February 2nd: Buildings of the Future – How LEED and Living Buildings are Changing our Landscapes
By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow
Don't miss out on the Boston Area Sustainability Group's next presentation: Buildings of the Future- How LEED and Living Buildings are Changing our Landscapes next Thursday, February 2nd, from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM in Cambridge! Click here to register.
About the Evening:
From cool roofs to smart glass, architects, engineers, scientists, and industrial innovators have been pushing the envelope for over two decades to build healthier, more efficient, and environmentally sustainable buildings. Today, green construction and renovation continue to trend high as a pursuit of real estate owners and community planners, who recognize the social and economic advantages of utilizing materials and design elements that minimize energy, water, and toxin impacts, while maximizing renewable natural resources for lighting, HVAC, and fixtures.
The speakers representing these organizations will be Grey Lee, Executive Director of the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter and Shawn Hesse, emersion DESIGN lead and co-facilitator of the Living Building Challenge Boston Collaborative.
Grey Lee, Executive Director, LEED AP BD&C
Grey is the chief facilitator of the US Green Building Council community in Massachusetts, serving as executive director since October 2012. He manages the organization's daily activities and leads the Chapter in achieving its mission. He has a keen interest in helping the broader community of stakeholders recognize how green buildings support and resolve many environmental, social justice, and sustainability issues. By connecting more people to the benefits of green buildings, we will be able to see a groundswell of support to change policy and change market preferences toward better buildings and urban planning. Grey has a background in commercial brokerage, real estate finance, and community engagement. He serves on the boards of two other community organizations in the Boston area and is very active with the Green Catamount alumni network of the University of Vermont. He lives in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Shawn Hesse, NCARB, LEED® AP BD+C, O+M, LFA, Regenerative Practitioner™
Shawn leads emersion DESIGN’s Cambridge office, and focuses his work on integrating sustainability into design, planning, and policy decisions for clients ranging from fortune 500 companies to universities, cultural, and civic institutions. He has designed and consulted on some of the greenest buildings in the country including Net Zero energy projects, and LEED Platinum Certified projects. He has consulted with universities, large corporations, and cities on sustainability and climate change planning efforts, and has crafted policies for cities and universities across the US to promote green building, green jobs, carbon reduction, and resiliency.
As the first USGBC Faculty in Ohio, and one of three in Massachusetts, Shawn is part of an elite group to be recognized and trained by the USGBC, and has educated more than 3,800 people about LEED and sustainability. As a Living Building Challenge Ambassador and Facilitator for the Boston area, Shawn also provides training for organizations interested in pursuing the Living Building Challenge – the most stringent and ambitious sustainability rating system. He is an active volunteer with the USGBC, serving on a LEED Technical Working Group to write social equity into future versions of LEED, and serves on the national board of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, working to improve social justice in the built environment.
Along with BASG, USGBC of Massachusetts and The Living Building Boston Collaborative will be co-hosting this enlightening and beautiful presentation of the spaces and places that comprise our future environments.
