Residential Green Building Committee: 5/8/2017 Recap – All About Net-Zero Design!

By Molly Cox


The Residential Green Building Committee (RGBC) met on May 8th, 2017. We had a guest presentation from Stephanie Horowitz, Managing Director of ZeroEnergy Design. ZED is a green architecture and energy consulting firm, working in the fields of architecture, mechanical engineering, and finance.

With a strong 7 person team, ZED is committed to designing homes and buildings that use 50% less energy than building code requires. Stephanie explained that most of their project makeup consists of single-family homes, compared to multi-family homes. They are also on track for the 2030 Challenge, which they started tracking in 2010 for their own projects.

When designing for most energy efficiency for a building, ZED prioritizes the building envelope first, followed by systems, and then renewables. ZED uses PHPP (Passive House Planning Package) for energy modeling of their custom home projects, but not all projects are expected to earn Passive House certification. The Energy Use Intensity (EUI) values for ZED’s completed projects are published on their website.

Stephanie showcased a Net Positive, LEED Platinum Certified four bedroom home in Lincoln, MA. This home has an impressive score of 0.27 ACH50 (Air changes per hour), which is a 90% reduction from code. ZED implemented systems such as air source heat pumps and renewables with a 13.1 kw solar PV array. She emphasized the importance of the direction the solar PV array faced, as that can hugely impact the EUI (south facing solar array is the best). It was impressive to see how closely aligned the monthly PV array predicted usage (performed by PV Watts) was with the actual usage. The homeowners are taking advantage of net metering in MA, to use the credits from the array’s overproduction in the warmer months, for the winter months when PV production is low.

In other news, the USGBC MA Chapter has a building tour of the Martin Luther King Jr. School on May 17th (register HERE), and a tour of Fort Hill on June 7th (register HERE). Come join us for our next RGBC meeting on June 12th!

See Stephanie's presentation slides here.

Sterritt’s Small Talk: “Is Boston Ugly?”

By USGBC MA Communications


Driving through Harvard square you can’t help but be taken back by the sights. You know the bulky Harvard campus buildings and the reminiscent of the Marriott hotel crumbling after its decades of maroon chipped paint and dull design. Sure some glass catches your eye and the smells strolling past Pinocchio’s Pizza make you peek into buildings and side streets til your hunger is cured. More appealing than staring at the blank face ally ways on the brink of dull and boring.

When Boston comes to mind we can’t help but not imagine the blue glass and blue sea is all there is around the Seaport and Waterfront districts. As if mirroring images of more brown and warned down red weren’t enough, now it’s being carried from street to street by our skyline’s reflection. The never ending construction zone signs and public parking becomes near impossible. I mean you really think a Ford 500 can parallel park between a dump truck and a back hoe? That’s not the point here.

I ask you to actually take a moment, and take notice of what you see. Not just the people, the food, the culture, but the physical entities stacked throughout the entire city. The buildings that hold the people and the dirty truth is that…. the city’s architecture is just plain “BLAH.”

Recently, Boston Magazine released an article called “Why is Boston So Ugly?” I asked around and most of my colleagues disagree. I don’t think Boston is ugly. I think there is just a melting pot of contemporary architecture mixed with timeless historical architecture. It’s not ugly, it’s just diverse, and maybe in need of a little imagination.

With a whole lot of man power, these buildings that take up to years of planning, you begin to wonder where the vision began. From start to finish the process can be timely and messy from rearranging layouts, building codes, laying frame after frame…time to complete a building is scorched by deadlines and high risk analysis. But, do architects really give themselves time to create? Where is the time to design and how long do we need to take to get it right?

We are all so into this fast paced money maker squeeze as-many-as-we-can in a time where the baby boomers reign, we think we can meet their demand… yeah, think again. Technology and innovation are terms thrown throughout the building industry. That for years, these two words are the two life lines to redefine Boston’s architecture. But what does it matter if no one is willing to push the boundaries? When will there be an architect who will use their imagination to reinvent how we see our world?

Funny thing is, for years, we have had these kinds of innovators at our feet. With four superb architecture schools within 5 miles of one another, we have a major roster list of innovative designers. Many of whom stick around after their education—alas, most of them stick around to teach, not to build. I am all for education, but to teach and not create seems to me a bit of fearful living. Maybe that is what we see here in Boston the decline of risk-taking. Boston is now home to a handful of world-class architecture firms—companies employing between 20 and 50 people—that are designing beautiful, exciting buildings. And they’re getting built, too. Just not in Boston.

Recently, taking a trip myself to New York City you can’t help but be taken back by the buildings. I am not just saying the big ones you see from Brooklyn Bridge or the Statue of Liberty. I am talking about getting lost on a random street and you’ll most likely find yourself staring at buildings that just make you say “how did they do it? Who thought of this?” Everywhere from the Natural History Museum to any theater, the list goes on and on about creative and innovative design. So why is it Boston can’t seem to take these risks? We have the sources and the people but we cannot implement anything original in years!

Mayor Marty Walsh returned from his New York trip (architecture adventure), and in a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in December, he passionately advocated for better, more-compelling architecture. “Too often, in recent decades, new buildings have been merely functional,” he said. “I believe Boston can do better. We should aim for world-class design. Our historic buildings reflect our unique past. New buildings should project the values and aspirations of our growing city. We can balance the old and new. And we can do it with imagination.”

These are just words and hopes for a better future. From city hall to the construction site, the people who build these skyscrapers need to branch out and reach out for reliable resources. An idea is only an idea until it is put down on paper and action takes place. But coming up with good ideas with the right people isn’t even half the battle here. The imagination may lack but there is something else that needs to be addressed. Conflicts of interest is what is stopping innovation. The forward-thinking developers are silenced by the current system and the glare of another blue glass building design. Throw out the existing bureaucracy (and any existing plans that yet again mimic the Hynes Convention Center) and build oversight into the system.

 

The EPMA Took Over the Charles River Cleanup on April 29th!

By Max Silverman


On Saturday, April 29th, EPMA teamed up with over 3,000 volunteers along the banks of the Charles River for the 18th annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup.  The Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup builds on a national effort as part of American Rivers’ National River Cleanup, which to date, has removed over 20.7 million pounds of trash from America’s waterways! 

EPMA had a great volunteer turnout was blessed with one of the nicest days this spring – 70's and sunny!  We met at the Esplanade and got our T-shirts and cleanup equipment at the steps of the Hatch Shell.  We were joined at the Hatch Shell by groups from PWC, Boston University Engineering, and several other organizations.  There were also individuals and families ranging from young children to seniors. 

Through a little bit of sweat, a few laughs and plenty of smiles, the volunteers on the Esplanade were able to fill bag after bag with garbage and floating debris that gathered along the water's edge during the winter.  We removed bottles, food wrappers, lots of disintegrated Styrofoam cups and even some hazardous items.  Runners, bikers, and walkers stopped to say thanks!  For all who enjoyed the event and anyone who did not attend but would like to get involved, you can check out all of the great events that we have coming down the pipe here: https://usgbcma.org/events
 

May 2017 Newsletter – Grey is Moving on, But the Mission is Going Strong!

By USGBC MA


See the full newsletter here!

What can I say? We're #1! We have #MoreGreenBuildings! We have more members, more sponsors, more volunteers and more engagement across the spectrum. It has been an honor to work for this community of practitioners who share my passion for transforming the building industry. I have only been a steward, standing on the shoulders of giants, helping cultivate the next generation of green building leaders in our organization's purview. I am happy for the opportunity to serve and looking forward to coming out as a volunteer to help with programs and advocacy. I know we will meet again.

I hope you are able to come to some of the great things we have planned this month! Check out the service project in JP, the gender bias program, or the tour of the MLK School. Definitely plan on being at the Green Building Showcase on 6/15! That is going to be awesome.

Take care and thank you for participating in our mission and supporting our essential work. It's exciting to think about what will come next. 
Thank you,
Grey
 

Dear World: Drive Less

By Zipcar

Dear World,

Drive less.

We know, we know—it’s odd to hear that from a car sharing company. But hear us out.

Human activity is accelerating climate change at a dangerous rate, and the transportation industry is the second-largest and fastest-growing contributor. In fact, passenger cars are the largest source of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. These aren’t our personal beliefs or anything. They’re just facts.

But trust us, we have personal beliefs on the subject, too. We believe in enabling simple and responsible urban living. We believe in a future in which car sharers outnumber car owners. We believe that car sharing programs should and will be a requisite part of how our cities grow and develop.

These beliefs have kept us going for 17 years and have brought us one million members sharing 12,000 cars in 500 cities and towns around the world. So far, these members have prevented 1.6 billion pounds of CO2 emissions, and together, we’ve kept almost 415,000 personally owned vehicles off the road.

We’re pretty proud of that, but it’s not enough. So this Earth Day—and every day, really—we’re asking everyone to fight climate change by simply driving less. Lace up those kicks. Dust off that bike seat. Carpool with a neighbor or coworker. And show us how you’re making these (and other environmentally friendly) tweaks to your routine with #DearWorld.

Because let’s face it: Right now is when the Earth needs saving the most—and no action is too small. That’s just fact.

Zipcar

AHA Consulting Engineers is a Silver Sponsors of the USGBC MA!

By USGBC MA


AHA Consulting Engineers has been a true ally in our mission of sustainability for over five years, and we're happy to say that they are a Silver Sponsor of our organization. Their work always impresses us and the surrounding community, and we're incredibly proud to continue working with them for #MoreGreenBuildings!

The group has been serving its clients for over 20 years across the country and internationally, with an expertise in mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection design as well as LEED administration, commissioning and energy modeling. With over 130 professionals, AHA is committed to the creation of environments of enduring quality and value.

If you're happy to have more seating options at Fenway Park to see the Red Sox knock it out of the park, you can thank AHA for that one. In late 2016, AHA's unique engineering approach led to 258 more seats available at Fenway, with 222 in the right-field pavilion, or the 36-person Infiniti Suite, where AHA's mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire alarm design experience is on display. AHA has been involved with Fenway upgrades, renovations, and expansions since 2009, such as the Royal Rooters visitors' clubhouse and concession stand expansions.

AHA provides consulting services in:

Mechanical
Electrical
Plumbing
Fire Protection
Building Commissioning
Sustainability Consulting
LEED Project Administration
MEP Design Documentation
Energy Modeling
Building Information Modeling

 

Thanks again to AHA! Learn more about them on their website or our blog.

April 26th Building Tour of The Eddy – Residential Design at its Finest!

By USGBC MA


Last night (April 26th), the USGBC MA community took an evening tour of the highly-innovative Eddy, a high-end apartment complex developed by Gerding Edlen. The 250-unit building is proof that not only can a building be beautiful and functional, but it can also be incredibly good for the environment, as evident by its LEED Gold Certification. 

Starting off with a casual networking session with drinks and refreshments, attendees were excited to explore the lower levels of the building, primarily common space for residents to enjoy, such as an outdoor patio, a pool table, chairs by the water, and more.
 Thank you to Renee Loveland for opening up the night and talking about Gerding Edlen's devotion to sustainability, and what makes The Eddy so unique.

From there, the large crowd broke off into two groups to see what really makes this building tick. One of The Eddy's most exciting features is the state-of-the-art co-generation plant on site, that generates the electricity and hot water for the entire building. It's amazing to see this up-close and personal – building design has come a long, long way in recent years.

Once the tour circulated to all of the display apartments, most of the time all you could hear were whispers of “oh, wow” – these are amazing layouts. 

 


One of the unique things the crowd has ever seen was the robotic parking system, which is a clever way of having someone park their car onto a landing platform, pulling it into a vertical row of cars (3 cars high!) and arranging the cars robotically. This way, so much space is conserved by condensing the space taken up as opposed to a full parking lot. 
It's like Tetris, except your thumbs and eyes don't hurt afterward.

There was so much to see during this tour, and it really left a lasting impact on everyone who attended. Between the mechanical rooms, outdoors facilities, common spaces, roof decks, and apartments, The Eddy raises the bar for what a residential complex can achieve.

Thanks to all Eddy staff and Gerding Edlen guests for holding this tour for us!

See more pictures here.

 

Elkus Manfredi is a Silver Sponsor of the USGBC MA!

By USGBC MA


We are incredibly proud to announce that Elkus Manfredi Architects is renewing as a Silver Sponsor of the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter. For years, they have been a great friend and ally in our fight for a net-zero future, and we're incredibly happy to be engaging with them even more. 

Elkus Manfredi is an architectural firm committed to the principles of green building and sustainability.  The group is well-versed in the ways that connectivity, location, market pressures, sustainability, and other elements play into the unique matrix that each project represents.  Elkus Manfredi has gained insight into what has historically worked and what hasn’t, and can take an educated look into the future to anticipate needs not yet evident.  This adds enormous substance to their work.

In recent memory, Elkus Manfredi developed the beautiful New Balance HQ located in Brighton, Massachusetts, which won the Green Building of the Year award at the 2016 Green Building Showcase. This five-story, 350,000 square-foot design is the sole LEED v2009 CS Platinum project in the United States to achieve all Indoor Environmental Quality credits, and only the third in the world. 

Learn more about Elkus Manfredi at their website and our blog.


Bruner/Cott's R.W. Kern Center Makes 2017 COTE Top Ten List

By Alexander Landa


Nothing makes us happier than seeing our friends and allies making headlines for their monumental achievements to sustainability. Bruner/Cott's R.W. Kern Center at Hampshire College has made the 2017 AIA COTE Top Ten Awards, a program that celebrates sustainable design and building excellence. The R.W. Kern Center is pursuing Living Building certification – and making great strides towards it.

The AIA and Committee on the Environment (COTE)'s Top Ten Awards program is now in its 21st year, always highlighting projects that are models for what a great design should hope to achieve. By aligning with COTE's criteria for social, economic, and ecological value, designs can be entered into a competitive pool with only the highest-performing candidates making the list.

The R.W. Kern Center is an archetypal example of what it means to be a sustainable design and pinnacle of excellence. The new 17,000-square-foot campus welcome center was constructed using materials that were chosen to comply with the LBC Red List. The building is designed to supply its own power and water and process waste on-site.

Bruner/Cott has a distinguished 40-year sustainability record and a clear commitment to excellent green building. The firm approaches each project in the context of its community, program, and mission, and looks for ways to maximize projects’ positive impact.

Read more about Bruner/Cott at our Chapter Sponsor page, and their website.

Congratulations, Bruner Cott!

Study Explores LEED Building Adaptation for Passivhaus Certification

By USGBCMA Communications

Can a building designed to meet LEED certification be adapted to meets Passivhaus standards?

Recent research released by FXFOWLE into how New York City buildings can meet energy efficient Passivhaus standards featured contributions from two Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) staff members. Senior Principal Sean O’Brien and Staff II Brienna Rust were coauthors on “Feasibility Study to Implement the Passivhaus Standard on Tall Residential Buildings,” which explored the impact of adapting a building designed to meet LEED certification to one that meets Passivhaus. 

Passivhaus is a design concept developed in Germany that uses architectural solutions like stringent air tightness and minimized thermal bridging to create buildings that consume very little energy. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority sponsored this project to explore the viability of this approach for energy efficiency in the local construction industry. FXFOWLE led the study, and several other engineering and consulting firms contributed to the project. 

The researchers compared a base case high-rise, mixed-use building in Queens, NY, seeking LEED v.3 Silver Certification with an adapted design to meet Passivhaus requirements. “The study examines the impacts of achieving the standard from architectural, enclosure detailing, mechanical, structural, constructability, resiliency, zoning, and code perspectives,” wrote the authors. They found a 47% reduction in primary energy consumption from the base model and an 85% reduction in heating demand, offset by a 2.4% initial cost increase and a 24-year payback. 

“The findings of this study suggest that it is viable to design large high-rise residential buildings in New York City to meet the Passivhaus standard” with minimal aesthetic changes, the authors conclude. 

Sean will present the results of this study as part of an expert panel discussion on 29 April at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 in Orlando, FL.