January 18 LEED Exam Prep Course Recap

By Alexander Landa


Yesterday, we held our monthly LEED Green Associate exam prep course! From 8:30am-4:30pm, our office was packed with a diverse group of architecture & green building enthusiasts!. We're happy to have had such a huge turnout, and it's days like this that prove how much we really need to keep forward with our mission devoted to sustainability.

During the all-day training session, USGBC MA Programs Manager Celis Brisbin lead the packed room through the vast majority of what to expect from the exam. At the end of the day, we all took two rounds of practice question, similar to ones we'd likely see on the big day. Everyone was clearly paying attention all day.

Special thanks to Chapter member Samira Ahmadi of enviENERGY for stopping by to talk about LEED credits and about her personal experience with designing and certifying buildings.

Our next prep course is February 22nd – hope to see you there!

Early Bird Registration for NESEA's BuildingEnergy Boston Ends Tomorrow!

By USGBC MA


Early bird pricing ends tomorrow!

Our friends over at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) are putting together a pretty cool event March 7-9. BuildingEnergy Boston Conference + Tradeshow is the region's leading event for those in the field of sustainability, bringing over 2500 local leaders & emerging professionals together.

What makes this conference stand out is its place in the field – it's much more interdisciplinary in content and in audience than other similar tradeshows. Attendees and topics range from architecture, engineering, building design, consulting, policy, finance, auditing, installation, construction, education, and more.

Learn more about BuildingEnergy here.

USGBC Online Education:Beyond Buildings: LEED for Neighborhood Development in Massachusetts

By USGBC MA


Did you know that we provide online education resources through the USGBC to help you maintain LEED Accreditation? Instead of (or in addition to) going to in-person workshops, these online resources allow you to maintain accreditation from anywhere, anytime, at your own comfort. 

Register for the presentation here

his course will provide attendees with up-to-date information on the status of the LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating system, how it has helped shape LEED V4, how it has been specifically applied to local registered and certified projects in Massachusetts and how planners and developers are using the rating system as a tool to help regulate more sustainable neighborhood development.

The review of specific projects will look at the current status of two LEED ND pilots and where they are at now, as well as 3 new projects currently going through ND certification.

Participants will hear from presenters on some of the opportunities and challenges the ND rating system has presented, along with a focus on some of the most influential credits and prerequisites. The program will end with a look at how local governments in Boston and the surrounding region are using LEED ND as a guide and a way to help identify barriers to sustainable neighborhood development.

Objectives

  1. Identify the intent and requirements of LEED ND
  2. Utilize the LEED ND rating system as an evaluation tool
  3. Identify how LEED ND has helped shape LEED V4 & other LEED rating systems
  4. Recognize project applications of LEED ND in Massachusetts.

Reminder – LEED Exam Prep Course Tomorrow!

By Alexander Landa


Register here!

Tomorrow is our next LEED Green Associate exam prep course! Becoming LEED accredited gives you a massive advantage at your current role, or any future jobs you may be interested in. Our all-day training session covers everything you can expect during an AP exam, so you can go into testing day confident. 

Our LEED exam prep courses have always been incredibly successful. See for yourself with a recap of our October 2016 LEED exam prep course. We have proven success, as evident by testimonials by past attendees:

“I just wanted to say thank you again for organizing the LEED review session last week- it was extremely helpful. I took the GA exam this morning and passed without too much trouble! I look forward to attending more USGBC events in the future,” – C.A.

“Thank you very much for the training!  It was clear and informative–I am looking forward to taking the next steps.  It was also just nice to meet the other people in the training and to be in such a beautiful space. Thank you very much,” – L.S.

“My notes had things in them like 'be sure to know this' and 'expect questions about these numbers.' I focused on those items as I studied material, and they all turned out to be accurate.  Your practice exam questions, too, were very helpful and gave a good feel to what to expect,” – T.H.

Attend our next events and go into your exams prepared!

Register here
Wednesday, January 18th, 2017
8:30am-5:00pm
50 Milk St, 18th Floor, Hemingway Room
Boston, MA, 02109

We have awesome events going on over the next month!

By Grey Lee, Executive Director


See the full event note here!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day,

I hope you are all having a good long weekend, and taking some time today to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King. And what a right and rich legacy!

I have a full blog about the combination of urgency and patience that he demonstrated. Please take a sec to read it.

Many of us are active on many fronts. Many of us are focused on our families, our careers, and our station in life. Working toward better buildings is an awesome way to connect our moral universe with the practicalities of making a living.

Together, working with our mission, we are advancing policies and market-based solutions to address the wrongs we see in the world.

It is clear that our built environment affects social and ecological outcomes. Thank you for holding on to the complexity, the multi-stage reality, and the hard work it takes. 

Let us continue our work, bending the arc toward justice, for all,
Grey

PS – our community convenes: sign up before the end of the early bird pricing for the Building Tech Forum.

PPS – thinking about leadership: attend our morning program on Wednesday to learn how to change your firm from within.

Sign up for our monthly newsletter here

See the full event note here!

On this day, we honor Martin Luther King Jr.

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

I hope you are all having a good long weekend, and taking some time today to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King. And what a right and rich legacy!

Over the years, I have read and listened to several of his speeches. I was brought to tears when I visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis – hearing his resounding voice while standing in the hotel where he as assassinated. It was deep breath powerful. What an amazing role model and champion for positive change in our society.

It is sad that his efforts are now so far in the past, and while much has changed, so much has not improved.

Yet one of his recurring themes was persistence, to keep moving forward.

Our work for net positive outcomes for our communities through the transformation of the built environment is fundamentally patient. The pace of real estate plods along. Projects take years to come to fruition. Planning looks at decades. Codes, fundamental technologies, methodologies of project delivery, the duration of leadership in firms: all take years to shift. The movement of practices for buildings to become better requires the long view.

Yet MLK's spirit was also one of urgency. He said “the time is always right to do what is right.” We feel this urgency as practitioners. Even in a long-term oriented industry we want to support the best and right moves now. We want to execute on innovation – to save money, to reduce a building's impact, to be a more efficient contributor to the excellence of our final products.

Our urgency is not just to get ahead in the industry. Our community of practitioners is motivated by a basic concern for a sustainable and just world. We come together through this organization because it is inter-disciplinary and helps us see the way systems connect holistically.

Every day that passes is an opportunity to address the troubles in the world. Many of us are active on many fronts. Many of us are focused on our families, our careers, and our station in life. Working toward better buildings is an awesome way to connect our moral universe with the practicalities of making a living.

Together, working with our mission, we are advancing policies and market-based solutions to address the wrongs we see in the world.

Our building rating systems and performance-attainment challenges offer us ways to engage with our mission. Our techniques provide the small steps we can take today, with an eye on long-term achievement.

Together, as a community, we are growing the ranks of capacity to change the real estate industry. 

It is clear that our built environment affects social and ecological outcomes. Thank you for holding on to the complexity, the multi-stage reality, and the hard work it takes.

Thank you for your work to struggle for what is right, and thank you for being with me on this journey. I, and our staff, are here to help you in any way we can.

Let us continue our work, bending the arc toward justice, for all,

Grey
 


Reminder: Leadership Development with Barbra Batshalom this Thursday!

By USGBC MA


Join the leadership of change! Join Barbra Batshalom and the other warriors of sustainability. Re-arm your charge with Barbra's trade secrets and wisdom from her career of leadership in the sector.

Register here!

Thursday, January 19th, 2017
8:30am-10:00am
50 Milk St, 18th Floor
Homer Room
Boston, MA, 02109

Use the code SPI for 20% off any ticket type!

Despite lots of noise, integrative design is still a myth in most firms. Part of the blind-spot is that we keep looking at design process in the context of the project only, and not the organization – it’s culture, structure, systems, and tools. What are the firm’s expectations? How effective is accountability? Does the commitment to sustainability manifest in all aspects of the firm?

For firms pursuing the AIA 2030 Commitment, your project delivery methodology can make or break success. How does a team measure its effectiveness? Does good collaboration yield better results? Is IP more than a kick-off charrette and “one-hit wonder”? Can IP be achieved in individual project teams if the overall firm culture and methodology isn’t aligned with it?

USGBC’s LEED program now recognizes the importance of integrated process with the new v4 IP credit, so more teams are paying attention to this, but will a LEED credit (again) cause more hoop-jumping without actually providing more value? 70% of a project's performance and impacts are decided in the first 10% of the process, so it's critical to get it right.

This workshop is a practical and applied look at how your firm can truly capture the value provided by institutionalizing IP – and getting the LEED credit follows naturally! Successfully implementing IP requires a clear, shared understanding of what integration means in your firm culture, how individuals in different roles participate and alignment with consultants around your project delivery objectives. Critical efforts happen beyond the project focus and require change management to help everyone feel comfortable.

This is a 100% interactive workshop where you will be guided through an exercise to deconstruct and remap your firm's process, identifying along the way what organizational triggers need to be addressed so that integrative design is actually the bedrock of project management and not an elusive miracle achieved only with the most progressive clients.

You will gain strategies to help you truly embed IP into daily project management practices and participants leave with practical, actionable steps that will help you implement qualitative changes in your project delivery methodology the next day.

USGBC's 2020 vision will use LEED to further global connectedness

By Mahesh Ramanujam


The following is a condensed article from USGBC CEO Mahesh Ramanujam. You can read the full article here.

USGBC's vision for 2020

By combining USGBC’s collective, community-wide creativity and spirit of innovation and our wide range of resources, we will provide best-in-class products, services and programs to the global green building industry with the goal of furthering sustainable building practices across the world with purpose-driven speed.

This requires a digital USGBC. We will continue to invest the necessary resources to develop platforms and technologies that will disrupt the market and offer superior convenience, insight and benchmarking to our customers and the green building community at large. Our continued focus will be to establish ourselves as the number one leader of market transformation and customer experience.

USGBC

Over the next four years, USGBC’s primary focus will be to

  • Further the use of LEED in the global marketplace.
  • Offer best-in-class sustainability education on its Education @USGBC platform.
  • Remain the global thought leader on green building.
  • Serve as the global convener for the green building movement.

USGBC commits to investing in the future by developing the full potential of the diverse, committed and passionate people who power our movement. Only by aspiring to, and ultimately achieving, organizational excellence and optimum efficiency across our movement will we be able to solve the challenges of tomorrow and realize the vision and mission of USGBC within a generation, writing a new story about people and their stewardship of the built and natural environment.

Read the full article here.

Chapter Member Profile: Craig Foley of RE/Max Leading Edge

By Jim Morrison, Banker & Tradesman Staff


Craig Foley always loved homes and architecture, so when his family’s needs exceeded what his theater career would provide, he became a Realtor. A second, concurrent career in energy procurement and management ignited a new passion for energy efficient homes and his niche as a real estate agent with expertise in building science was born. These days, in addition to helping homebuyers in the communities surrounding Somerville buy and sell homes, he teaches other agents about how to properly list, market and talk to potential buyers about energy efficient homes and their components.

Q: How did you go from directing theater to becoming a Realtor?

A: I grew up in Westbrook, Maine, just outside Portland. It’s a very small mill town. I played sports and broke my shoulder playing football as a freshman in high school. There was this really cool theater teacher named Bob Fish who directed the plays at Westbrook High School. Bob was and still is a good director. There was a group of us who got really into creating theater and being on stage and it was a really exceptional experience.

I grew up in a family where no one had ever gone to college before. My mom and dad both worked in the correctional system in Maine. I’m an only child as well, and I just have the ability to really get into something and get engrossed in it. That created a really interesting pathway in my life to open me up to new things and send me to college and then to grad school. I met my wife in the theater as well. Then we had two kids and when the second one was born, I was up for a tenure track position at Salem State teaching theater. I had been focused on working as a director, which I really enjoyed. I didn’t get the position at Salem State and at that point there was no way that I could justify trying to make a living as a freelance director and adjunct faculty member. It was way too much work to do that and have a family.

It was a really tough decision to leave the theater, which I had been passionate about for almost all of my life, and figure out what to do next. I loved homes and I love architecture and what I didn’t expect I would love is the transactional process, the sales part of it and protecting your client’s interests, which became a new passion for me. It’s a complex transaction and people need protection. Good Realtors –and there are plenty of them out there – really take that to heart above all else. That made the transition which I anticipated being very difficult, a whole lot easier.

 

Q: How did you become known as an “energy efficient” Realtor?

A: When the market crashed in 2007-2008, I had the opportunity to develop this energy management firm called InCharge Energy with a friend of mine. That was a really exciting aspect of my life. I made sure that I kept my real estate license too. My partner’s family had some health problems and the firm ended up breaking up, but I left that with this energy procurement experience, along with the real estate experience and that’s what’s lead me to this whole sustainability part.

The work that I’m doing now as a sustainable real estate consultant, my business is focused on high-performance homes. I also do a lot of real estate education. My focus is on green homes and sustainability. I ended up being in a unique place at a unique time at the right kind of market to bring this to light. I love what I’m doing now.

Then I got associated with the Massachusetts Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. That’s where I picked up the building science part of this. I’m going to Orlando [later this month] to speak at the International Builders Symposium, where they have incredible high performance buildings and the pros who know the science inside and out.

I’m also connected with the architects and builders who are leading this field. I’m working on a project with Sage builders right now that we’re putting on the market in May or so. These guys are pushing the envelope. They built four units in Fort Hill with HERS [Home Energy Rating System] ratings of -4 and -17. It’s beyond net-zero. These houses are actually going to be producing more energy than they consume, which is really cool.

 

Q: Is demand increasing for your energy efficiency expertise?

A: Absolutely. More and more people are getting interested in this stuff. Between 2011 and 2015, Realtors’ use of the words “energy efficiency” in the remarks portion of the MLS went up 350 percent. Sellers who have made their homes more energy efficient will benefit from hiring someone who understands these issues, not only in how we value the home, but how we market it. It really makes a difference. There’s no question about it.

Energy efficiency is really about lowering the cost of operating a home. But buyers are also aware of the health impacts of living in a home more now. Some studies show that indoor air quality is five to 10 times worse than outdoor air quality. Customers with kids with asthma are already very aware of that. We’re all also becoming more aware that we have our own environmental impact and the home and vehicle greatly impact that.

Real estate education is critical right now if we want to help move the market in a way that solves some of the energy and environmental challenges that we face. The more we have Realtors engaged and understanding what a high performance home is, the better. You’re crazy if you have a Realtor team and you don’t have an NAR-designated Green agent on that team. A Realtor’s education is incomplete without it. Make that investment so you have at least one member of the team that gets it.

 

Foley’s Five Favorite Things About Living In New England:

  1. Three of the four seasons.
  2. The history.
  3. Small cities and towns with character.
  4. Islands: Peaks, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Hero Island and Block Island.
  5. It’s the best place to be a sports fan.

See the original post here

USGBC MA More Green Buildings Podcast – The Upcoming Building Tech Forum!

By Alexander Landa

With so much news in the industry – within our organization and outside of it – we want to use as many channels as we can to share what's going on with you. When you're driving home, on public transport, relaxing in a cafe, or just need something to listen to at work, we will be bringing everything important to you in a digestible format.

This is something we've been planning for a while now, and we're super excited to finally start it. From now on, we will be releasing at least one podcast per month, featuring different speakers, themes, stories, and news. For now, we will be hosting the talks on our YouTube account, with a proper iTunes podcast to follow.

This More Green Buidings podcast (<4 mins) is about the upcoming Building Tech Forum! Listen to Grey Lee and Celis Brisbin discuss why you should care about it.