Don't miss the Green Building Bike Tour

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

Do not miss the Bike Tour! 

Our Emerging Professionals sure know how to have fun and this is going to be an insightful event. If you have not yet registered, do it now! Space is limited. We will be starting at Inman Square and heading south. Boston University (BU) will be providing a tour of their LEED certified buildings and so will the five other buildings on the circuit. It will also be a great opportunity for students studying green buildings to meet green building practitioners. Please invite your friends, family and co-workers and don't forget to register them too!

 

 

1.       BU Student Center

2.       Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion 

3.       Converse Corporate HQ

4.       Education First Building North Point Park

5.       22 Water Street

6.       Converse Store (LEED CI) in Assembly Square

 

 

The fun doesn't stop at the last stop, there may be a socializing session after! We hope you can join us for this FREE for members event. Thank you to the EPMA team and Steven Burke specifically for organizing this event.

Memories from a 2014 Green Building Showcase!

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


InnovationPerformance  |  Display  |  Sponsor  |  ATTEND


Believe it or not, the 2014 Showcase was a year ago. Click on the photos below to recount the event. There are many familiar faces and it only builds excitement for this year. We are looking forward to exceed 2014's 75 boards, 200 invitees and awards this year, to make the best Green Building Showcase in Chapter history. We know that you have been working on and hearing about innovative and high performing buildings all year. This is your opportunity to see them all in the same place and connect with the people behind the projects. 

If you are interested in sharing a building, product, or service, take a look at the “Display” of “Innovation” links above. If you have a high performing building with at least one year's worth of energy data, click on the “Performance” link to learn more about our award for high performing buildings. 


Space is limited and tickets are selling fast. Thank you to all who have taken advantage of the early-bird discount. The event will be hosted with an open bar and a generous assortment of appetizers at the Harvard Art Museums. 

 

Pre-Greenbuild Workshop with the Green Engineer

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


 

 

 

 

Pre-Greenbuild Workshop: Successful Energy Modeling for LEED Project

 
 

Our Sponsoring members and supporters at the Green Engineer are offering this great opportunity for our community of green building practitioners working on green buildings and energy modeling. Our friends at The Green Engineer, (special shout out to Chris, Marie, Carrie and Matt) are leading the charge with energy modeling and this is a great way to connect with the vanguard.

Want to know the secret to successful energy modeling for LEED? Register for our full day education workshop at the Greenbuild Expo this fall.  

Workshop Details

This is an intermediate level course and attendees should have energy modeling experience on at least one LEED project.  The workshop goals are fourfold:

  1. You’ll have a more detailed understanding of the prevailing simulation tools, their capabilities, limitations and how (or when) to use them based on your project type.  Supporting calculation tools will also be provided, streamlining your workflow.
  2. You’ll have a better understanding of the energy code (ASHRAE 90.1) and the critical parameters that have a significant impact on energy performance.  This will help you avoid “surprise” changes to your baseline that adversely affect energy results.
  3. You’ll have a better understanding of the LEED review process and documentation requirements.  This will help you cut the amount of time spent on costly post-review model updates.
  4. Implement the new modeling requirements in LEED V4 including ASHRAE 90.1- 2010 updates.

Specific topics include: “What’s new in v4; Generating custom performance curves” and many others – see the full list on the registration page. You can also contact The Green Engineer if you have specific questions about the content.

The workshop will be held on Tuesday, November 17th.  Seating is limited so register early.  Full day workshop pricing starts at $250.  This workshop is worth 7 hours of continuing education credit.     

See you there!

Source: http://www.greenbuildexpo.com/Attendee/Sch…

Our Latest Green Building Showcase Sponsors: Touloukian Touloukian Inc. and Tsoi Kobus & Associates Inc.

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


 We are pleased to share that our latest sponsors for the Green Building Showcase are Touloukian Touloukian Architecture and Tsoi Kobus Architecture. The two architecture firms are honored to support the green building mission in the Commonwealth as well as share some of the work that they have done recently in the sector. Our Sponsorship Packages are a great deal for firms who are interested in the media, marketing and networking available through sponsorship. The Green Building Showcase is the premiere Green Building event of the year, be a part of it. More information on sponsorship is available here and to attend, here

 

Silver Sponsorship Package $795

  • 2 tickets to the event
  • Entry of one Board into the Showcase
  • Detailed project story and picture in event program
  • 1/2 page color ad in event program that will receive distribution to New England Real Estate Journal’s 20,000+ readers
  • Logo on all pre-event marketing material and social media promotion
  • Logo on event signs as Silver Sponsor

Gold Sponsor Package $1995

  • 4 tickets to the event
  • Entry of up to three Boards into the Showcase
  • Project story and picture in event program
  • Full page color ad in event program that will receive distribution to New England Real Estate Journal’s 20,000+ readers
  • Logo on all pre-event marketing material and social media promotion
  • Logo on event signs as Gold Sponsor
  • Reserved table at the event for your firm and its guests
  • After the event you will receive a list of attendees
  • Company Picture with your firm's project boards

There is still time: Green Apple Day of Service

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


 

 
 

Educators and Community Partners!

 
The Massachusetts Chapter is looking forward to what will be the largest Day of Service in Chapter history! We are delighted to share that the majority of Green Apple Day of Service hosts have been matched with sponsors through our mini-grant program. We still have a few openings for energy effiency projects, so if you have a project in mind, please submit it here. We have great support from kindergardeners to Law Students at Suffolk. 
 

Green Apple Day of Service 2015

One quarter of Americans pass through a school on a given school day. Here at the the USGBC MA we are committed to green buildings and the savings, health and financial benefits which come with green design. The Green Apple Day of Service, Sept. 26, 2015, will bring together thousands of students, teachers, parents and community leaders from around the globe to improve our school environments through service projects, education, community events and more. Our vast network of champions will demonstrate the strength and breadth of our movement, leaving a meaningful and lasting local impact on our world’s schools.

 

 


Where We Learn Matters

 

If your organization would like to join our group of sponsors in supporting the Day of Service, please find more information here and email celis@usgbcma.org.

 

Check out our Handy Guide for Host Sites – this is a cheat sheet of programs that you can easily organize and implement at your school to create a memorable and meaningful service project this fall.

 

Click here to register a project and apply for one of our mini grants.

 
Looking back at last year, on Sept. 27, 2014, the Green Apple Day of Service brought together thousands of students, teachers, parents and community leaders from around the globe to improve our school environments through service projects, education, community events and more.
 
Our vast network of champions demonstrated the strength and breadth of our movement, leaving a meaningful and lasting local impact on our world’s schools. In the Commonwealth, more than 38 locations showed their dedication to making their schools a better place to learn. On a larger scale, hundreds of thousands of volunteers participated in more than 3,700 events and projects—and took meaningful steps to change where students learn, in all 50 U.S. states and in 42 countries.

 

 

TRANSFORMING OUR SCHOOLS

When you look at our educational spaces, you see outdated buildings in need of repairs, burdened with hidden unsafe toxics, dwindling budgets and outdated resources – in place of opportunity and progress. The Green Apple Day of Service enables volunteers to transform all learning environments into safe, engaging and comfortable facilities that enhance kids' ability to learn and teachers' ability to teach.

 

 

Program Overview


The USGBC MA Chapter and the National Center for Green Schools is inviting communities to take action on campuses around the world for the fourth annual Green Apple Day of Service, September 26, 2015. On this day, we are encouraging K-12 and College/University students, teachers, and administrators to devise a school sustainability project, and work with community volunteers, to create positive environmental change. USGBC MA is also inviting professional members of the green building community to serve as volunteer mentors for each project. Mentors will provide planning support, and work with schools to prepare successful one day or a year long project through the Green YOUR School competition.

Projects and Process

Each participating school will identify a low or no cost project that fulfills an unmet environmental need, and submit an application. Schools may propose a wide variety of projects — from planting school gardens, collaborating on clean-ups, developing recycling programs, performing energy and/or water audits — or they may customize a project to meet local goals.

Schools identify a service project (see examples below):

Tell us about your project, click here to register.

Download our project invitation letter that you can share with your colleagues here

 


Now Recruiting

Schools: click here to register
Volunteers and Mentors: You can find a school in your area register them with the link above. 
Sponsors: If your company is interested in becoming a Massachusetts Green Apple Day of Service Sponsor please make a donation HERE or contact the chapter office.

 

 


Road To Greenbuild!

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

 

The Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is coming to Washington, DC, this November. In recognition of Washington's status as a world leader in green building and to showcase the city as a premiere location for Greenbuild, we present a multimedia tour through some of DC's most iconic locations and LEED certified spaces.

Starting in Ward 8, we spotlight the new William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Neighborhood Library, which was certified LEED Gold for New Construction in January 2013. After that we move north to showcase an educational non-profit, a 363,000 square foot LEED Platinum government agency headquarters, and a building in the heart of Chinatown whose tenants serve the community and beyond. The tour continues with one of the greenest schools in the nation, the first LEED certified embassy, an iconic capital hill landmark and more.

We hope you enjoy this journey through our nation's capital and hope to see you at Greenbuild 2015.

Learn more about Greenbuild

Everyone is thinking Showcase

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


We know that you have been working on green buildings all year. We realize that your team is setting precedents for the most advanced and cost-effective designs. We acknowledge that you deserve the recognition of your industry and peers. 

We know that you belong at Showcase!

Come join your community of practioneers and share your project while learning about others. This year the Showcase will be at the Harvard Art Museums, recently certified LEED Gold. 

 


Join us at the 2015 Green Building Showcase, the Chapter’s premier fall event to showcase and celebrate exceptional green buildings conceived, designed, built & operated by our community of practitioners over the past year.  Over 75 projects will be on display. More than 250 leaders in our industry will be in attendance for this open bar reception and entertaining collection of green buildings (submit projects here).

 

What is this event?

The Green Building Showcase is a gathering for exceptional green buildings completed in the New England region between October, 2013 and October, 2015. Project teams are given the opportunity to display information about their buildings, highlighting the project team members and their successes.  Attendees are invited to critically browse the projects and review the displays while networking over cocktails and appetizers.

The hall will be full of display boards of awesome green buildings!

This year, the Showcase will also host our annual Green Building Awards. In the past, these were announced during our Earth Day event. This year we have matched the Green Building Awards with the Green Building Showcase happening in the fall season.

You do not have to enter the awards contest to participate in the Showcase – we encourage project teams to show off their building(s) in the Showcase, and optionally enter the awards competition. 

How to get involved:


Sustainable building: Why wood is our most valuable resource

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

 

This article was originally published on monarchmetal.com on Aug. 12, 2015. Read the original version.

In some small way, each of us knows the value of wood as a resource. In fact, we use it every day—it heats our homes, makes our stationery, lines our floors. But in spite of all of its uses, wood is still a taboo material where building is concerned. Instead, we use concrete and steel in the hopes that our buildings (which are often our biggest investments) will remain strong and stable.

We tell ourselves that wood is too weak to sustain anything more than a few stories; that it’ll succumb to any number of elements–fire, water, you name it. But is any of this really true? While we prompt each other to ‘save the trees’ and find ways to eliminate wood from our construction processes, others are using this resource to develop and maintain sustainable building practices that will help us all in the long run.

While sustainable building–or green building–dates back centuries, it really came into focus during the 1970’s when environmentally conscious groups forged a movement that expressed a strong need for more nature-friendly building practices. Over the years, green building has come to mean that resource-efficient processes are used throughout a building’s life cycle, from siting all the way through to end-of-life deconstruction. And wood has played a major role in this cycle. With a carbon footprint that’s 75% less than that of concrete or steel, is it any wonder that wood has become a top contending material for green builders?

Let’s take a brief look at all the other great reasons wood tops the list:

  • Wood lets us reduce, reuse and recycle. With innovative design, we can optimize the materials we use to reduce the amount of waste we produce per job site. Excess wood can then be taken to recovery centers for recycling, where another builder can secure wood for his or her next project… all without tapping our forestlands for materials.
  • It’s renewable. Unlike many building materials (steel, for instance), wood does not deplete the earth of its natural resources. Because it’s a resource that more or less stands on its own, it can be grown and harvested over and over again.
  • We have more of it than we think. Since the 1940’s, forest growth in the United States has continually exceeded harvest, which means we use much less wood than we think we do. And, of the 750 million acres of forestland in the United States, about 20% of it is protected by conservation efforts. So, all in all, we’re in very good shape to continue using wood as our main building material.

The importance of forest certification

When shopping for wood, consumers often look to certified wood to ensure that they’re purchasing wood products that are, in fact, sourced from sustainable forests. This is important because these programs keep consumers and retailers in line when it comes to forestry practices. The more consumers demand sustainable products, the more retailers and forest managers shy away from destructive harvesting practices like clear-cutting and logging.

But what about fire safety?

Perhaps one of the most frequent arguments against wood as a suitable building material is that it may easily fall victim to fire damage. But most contractors who are using wood to build are doing it with Cross-Laminated Timber or CLT, which acts more like concrete than wood. Harvested from sustainably managed forests, CLT is prefabricated to make highly durable, long-lasting wood panels that exhibit excellent fire resistance.

Rather than quickly burn and disintegrate, CLT chars at a very slow and predictable rate, giving occupants more time to carry out an emergency exit strategy. Overall, timber is an especially attractive option for sustainable building. When compared to other woods, timber is much more energy efficient, uses less water, and has a lower carbon footprint.

Wood is a mainstay of our environment that consistently serves our needs and is always ready to do more. In adopting sustainable building practices, we can continue to foster a mutually beneficial relationship between ourselves and our forests. The more environmentally responsible we are in all areas of our lives (construction included), the easier we make it for our most precious resources to continue to grow and thrive.

Join us at Boston GreenFest!

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


Colleagues and Friends!

Come join us at Boston GreenFest. We will be there all weekend thanks to our group of volunteers who are representing our Chapter at the event. The rain showers are not stopping the fun this weekend. Live music, electric car rides, and the environmental community are out in full force.

Jessie Miller, Outreach Chair, is discussing our GBCI events to this LEED Green Associate visitor in the image to the right. The event is a great opportunity to highlight our community and the great strides that our members are making in the areas of policy reform, education, and green buildings!


About the event:

The 8th Annual Boston GreenFest is the region's largest multicultural environmental music festival. Boston GreenFest is a celebration of life and possibility, providing you with ideas and experiences that can shape your life and the life of your community. Our goal is to inform EVERYONE as to the many ways green living can make a positive impact on our world, city, neighborhoods and each of us. The three days have something of value for everyone – the festival is convenient, and free. Individuals, friends, families and groups are encouraged to be at this FREE event. Be part of this community for green change. Have fun, meet people, learn, and be inspired!