At Built Environment Plus, we are more than a community – we’re a powerful collective of green building leaders and aspiring leaders who strive to design, build, and operate a sustainable and regenerative built environment. We want to focus on the “plus” in Built Environment Plus, and that is where you come in.

We’re looking for practitioners, leaders, and aspiring leaders that are pushing the envelope for healthy, sustainable, resilient, and regenerative buildings. In 2024, we made significant strides through trainings and events, and now you can be a part of it.

As an individual BE+ member, you can cultivate connections with other members and take your work to the next level. But there is more, by being a Company Member, you can demonstrate your leadership within the industry while unlocking collaborative opportunities for your employees and your bottom line.

We offer different membership levels, each with its own set of benefits. Take a look at our Year-Ahead Prospectus to plan how you want to engage with BE+ and connect with other companies.

Our goal is to add 20 new Company Members this winter. Take 50% off your first-year Company Membership at every level. Plus, you’ll get at least 2 individual memberships for any membership level at no additional cost.

By joining BE+, you’ll have a stronger network and a set of expertise to tackle seemingly impossible challenges together in the built environment. BE+ is the place to grow and thrive while propelling you and your organization. Join now!

Massachusetts reclaimed its top spot in USGBC’s ranking of the Top 10 States for LEED certifications in 2024, continuing to lead the charge for greening the built environment. In 2024, Massachusetts certified 34 million square feet of building space with LEED, with a total of 132 projects and LEED gross square footage per capita of 4.95.

Massachusetts has been a leader in pushing for building codes that help the decarbonization of the built environment. As early as 2009, the state introduced the first energy stretch code and later adopted the specialized stretch code in 2023 to reduce fossil fuel use and improve energy efficiency. Ultimately, Massachusetts has made significant strides in hopes of achieving our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

As USGBC quoted Meredith Elbaum, BE+ Executive Director, “We’re thrilled to see Massachusetts back on top of the list of states for LEED certifications because it’s a real measure of leadership toward a sustainable and regenerative built environment.”

State and federal level investments have helped support the state’s net zero efforts. Studies and reports, such as Massachusetts is Going Net Zero, outline the state’s climate objectives. As USGBC mentioned, “BE+ found that, in the past three years, Massachusetts has seen a sixfold increase in the number of net zero and net zero ready buildings.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has prioritized combating climate change. Compared to other states, Massachusetts has a large clean energy workforce. However, an expansion of the climate workforce is still needed to actualize the infrastructure, according to a 2023 report from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

Recently, Mayor Wu’s Net Zero Carbon Zoning Initiative was approved, taking effect in July 2025. Boston is now the first U.S. city to require new large buildings to meet net zero carbon emissions standards from day one of their operations. The code also requires reporting on embodied carbon, with Large Projects requiring an embodied C02e emissions life cycle assessment analysis.

As Massachusetts continues to set standards for sustainability, various projects showcase the state’s dedication to green building: Gillette Stadium, One Boston Wharf (home to the 2024 Green Building Showcase), and 300 3rd Avenue Waltham.

From legislative efforts to municipal projects, Massachusetts’ leadership is clear. The Commonwealth is committed to achieving a more sustainable environment and aims to lead as an example for other states to follow.

As we enter 2025, the BE+ community gathered to celebrate the past year’s achievements and welcome the new Board of Directors. During the Annual Meeting & Volunteer Celebration, we honored individuals and companies that have demonstrated commitment and leadership in various ways in 2024 by acknowledging their contributions, planting trees in their honor, and welcoming new faces to the leadership team.

The awards went out to the following:

1. Company of the Year: WSP
2. Net Zero Hero: Noah Klammer and Rand Lemley
3. Living Building Champion: Jim Newman
4. Member of the Year: Cameron Burkacki
5. Health & Wellness Champion: Mandy Miller
6. BE+ Community Leader:  Yanni Tsipis
7. Emerging Professional of the Year: Michelle Silverwood
8. Women in Green Warrior: Elizabeth Venuti
9. Most Studious Company: Fennick McCredie Architecture

BE+ also announced the new Board Members and the BE+ community would like to congratulate and give a warm welcome to Hessann Farooqi (Boston Climate Action Network), Julian Groenendaal (Thornton Tomasetti), and Jennifer Lawrence (Hideo Sasaki Foundation). Additionally, we would like to congratulate the re-elected board members Kate Bubriski, Sarah Michelman, and Jacob Knowles.

As we bid farewell to 2024, we would like to thank our departing Board Member Axel Jeremie for his dedication, passion, and invaluable contributions. A tree will be planted in his honor, along with 90 others in honor of our volunteers who make our community so special.

Congratulations to the award winners, new board members, and everyone continuing their hard work. Here’s to a year of furthering our success and progress within the BE+ community!

We are living in an era of deep systemic challenges and major opportunities for transformative change at every level. While Built Environment Plus has evolved over the years in order to better meet our mission, we are thrilled to have an unprecedented opportunity to quickly expand our capacity, our programming, and our impact.

Thanks to new funding from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, we are able to build on our track record to deepen our programming on decarbonizing existing buildings. Starting with Boston and Cambridge, and expanding across the state, we’ll be engaging and supporting new audiences and stakeholders to tackle large building retrofits and meet the growing push towards building performance standards.

In addition, we are hiring a Communities lead to support our six thriving topic communities, which have really been the heartbeat of BE+ since the pandemic. The BE+ community has never been more vital, and the policy and industry landscape has never been more aligned with our mission. That is why we look forward to continuing our role in building connections, sharing knowledge, and growing and leveraging the group genius of our mighty community.

It’s all about the plus. For us, the plus represents relationship, possibility, and a community far greater than the sum of its parts.

Check out our open positions and help spread the word!

• Administrative Assistant
• Community Senior Associate
• Existing Buildings Research Associate
• Product Associate: BE+ CONNECTS
• Existing Buildings Program Manager

About Built Environment Plus
Built Environment Plus (BE+) is a member-based community driving sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operations of the built environment.  BE+ provides green building education, networking, advocacy and leadership opportunities for the sustainable building practitioner community and beyond. Our events and programming are supported and enhanced by the volunteer efforts of our community members – the leaders and aspiring leaders in the green building industry.