U.S. Senate Bill S.697- Toxic to Our State's Green Efforts!

By Cherie Ching, Advocacy Fellow

July 17, 2015

Article information provided by Rachelle Ain in the Advocacy Committee

While regulations on Toxic Substances are being addressed on Capitol Hill, local efforts to ban toxics are also taking place on Beacon Hill. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Reform will tighten regulation on toxics in building materials and products to ensure healthier buildings for the people of Massachusetts to work and live in. Our Chapter continues to promote a greener community with stricter regulations on companies using toxics in our building materials, which will result in less toxics exposure for our citizens.

Since its inception, the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act has been in need of updating and improvement. The law exempted over 60,000 chemicals already on the market, and has since hindered the EPA from identifying and regulating chemicals. TSCA has largely been ineffective at regulating the safe use of new chemicals. This year, at the Federal level, both the House and the Senate have advanced TSCA reform bills. The Senate Bill, S.697, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, was introduced by Senators Udall (NM) and Vitter (LA) in March, gained committee approval in April, and is expected to go for final vote at the end of July. The House Bill, TSCA Modernization Act (TMA-DD / HR 2576), was introduced by Congressman Shimkus (IL) and passed the House at the end of July.

There are complexities to pushing for the TSCA reform because both bills fall short on effective chemical regulation. The Senate bill in particular has been criticized for serious federal overreach because of its state preemption provision, which would ban state regulation of a chemical that is being reviewed by the EPA. It is notable that the chemical industry has been supportive of the Senate bill, undoubtedly, and the bill would further weaken current law by requiring EPA to set aside claimed “low priority” chemicals without a safety determination.

Massachusetts bills on toxic substances include Bill S.1132: To protect children and families from harmful flame retardants (Sponsored by Senator Cynthia Stone Creem) and Bill H.2119: To prohibit the distribution in commerce of children's products and upholstered furniture containing certain flame retardants (Sponsored by Representative Marjorie C. Decker). Both of the above bills are focused on flame retardants in products, which particularly affect children, families, and firefighters. Without realizing it, many families are exposed to these chemicals on direct contact with their household products, leading to chronic diseases and disorders, birth defects, and several cancers. These bills will initiate the phase out of flame retardants in children’s products and residential furniture. In addition, Bill H.2119 prohibits any manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to sell, offer for sale, manufacture for sale, distribute in commerce, or import into the United States any children’s product or upholstered furniture that contains a flame retardant specified in subsection (c) for any part of the product or furniture.

The Senate Bill S.697 for TSCA reform appears to be gearing up for a vote in the next two weeks. Our Advocacy Committee is reaching out to many organizations to talk about advocacy efforts our group may consider. If Bill S.697 limits regulation of chemicals on a federal level, it may also put a damper on efforts being made at the state level. In the meanwhile, please send a letter to Senators Warren and Markey, stating your concern opposing the Senate Bill S.697.

Check out our Healthy Materials & Toxics Advocacy Page for more information!

 

Solar Day of Action on Wed 7/15!

By Cherie Ching, Advocacy Fellow

CALLING ALL SOLAR AND GREEN COMRADES!

It is time for action! On Wednesday, July 15th, our USGBC MA Chapter along with the Mass Solar Coalition, Environment Massachusetts, Clean Water Action, the Sierra Club, Better Future Project, SolarCity and others are asking our members, activists, employees and partners to call their Representatives and demand action to raise the caps on net metering and let solar grow.

 

Here is the action page with an easy how-to and script!

 

In addition, Environment Massachusetts will be hosting a phone bank on Wednesday from 5-7pm. If you are in Boston and can spend some time calling activists to generate calls, please contact Ben Hellerstein to ask for details.

Visit our Advocacy Page to read more on our effort toward Net Metering Improvements.

National Grid commits to support 2015 Green Apple Day of Service

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


 


 
 
 
We are pleased to announce that our friends at National Grid are committing to support our 2015 Green Apple Day of Service. National Grid has a longstanding relationship with communities in the Commonwealth and we are proud to be partnering with them again this year after their strong support in 2014.

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.

 

 


Past Projects Sponsored by National Grid (2014)

Last year the Chapter coordinated with 38 schools for the Day of Service. Of these schools, National Grid sponsored the following four schools allowing them to be most effective with their projects. Read below to see the impact!

 

 

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

If you are interested in participating in the program, please find more information here and email celis@usgbcma.org.

 

 

 

 

 

Communities Keep on Getting Greener in Massachusetts

By Cherie Ching, Advocacy Fellow

Photo Credit: MA Department of Energy Resources

 

The Green Communities Act, Senate Bill 2768: An Act relative to green communities, was signed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2008 as an aggressive step towards energy efficiency and renewable energy in Massachusetts. This Act requires utilities to increase investment in energy efficiency measures, mandates the design and implementation of three-year state-wide energy efficiency plans by utility companies, and encourages greener buildings through updated codes, education, training and financial assistance.

This Act has enhanced Massachusetts’s efforts in energy efficiency by helping to get over many of the hurdles in the way of green progress. Some of these benefits include expanding investment by utilities; allowing municipalities, businesses and individuals to take advantage of net metering programs and net generation credits; requiring utilities to connect and contract with renewable resource customers to the grid; increasing the percentage of renewable resource generated power by the grid; and allowing for smart meter pilot programs to look into more innovative structures for the current rate system.

In addition to the abundant progress since 2008, the Green Communities program also encourages and supports towns looking into energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy projects. Creating a long-term structure for the green movement, the Act plays a significant role in statewide and national efforts not only for transforming our physical building structures into sustainable communities, but more importantly, our perceptual outlook of turning these policies into concrete action.

The Green Communities Act has resulted in calculable and incalculable benefits for Massachusetts and for the global community as a whole: job creation in the thousands; energy efficiency return on investment in the millions, a cleaner environment, a healthier society, and a clearer conscience which go beyond any calculable satisfaction.

As elaborated in the Boston Globe and the Analysis Group, the Act is projected to consistently increase the level of a greener community, but alongside other fruitful legislation such as the Green Jobs Act (Massachusetts Clean Energy Center) and the Global Warming Solutions Act, passed under the Patrick Administration. However, this positive momentum does not come without cost and complications. The net metering cap has been a hot topic in the recent months, addressing yet another barrier for greening energy resources through particularly solar alternatives and community solar. Our Chapter’s Advocacy Committee is dedicated to seeing Bill S.1770 pass through legislation to satisfy one of the many goals of the Green Communities Act.

 

 

Efforts Led By ELM to Keep Green Budget Alive

By Cherie Ching, Advocacy Fellow

This entry prepared by our advocacy partners at the Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM)

It seems that the recent winter extravaganza in Boston was not enough proof for legislators to refocus state funding towards climate change and other efforts to alter our impact on the environment. The recent designation of a meager 0.6% ($221M) for environmental agencies was passed in the Legislature this week and is up for Governor Baker’s approval. This update is not encouraging for the members and advocates of our green communities, as this amount does not even reach 1% of the total approved $38.1B budget (H 3650) for the 2016 Fiscal year. In fact, this should be a concern for all, considering the fact that less improvement in protecting the environment will prove grave consequences for all.

The USGBC MA Chapter, along with more than 65 organizations throughout Massachusetts, joined forces with Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) which has led the call for a return to “1% for the Environment,” a level of investment the state has not made in several years, but one to which Governor Baker has committed for his first term. This “Green Budget” calls for funding restorations to programs that have been disproportionately cut over the years and have yet to return to their pre-recession levels. 

ELM Legislative Director, Erica Mattison goes on to explain the importance of maintaining a higher standard for the Green Budget to ensure the sustainability of our communities and the environment in which we live in. She highlights the right we have to a clean environment, guaranteed to us in the Massachusetts Constitution, and the ability to achieve that through a supporting state budget.  Mattison continues:

“Restoring funding to these agencies will help ensure that our water bodies are healthy, fishable, and swimmable; our state parks and beaches are open, staffed, and well-maintained; and we’re resilient to a changing climate. What’s at stake here is safeguarding public health and protecting the interests of future generations, as well as maintaining our quality of life and strengthening our economy.”

 

Environmental highlights of the budget include:

·         Funding for a State Climatologist ($200k)

·         A doubling of funding for Department of Conservation and Recreation Stormwater Management (to bring it to over $800k)

·         A $2M increase for DCR State Parks & Recreation

·         A $2M increase for DCR Retained Revenue to enable the agency to retain up to $16M of the funds it generates

·         $10M from the state’s surplus will be transferred to the Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund.

 

Lowlights include substantial reductions for:

·         Climate adaptation planning (Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs)

·         Office of Dam Safety (Department of Conservation and Recreation)

In The Spotlight: Marie Mercurio and Urban Agriculture in Boston

By Jessie Miller


By Jessie Miller

I am a member of the Outreach Committee of the USGBC MA Chapter and we strive to highlight great people who are doing great work in the green building community and beyond. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of chatting with Marie Mercurio, Senior Planner with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Marie is a co-author of Article 89, the progressive and game changing zoning article that helped to create urban agriculture opportunities in Boston. To this day, Marie continues to facilitate urban agriculture activities around the city since the Article's adoption in 2013. 

At the heart of Article 89, the regulation intends to “breakdown the barriers and the obstacles to grow food locally.” Before its inception, urban farming was challenging and “everything had to go to the zoning board of appeal.” A combination of foodie entrepreneurs, individuals, and other groups worked with the BRA and city organizations to help redefine citywide zoning and after three years of testing pilot farms, planning, and negotiating Article 89 came into existence. What does this mean for you and me? Thanks to Marie and her team’s work, “all ground level farming up to one acre is allowed as a by-right”, meaning that we can now grow food on up to one acre of ground level land in Boston without any required negotiations with the zoning board of appeal. 

Marie has been at the forefront of helping cities, individuals, and organizations navigate and understand Article 89, both in its current state and its ability to be leveraged to help expand urban agriculture in new directions. When we sat down, she jumped in and told me about her day spent with Cambridge city planners and how she guided them through the ins and outs of Article 89’s development and implementation: “People know what we have done [in Boston] and so they are looking to do a similar type of regulation for urban agriculture and farming.” 

Marie also takes Article 89 one step further by helping people use it as a foundation to pursue other agricultural interests, such as animals in the urban setting: “the nice thing now is they have the backing of Article 89.” She smiles as she talks about her hands on approach with Boston citizens to help them understand the potential of urban agriculture in Boston. She continues to stay involved with practitioners and farmers to develop and manage Article 89’s implementation in Boston.

Where does Marie see urban agriculture heading? Since January 2015, there have been several farms designated under Article 89 and two so far have been stamped for approval by the BRA for Comprehensive Farm Review, a design review process they created through Article 89 ensuring farms would make a good neighbor. She acknowledges there are more growth opportunities for Article 89, particularly with freight farming. She is keeping an eye on how rooftops evolve to support urban agriculture as well as interesting technological advancements in the urban agriculture field, specifically hydroponics in rooftop greenhouses, such as described in this Ted Talk by Mohamed Hage. 

On the other hand, Marie works to ensure continued public involvement for the backbone of Article 89, ground level farming. The regulation was influenced by a groundswell of public support and Marie recognizes that varied interests and programming, such as youth involvement and other similar initiatives, are key to Article 89’s success. 

While Marie does not have a green thumb herself, she is at the forefront of helping Article 89 evolve in Boston and beyond. She purposefully “inserted [herself] into this project” because she knew this was her calling. City planning has been Marie’s expertise for a number of years. Her first job out of planning school being in rural Alaska where she was the Village Planner for 20 Eskimo villages, traveling to community meetings by bush planes. Marie glows when she talks about how she knows that she is “amongst kindred spirits” when she helps other cities plan for their own Article 89s and as they “head in our direction.”

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If you know of someone who should be featured like Marie, please email outreach@usgbcma.org

LEED-ing by Example Around the World

By Cherie Ching, Advocacy Fellow

July 6, 2015

 

Even as we focus our attention on more LEED-certified buildings and more LEED-accredited professionals in Massachusetts, LEED is making its way around the globe. USGBC (National) reaffirms that “LEED isn’t simply a stamp of approval but a resource for communities, a roadmap to sustainability. LEED is adaptable and can be region-specific, enabling professionals to connect and focus on issues relative to their country.” Although energy efficiency and long-term energy savings are incentives for many to consider the LEED certification in any country, the positive effects on the humans in buildings and environment surrounding buildings are equally substantial.

 

During a trip to the United States, a delegation from the Sichuan Province of China visited the USGBC Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to discuss sustainable development and how to promote awareness of green building benefits in their region. Instead of asserting green building education onto the people, the Chief Planner of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in Sichuan decided to take a more effective approach to promote green buildings by LEED-ing by example. He wanted to learn more from USGBC in order to showcase his own LEED-certified project with the intention to spark interest in energy efficiency education and make a more powerful impact on the rest of the building community in Sichuan.

 

In China, according to USGBC, there are already 120 million gross square meters of LEED space and more than 2,100 LEED projects. Around this time a year ago, China ranked 2nd in the USGBC's Top 10 Countries For LEED Outside of the U.S. with 96.22 million gross square meters of LEED space and 1,638 total LEED projects, which is approximately a 20% increase! Other LEED-ing countries ranked top 10 in 2014 included India, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Brazil, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Finland and finally, with Canada coming in at first.

 

LEED project teams are implemented in more than 140 countries and territories, demonstrating LEED’s applicability in global, regional and local structures that result in reducing energy bills and creating a healthier environment indoors and outdoors for all. If countries around the world are seeing the power of LEED, there should be no delay in the rapid expansion and application of LEED in the U.S. for more green buildings!

 

 

Featured Activity: Cambridge Energy Benchmarking

By Sun Joung, USGBC Staff

By Sun Joung, USGBC Staff

Last July, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts enacted a building energy use disclosure ordinance (1360) joining the ranks of cities throughout the United States in benchmarking efforts to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Energy use in buildings accounts for approximately 80% of GHG emissions in Cambridge. The ordinance requires owners of buildings to track and report annual energy use data to the city including: site and source energy use intensity (EUI), greenhouse gas emissions, and ENERGY STAR performance score. This performance data will be made publicly available online.

In addition to promoting transparency, and catalyzing citywide energy efficiency improvements, public disclosure allows potential property buyers, tenants, realtors, energy service providers and others to consider the actual energy and water performance of buildings when making choices. Similar to having access to the nutritional contents of a protein bar, individuals can now use this public data to influence decision-making. A prospective tenant, for example, could use such data to calculate what to expect in terms of utility bills.

Cambridge began its efforts by requiring municipal buildings greater than 10,000 square feet to report annual energy use. This data was reported using U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool.

A total of 38 municipal buildings participated in this first round of reporting, including schools, offices, recreational centers, libraries, fitness centers, fire/police stations, and water treatment/distribution centers. School facilities represented the highest percentage of energy usage, followed by water treatment, and recreational facilities. This dataset can be downloaded from the Cambridge Department of Public Works website and viewed on GBIG.

Going forward, Cambridge’s ordinance addresses energy and water use in commercial and institutional buildings that are greater than or equal to 25,000 square feet, including multi-family buildings that have 50 or more units. Following this initial year of reporting, data collected will be disclosed on an annual basis through a public city website.

Eversource commits to support 2015 Green Apple Day of Service

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager



 
 
 
 
We are pleased to announce that our friends at Eversource are committing to support our 2015 Green Apple Day of Service. Eversource has a longstanding relationship with communities in the Commonwealth and we are proud to be partnering with them again this year after their strong support in 2014.

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.

 

 


Past Projects Sponsored by Eversource (2014)

Last year the Chapter coordinated with 38 schools for the Day of Service. Of these schools, Eversource sponsored the following six schools allowing them to be most effective with their projects. Read below to see the impact!

Alighieri Montessori School- Constructed and planted a new garden to teach students how they can positively impact climate change by demonstrating the connection between farming locally in urban environments and the reduction of CO2 emissions and heat island effect.
Boston Green Academy- Insulated, installed water aerators and gardening taught these student how to care for the environment
Boston Latin School – Discussed international smog issues and how to implement energy efficiency and environmentally friendly products to help solve the global issue.
Manning Elementary School – Conducted a lighting and energy audit to determine places at the Manning school where we could use more efficient lighting (e.g., LEDs) or use daylighting more effectively. 
McKinley Middle School – Evaluated the school's current lighting usage, determine which areas had the highest impact when converted to more energy efficient lightly methods and implement new more energy efficient bulbs, as well as posted small signs next to light switches to encourage energy conservation.

Dallin School – Created an energy efficiency campaign for the Dallin School.

 

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

If you are interested in participating in the program, please find more information here and email celis@usgbcma.org.

 

 

 

 

 

Making it real: Levi + Wong Design Associates

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


At the Chapter, we are continuously impressed with the advances of the engineers, architects and construction firms behind the green buildings that are created each year. One firm in particular who is always advancing their standard for quality of life and design is Levi + Wong Design Associates.

Levi + Wong Design is a passionate group of Visionaries, Advisors, Designers, and Managers who believe the power of design can improve the quality of life in the communities where we live and work. Quality Design, Service, Innovation, Teamwork, and Sound Business are the foundation of their success. They are a client-centric firm led by working principals dedicated to design excellence.

Thank you to Evan Halstead and Inga Leonova, Chapter Members and regular participants in our activities. We look forward to following your progress as LWDA continues to innovate and excel!

Their markets are are centric to well-being and include Healthcare, Rehabilitation, Senior Care, Senior Living, and Landscape Architecture focused. Here are just a few of their projects that they have been working on:

HealthcareBoston Medical Center


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rehabilitation D'Youville Center for Advanced Therapy


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senior CareSouth Cove Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senior LivingGeer Village


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Landscape Architecture – Edgewood Retirement Community Memory Support Unit