Google’s initiatives to save energy and reduce their company’s environmental impact on a global scale.
Guy Campagnone, Director of Sustainable Practices at Chapman Design / Construction, highlights some of Chapman’s latest efforts that align with their lifelong dedication to sustainable design.
Win Mallet, Principal of Tempietto Homes, spoke about the “necessity of diagonals” as part of their modern, solar-based designs.
Chris Alexander, Director of Business Development at Sterritt Lumber, spoke about his company’s lifelong dedication to sustainability since its founding in 1841.
Mark Stafford, Account Executive Architect and Engineer Program, at our Platinum Chapter Sponsor, National Grid, spoke about ways in which his company is demonstrating their commitment to energy efficiency.

Architect Doug Rand of Dimella Schaffer introduces their latest LEED-certified projects such as the North Shore Community College Allied Health Building.

The evening wrapped up with a final word by Grey Lee thanking all of our Chapter members as well as encouraging all the guests to join the Chapter to ensure the continued growth of the green building community as we work together to make every building in Massachusetts a green building within one generation!

 

 

 

 

 
Here’s a link to our SPOTLIGHT Feature in the New England Real Estate Journal: USGBC Project Showcase 10/17
 
Thank you everyone who came out to support the mission of the USGBC and we’ll see you next year at our next MA LEED Project Showcase!

 

 

 

 
 

 

“Turbo-Charged” New Energy Star Finds Some Rough Road

By Chris Liston

Written by Chris Liston.

Two months after ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager received an ambitious upgrade, users are still struggling through programming glitches in what the EPA has described as a “turbo-charged” new tool.

 
 
ENERGY STAR is a free tool administered by the EPA, which reports more than 40,000 individual accounts for more than 250,000 commercial buildings.  ENERGY STAR is frequently used by LEED project owners to report whole-building energy and water data to the USGBC.  The tool plays a key prerequisite role within the LEED EB rating system.
 
The June upgrade was intended to modernize a database architecture that was first introduced in 2000.  The new site was promised to be faster, more intuitive and more user-friendly – with data entry “wizards” and easier-to-generate reports.  User data would be seamlessly transitioned to the new tool and there would be no changes to the algorithm used to calculate the actual ratings.
 
When the ENERGY STAR website was re-launched in July 2013 after several weeks of downtime, the site was essentially crippled by programming glitches.  By late-September, the EPA had addressed nearly 30 programming issues and acknowledged a half dozen other issues that still need to be corrected.  The EPA has also acknowledged that some users are missing data and these users have been assured that the data will eventually be restored.
 
The ENERGY STAR update has been particularly challenging for those with large portfolios due to changes in “sharing permissions” and automated benchmarking services (ABS.)  In large portfolios (e.g. a retail chain with 100+ locations), ABS providers download energy data from utility companies and upload that data into ENERGY STAR.
 
Two months after the launch the new ENERGY STAR website is functional, though arguably not yet “turbo-charged.”