HouseZero under construction at Harvard University

By Jen Cole


Harvard is striving for excellence in the green building industry, as they just announced that their next project will be retrofitting a 1940s stick-built house that will be used for their headquarters. The new house is projected to use no HVAC system, no electric light use during the day, 100% ventilation, almost zero energy, and produce zero carbon emissions, including embodied energy of materials. Before now, this level of efficiency was only being achieved in new construction projects, making this HouseZero Project the first-of-its-kind.

Inefficient existing buildings are one of the nation's biggest energy problems and Harvard is setting a precedent on the possibilities in a retrofit that can be replicated almost anywhere. HouseZero not only reduces the demand for energy but also saves money for property owners by significantly lowering operating costs.

The plan is to replace the current HVAC system with thermal mass, and a ground source heat pump for peak (extreme) conditions. A solar vent will instigate buoyancy-driven ventilation and triple-glazed windows will employ natural cross ventilation through a manual and automated system that monitors for temperature, humidity, and air quality. Much like a layered approach to clothing, the house is meant to adjust itself seasonally, and even daily, to reach thermal comfort targets. Construction for this project will take about 7-9 months; check back in at the end of the year for new photos and updates.

 

Read the full story: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/house-on-harvard-campus-undergoes-extreme-retrofit-300462869.html?tc=eml_cleartime 

Clippership Wharf- Righting the Ship

By Louis Areniello


Clippership Wharf is the newest mixed-use development project on a 12-acre East Boston Waterfront site overlooking Boston Harbor and the Boston skyline. The Clippership Wharf site sits along the Boston Inner Harbor near the Maverick MBTA Blue Line station, offering sweeping views of the Boston skyline from Charlestown to South Boston.

Opening Fall 2018, the under-construction project was designed by The Architectural Team and was designed to achieve LEED Gold Certification, the masterplan and design include four buildings with a combined 478 units, retail space and above-ground parking. Phase I, SLIP65 is comprised of 80 condominiums, additional phasing will include 398 apartments marketed by the name, Dox at Clippership Wharf. The plan calls for a Harborwalk, beachfront area and floating dock where pedestrians can launch kayaks – and where neighbors can be reintroduced to a natural shoreline.

The condominiums at Clippership Wharf, dubbed Slip65, will include one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms outfitted with top-of-the-line finishes and graced with sweeping waterfront views throughout. Residences will feature oversized windows and chef-level kitchens including stainless steel Whirlpool appliances, quartz countertops, distinctive tile backsplashes and custom cabinetry. Resident amenities will include indoor and outdoor gathering areas, a fitness and social club and ample bike storage.

Clippership Wharf is bound to change the way we view East Boston's waterfront site, with The Architectural Team leading the way in sustainability and design.

Pictures from Grey's Farewell Party

By Alexander Landa


Last night was bittersweet, to say the least. We got psyched for Greenbuild coming up in a few months, but we also said goodbye to our Executive Director of almost five years – Grey Lee. We went out in style with good food and drinks, old friends and new, and a gorgeous venue courtesy of Robinson+Cole.

100 guests trekked through the pouring rain – a good sign of our engaged, devoted community – to attend last night. Robinson+Cole's office was attractive, modern, and part of a LEED Green building – what more can you ask for?

We all caught up for the first hour before convening for the night's speeches. Celis Brisbin gathered the crowd to set the tone for the night – a mixture of what's to come, and the commemorative farewell. Todd Isherwood of the Greening Greenbuild Committee gave an update on how far we're already engaging with the local community and it's great to see so many companies already excited for November! Thanks to Jerome Garciano of Robinson+Cole for sharing some words on your devotion to our cause.

Our Corporate Relations Manager, Emily Kingston, gave some sneak previews for Greenbuild that aren't publically available yet. Be on the lookout for more info in the near future regarding registration and scheduling! 

The end of the night saw Andrea Love and John Dalzell of our Board take the stage to introduce Grey Lee, to say their thanks, and to deliver his well-deserved gifts: A commemorative plaque, a framed 'Wicked Green' poster, and a photo album of his almost five years here.

Thank you, Grey, for being able to keep the energy alive for the night. We know that you'll always be a part of our community, and we will always be Wicked Green!

See more photos here.


Throwback Thursday – Green Building Showcase 2014

By USGBC MA


With the 2017 Annual Green Building Showcase coming up on June 15th, we want to look back on our past achievements. It's amazing how much this event has changed since its inception. In 2014, it was still called the LEED Project Showcase and had 150 folks. Now, it's expected to be 300 people, and we welcome all building certifications like WELL or Living Buildings.

We still have happy memories of Genzyme hosting what would become one of our biggest events to date – at their LEED Platinum location, to boot!

There have been some amazing award winners over the years. In 2014, One Beacon Street won the Exemplary Building Performance Award, while the Waltham Watch Factory one for Innovation in Green Design.

Every Showcase delivers great speakers. 2014 had Genzyme's Lou Capozzi, National Grid's Mark Stafford, and NSTAR's Kim Cullinane.

Thanks to NEREJ for taking photos then (still available here), and see the recap video here.

We hope to see you on June 15th at Northeastern University's ISEC for the 2017 Showcase!

 

Roxbury Community College to launch degree program for smart-building techs

By Jim Jones and Valerie Roberson


Boston is seeing fast growth and, with that, an increase in green buildings and sustainable design. Boston ranks fifth nationally in total LEED-certified space, outranking many of the greenest big cities.

All of that is good news for jobs in this emerging field, with growing demand for technicians to run and maintain buildings specifically designed to be environmentally responsible and make efficient use of resources. While job opportunities exist, employers across the region bemoan a skills gap that leaves them without an adequate pipeline of trained workers to accommodate this growth.

To address that gap – while also providing a pathway to good jobs – leaders from several local firms, led by officials from international construction company Skanska, approached Roxbury Community College to design an associate

degree program to address this shortage of skilled technicians to run and maintain high-performance buildings, often also referred to as green buildings or smart buildings. The program is now under development and is expected to be offered at RCC starting in 2018.

The demand for these skilled technicians is high and growing. A 2015 report by IDC Energy Insights predicted that spending across the US on smart building technology could advance at a compounded annual rate of 23 percent through 2019, with spending hitting $17.4 billion. The demand for smart building technicians is so strong in Boston that hundreds of graduates with an associate degree in this area would be needed to fill the anticipated openings in these high-paying jobs.

Major employers are learning that many of the green buildings built over the past decade don’t live up to their energy efficiency potential unless they are run properly, which requires a lot of training. These buildings are no longer the exception, they’re the rule, and a whole new generation of technicians who have the skills to run them at peak efficiency is critical. Without that skilled workforce, the buildings don’t provide either the environmental or the financial return on investment expected.

Every commercial building will eventually need these technicians, as will entities that develop, build and regulate high-performance equipment. That’s why a range of partners, including Skanska, Boston Medical Center, Automated Logic Corporation, the City of Boston, Building Technology Engineers, Inc., EMCOR Facilities Services, APA Inc., MIT, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, have joined RCC in the effort to train the workforce needed.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy will assist in the development of the curriculum and hands-on training that will focus on the building controls software that regulates the HVAC, lighting, fire protection, security, and elevator systems in smart buildings.  The advantage to this partnership is that students who complete the associate degree will have the opportunity to transfer seamlessly to Mass Maritime to complete a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field.

Other organizations, such as Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and YouthBuild, the national non-profit that brings at-risk youth into the construction workforce, have also participated to ensure that high school students and others understand the opportunities in this new career pathway.

Adam Jacobs, energy manager for the City of Boston and part of the consortium planning the new degree program, noted that developing a curriculum for this new career pathway involves a deep understanding of the complicated infrastructure of smart buildings.

“To run a new high-performance building with countless energy features like heat recovery ventilation and air-side economizers all tied to a single building automation system, the operators need to layer in an understanding of basic thermodynamics, energy economics, and a bit of systems thinking,” he said.

“But this isn’t just about training technicians,” Jacobs continued. “Building developers are making an investment in energy efficiency, and it’s important both for the environment and their bottom lines to make sure those investments are paying off.  If we plan to meet our ambitious emissions reduction targets at the state and local level, we need to make sure our workforce is ready to meet that challenge.”

RCC is also the perfect host for this program due to its own current renewable energy project that seeks to utilize the very technology that is used in other smart buildings across Boston.  The state-funded RCC energy project, which includes a new solar canopy above a campus parking lot and 115 geothermal wells 500 feet beneath it, will save the college an estimated $860,000 in energy costs annually.

Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center reported that in 2106, the state surpassed 100,000 clean energy workers for the first time.  The center also reported that clean energy economy employees account for 2.9 percent of the state’s labor market, a 75 percent increase since 2010.

More importantly for the students at RCC, these are also well-paying jobs. Almost 70 percent of the clean energy sector’s full-time workers earn at least $50,000 annually. The new program will help Boston residents who strive every day to pay their rent and feed their families to take advantage of these career opportunities and make their dream of joining the middle class a reality.

James Jones is senior director of business development at Skanska and board member of the US Green Building Council, Massachusetts Chapter. Valerie Roberson is president of Roxbury Community College.

Original article here via CommonWealth.

Resilient Affordable Housing Assessment

By USGBC MA Communications

Linnean developed extensive resilience reports for hundreds of facilities for an East Coast affordable housing authority. The process included conducting on-site facility audits, mapping climate vulnerabilities, interviewing facility managers and residents, and recommending critical resilience upgrades to the building’s design, infrastructure, and mechanical systems. Recommendations covered design, operation, maintenance, and financial planning for facility resilience improvements, and focused on the safety of the low-income residents.

Accompanying these facility reports, Linnean developed an organizational report for the agency that provides comprehensive solutions for new policies, programs, and procedures to increase the resilience of the agency to climate change and other acute and chronic hazards. The organizational report offered recommendations to existing emergency management protocols and solutions to improve daily health and well-being of the residents—an aspect that will ultimately have a lasting impact on the resilience of this community.


 

 

 

Flood vulnerability around the agency's affordable housing sites.

 

EPMA May Meeting with Presentation by Jasmine on Wood Construction

By Lindsey Machamer


On Monday, the ever-expanding emerging professionals (EP) committee convened for our monthly meeting. We dug right into the logistics of planning upcoming events and chapter programming. We are particularly excited about our “Kick It By Eliza” with Alicia Tremblay event coming up on June 14th!

After refueling on snacks halfway through our meeting, we were regaled by a presentation from Jasmine, Co-Chair of the EP committee. Her excitement about the environmental, structural, and aesthetic benefits of the wood construction was infectious. She walked us through the details of the Design Building at UMass Amherst building which opened in January of 2017 after extensive collaboration through design and construction between all stakeholders. The project had support and input from of the UMass students and faculty, the MA State Legislature, the design team lead by Leers Weinzapfel Associates, and the contractor, Suffolk Construction.

Set in the hills of Amherst, the wood construction ties together the rustic roots of the historically agricultural school with the innovative research of the Building and Construction Technology and Architecture programs. We found ourselves inspired by how many synergies are offered by wood construction. The Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) used for the floors, walls, and stairs is an engineered product which reduces structural irregularities in wood, creating a strong and predictable building material which meets and exceed the requirements of the Fire Code. Since the CLT components are prefabricated and shipped to the site, it reduces the required storage space onsite and speeds up the construction process by allowing for simple assembly. Not only that, but the 70,000 CF of wood used in the building is hiding 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide from returning to the atmosphere for the life of the building!

Ultimately, Jasmine accomplished her goal of helping us all appreciate how much happier and healthier we can be in a wood building.

See her presentation slides here.

FXFOWLE PassivHaus Seminar

By Jen Cole


FXFOWLE joined the USGBC MA community on May 19th, 2017 for an invigorating presentation on their latest study showing that it is viable to design high-rise residential buildings to the Passivhaus Standard. FXFOWLE is an architectural, planning, and interior design firm in New York City with a global practice. The firm recently completed 888 Boylston Street, a LEED Platinum office building in Back Bay, Boston, and are currently constructing Ames Street Residences, a residential tower in Kendall Square, Cambridge, designed in collaboration with Stantec. 

The morning seminar was presented by three partners and principals from FXFOWLE: John Schuyler, Ilana Judah, and Gustavo Rodriguez. It featured an introduction to the Passivhaus Standard, which is based on the concept of using simple, direct, and primarily architectural solutions with mixed-use building designs to create ultra-low energy buildings. The firm covered how this standard is applicable to higher education and residential projects, and the relevant case studies involved. Common approaches were identified that can be used to apply Passivhaus to a broad range of high-rise residential building designs.


The presented study also addressed an industry-wide lack of familiarity with Passivhaus and dispels misperceptions about its applicability. The study aimed to determine how the construction industry can become more energy efficient when considering how high-performance envelopes contribute to architectural sustainability.

AGC Volunteers Transform Center for Women and Children

By USGBC MA Communications

Here is a feel good story about one of our membership associations AGC!
Volunteers Transform Ctr. for Women and Children


AGC and 50 Construction Companies and Organizations Participate

 

Dorchester, MA – More than 150 volunteers representing the Association of General Contractors (AGC) of Massachusetts rallied on May 15 to transform the Dorchester campus of St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children. The day-long project brought an unprecedented level of capital and professional support to the aging facility, formerly St. Margaret’s Hospital. More than 600 women and children receive shelter, education, and job training at St. Mary’s Center annually.

The project’s value, estimated at $250,000, improved the facility, creating a more functional space for the agency’s six programs.

Mayor Martin Walsh and his Office of Neighborhood Services along with Boston City Councilor Frank Baker have advocated for the families of St. Mary’s Center and played an integral role in making this service project possible. Boston City Councilor Frank Baker, ISD Commissioner William Christopher and Police Commissioner William Evans, along with members from 50 organizations, took part in the day of service.

Companies taking leadership roles included Berkeley Building Company, BOND Brothers, Central Ceilings, Commodore Builders, Elaine Construction, Gilbane Building Company, Marc Truant & Assoc., and NEI General Contracting.

Project partners were: Allegheny Contract, Ben Franklin Institute of Technology, Best Painting Co., Caliper Woodworking, Campanelli Companies, Causeway Contracting, Charles Services and Equipment, Columbia Construction, Compass Project Management, Consigli Construction, Dec-Tam Corporation, DeIulis Brothers Construction, E.G. Sawyer, Emanouil Inc., FT Painting, G. Greene Construction, GH Electrical Services, Hennigar Door, Inspectional Services Department of Boston, J&M Brown Company, KO Stone, Lee Kennedy Company, Liberty Construction, Marjam Supply, Mass. Federation of Building Officials, McAdam Painting, Mechanical Air of New England, Mill Creek Residential Trust, Mutha Cullina, LLP, Onsite Services, Perini Management, Sea-Dar Construction, Second Street Iron & Metal, SEMBOA, MFBO, SE Technologies, Siena Construction, Skanska USA, Southeastern Mass Building Officials Assoc., Suffolk Construction, Thom S Carlson Corp, Turner Construction and Wentworth Institute of Technology.

 

Welcome Jen Cole: Communications Intern for Summer 2017

By USGBC MA

Updating our Staff Roster: we have a new full-time intern at USGBC MA.

Jen Cole will be assisting our team with communications, grant development, and event logistics. She comes to us from having participated in the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center's College Intern Program, and we are really excited to have her on board. She recently finished her 3rd year at Emerson College where she was awarded the Sustainability Advancement Award for her work as the Living Green Resident Assistant and Producer of the annual Green Gala show bringing together environmental awareness and the arts. She has a passion for sustainability and great energy for her work. 

Welcome, Jen!


Hello,
My name is Jen Cole, my role at USGBC MA Chapter is a communications and technical associate. I’m looking forward to working closely with everyone in the green building community. 

My primary focus will be working on co-managing logistics for small and large events, grant writing, evolving communication, and program operations. I am on track to obtain a B.S. in Communication Studies with dual minors in Environmental and Non-profit Studies, from Emerson College.

 
I was born in Connecticut and was brought up in a small town called Colchester. I was inspired both by my parents and the vast amount of nature around me growing up to protect the earth and work for a better more sustainable future. 

In the past, I had the opportunity to work with the Emerson College Sustainability Committee. My work included advocacy, outreach and event planning. I have just started my path in the non-profit world and hope to take on leadership roles as I move forward. I could not be happier to be here making a difference through improving the built environment of Boston and Massachusetts. 

I am thrilled to meet and work with everyone, on the USGBC MA mission.