Aug 7, 2018 | Uncategorized
Written by Lindsey Machamer
As a civil engineer, I feel proud to be contributing to the development of our public infrastructure which will be around for 25, 50, or even 100 years. The state of the US infrastructure is at a critical point where significant investment is needed to redevelop degraded roads, water and wastewater utilities, and energy systems. New systems need to be built to address the needs of today without jeopardizing future generations’ needs.
In my work at Pare Corporation, I have been learning and working with Envision, a rating system for infrastructure projects, similar to the LEED rating system for building projects. I was thrilled to share what I’ve learned about this system with the Emerging Professionals meeting in July. The rating system, which was released in 2012, was developed by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), a group founded by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Council of Engineering Companies, and the American Public Works Association. The system comprises of 60 credits in five categories: Quality of Life, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Natural World, and Climate and Risk.
Envision is uniquely qualified for the challenges inherent in infrastructure development. Infrastructure, being a public feature, is not owned by a single developer. It is owned, operated, used, regulated, and funded by a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Envision is designed to create a consistent approach to measuring as well as guiding a project’s contribution to economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability. One of the hallmarks of the system is its focus on stakeholder collaboration. The credits in the “Leadership” category are structured to facilitate input early and often to best meet the needs of all parties involved (including the natural world).
The American Society of Civil Engineers, in a statement on sustainable infrastructure, compels designers to be “the bridge between science and society.” The Envision rating system is a tool that helps us live up to that responsibility by helping to guide sustainable decision making and provide clear communication for all involved.
To learn more about the Envision rating system and to find examples of local Envision Verified Projects, visit sustainableinfrastructure.org.
Aug 2, 2018 | Uncategorized
At USGBC MA, we are proud to work with a diverse community of leading companies in the Massachusetts area. Take a look below to learn a little bit more about out Healthy Building Summit 2018 Sponsors.
At SmithGroup we work to create a legacy of inspiring places that enhance the environment and enrich the human spirit. We deliver sustainable solutions to create a healthy and prosperous future for our clients and communities. Designing for the overall health of people is a fundamental responsibility. As stewards of future generations, our work seeks to balance the needs of a thriving society, economy, and environment.
With our multidisciplinary expertise and integrative design process, SmithGroup teams collaborate with clients to identify innovative solutions, seeking synergies that can accomplish multiple goals. The integrative design process achieves sustainable community solutions that improve health and the human experience. By incorporating biophilic design elements, natural daylighting, and views to nature in our work, we seek to create a healthier human environment and design a better future.
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Over the past several years, Bergmeyer has been extremely involved in the building design and construction industry’s push for increased product transparency and material ingredients reporting, and the firm is committed to eliminating the use of products and materials containing hazardous chemicals in our projects. In 2014, Bergmeyer – along with other firms across the country – issued a letter to product manufacturers pushing for greater transparency regarding chemicals and other potentially harmful substances in the materials and products architects specify. The letter served to make manufacturers aware of our preference for products with Health Product Declarations (HPDs), which provide information on building product content and associated health information. That same year, Bergmeyer’s president Mike Davis was invited by the American Institute of Architects to participate in a national task force called the AIA Materials Knowledge Working Group (MKWG). Twelve nationally-recognized architect- leaders in sustainable design were joined by an equal number of representatives from the USGBC, Architecture 2030, the Health Product Declaration Collaborative, the International Living Futures Institute, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, attorneys practicing in design and construction law, and senior AIA staff. This working group had three charges: 1) to create an educational curriculum for architects around building materials and human health; 2) to plan a communication and advocacy approach around materials transparency and disclosure documents; and 3) to develop a position statement for the AIA National Board of Directors that would endorse the pursuit of greater knowledge of building materials’ content in support of human and environmental health (adopted by the AIA Board of Directors in December 2014). Mike later went on to lead the AIA’s Materials Risk Task Group, chairing a 2015 summit on Materials Transparency and Liability Risk, and his continued involvement with the materials transparency movement has put Bergmeyer at the forefront of the product transparency and healthy building materials movement.
Building design, engineering, and architecture is a constantly evolving frontier. A greater focus on energy efficiency and human health charges building owners to collaborate with progressive manufacturers that proactively keep on the cutting edge. Beyond this, the transparency of products is essential in ensuring the maximum health outcomes for occupants.
ASSA ABLOY, a worldwide provider of door opening solutions, is driven to provide safe, convenient, and secure products, in addition to products that reflect a sustainable, positive impact on a changing industry.
In the spirit of education, advocacy, and product optimization, a variety of transparency documents (like EPDs, HPDs, and Declare labels) are provided by ASSA ABLOY to help their stakeholders understand where a product was made, how it was made, and what it is made of.
Further, ASSA ABLOY shows dedication to the improvement of health and wellness of building inhabitants by certifying door and accessory products for low levels of harmful chemical off-gassing. In addition, their products can be used with open architecture design, using glass solutions to provide access to daylighting and quality views.
Join ASSA ABLOY at the Healthy Building Summit to learn more about how they can offer optimal door opening solutions for your building.
ReVision Energy, your local clean energy transition company, is 100% employee owned and operated. They are always striving to find new ways to encourage their employees to be happier, healthier, and more productive every day. This past year, they became employee-owned to help give employees a greater sense of ownership for their work. With flexible work hours and management of their own schedules, the work-life balance is great for employee-owners ?.
With their team of in-house solar and heat pump specialists (engineers, designers, installers) they have built over 7,000 solar energy plus systems in the region. They also are a Certified B Corp, striving to be one of the best businesses for the world, and are always hiring. Just recently announced, ReVision Energy became #1 in New England for rooftop solar systems for the second year in a row. ReVision Energy is helping to educate and empower business owners to create healthier environments in their workplaces through energy-efficient technologies. To learn more about their work, stop by their booth and talk with Malcolm or Brittany at the Healthy Building Summit.
Today more than half of the world’s population, over 54%, is living in urbanized areas. On average we are spending around 80%-90% of our time indoors and, astonishing though this may sound, this is estimated to only increase. No wonder there is a growing focus on the quality of our indoor environment, while the attention given to green architecture and healthy buildings also continues to increase in prominence. Not single products, but the building as a whole, is now in the center of environmental rating systems like LEED or the WELL building standard.
As our floors are part of the indoor environment in which people live, meet and work, it is our mission to design and offer products that contribute in a positive way to the health and comfort of the individual. “Committed to the health of one” introduces our commitment to sustainability that centers around all aspects that concern your health, well-being and comfort in relation to our products and services today as well as for future generations.
Learn about Structuretone
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Learn About Ellenzweig
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Learn about DriTac
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Learn about The Green Engineer
Jul 30, 2018 | Uncategorized
Written by Julie Salvatoriello
USGBC EPMA, alongside Net Impact Boston, took a tour of the Fenway Rooftop Garden lead by Jessie Banhazl from Green City Growers and Brendan Shea from Recover Green Roofs.
The 2,400sqft Fenway Rooftop Garden is in its fourth year of operation. It grows 30+ types of produce, and produces 6,000lbs of organic, food safe certified produce annually, making up approx. 35% of the produce used by the Dell EMC club (with overflow going to other places in the park food network, including the concessions stands). Everything in this rooftop container garden is grown in Vermont Compost Company soil who were generous sponsors of this event.
This garden gets exposed to 1/2 million people every year, including the 15,000 that take a Fenway tour each week. In fact, Fenway is the #1 tourist attraction in New England. Jessie noted that many tour goers have never seen urban agriculture systems in person and the rooftop garden inspires people to question, investigate and act upon their food sources and supply chains.
Green City Growers and Recover Roofs also showed us the adjoining Vineyard Vines Club. This open-air rooftop space was also built upon a previously underutilized rooftop space and transformed into a gathering and socializing area filled with edible landscaping. Center planters were planted with Kale and with some cucumber vines hanging over the side. Produce grown in the Vineyard Vines Club is donated to local food rescue: Lovin’ Spoonfuls, based in Brookline, MA.
If you love all of this, Jessie and Brendan also told us a bit about how we could create some of these systems in our own backyards and rooftops (if it’s sturdy enough and not too slanted). The Fenway Rooftop Garden is planted entirely in standard square milk crates lined with 13x13x13in square pot planter liners; all sitting upon an artificial turf roof. The milk crates are set up with a drip irrigation system with irrigation spikes to send water straight to the roots. The garden is highly productive, light and easy to move. The liners are filled with The Vermont Compost Company’s Fort Light mix and amended with their Compost Plus.
We learned from our tour that Fenway is committed to sustainability. It is the oldest ballpark in the country and the first ballpark to install solar panels. It was been lowering its electricity load over the past decade, reducing it by 11% since 2011.
The USGBC Emerging Professionals of Massachusetts are so grateful to Fenway for their sustainability efforts and for leading these tours. Thank you to Jessie and Brendan from Green City Growers and Recover Green Roofs for your work and the wonderful tour. This was my first tour of Fenway and now I absolutely have to go back and bring my family.
Jul 27, 2018 | Uncategorized
BY ALISHA PEGAN
After graduating college, Alisha Pegan really wanted to understand how sustainability initiatives were being pushed in city government. Who were making decisions and why did progress feel so slow? She joined the City of Boston’s Environment Department last September working on energy efficiency and climate resiliency, while also observing bottlenecks and leverage points within local government. She is now completing district scale studies, gathering resources to change zoning, supporting extreme temperature planning, collaborating with other departments on developing resiliency guidelines, and planning the future of the Climate Leaders program. Most things are in development, and few are completed. Alisha identified six potential bottlenecks.
First, people’s attention. When Bostonians are concerned and eager about a certain topic, e.g. coastal flooding during the winter, then there is more media attention on the department’s work. Leaders and employees in the department are more prone to respond with an action.
Second, grant cycles. A majority of the City’s initiatives are grant funding by the State or foundations. So, a lot of projects will complete a deliverable after a year.
Third, lack of in-house expertise. There are certain things City employees do not have in-depth knowledge on, e.g. engineering specifications for a raised road. Gathering that knowledge can slow down an action. Finding and hiring an expert is a 2-5 month process.
Fourth, divergent timetables. Most action items called out in the Climate Ready Boston report require collaboration with other agencies. Every agency has different projects and timelines, which can make it harder to coordinate.
Fifth, political turnover. When a mayor leaves, most of his/her chiefs and commissioners (the leadership) also leave. This destabilizes the department’s groove, and getting it back takes several months.
Sixth, the web of approval. In this system, any major action will need the approval of citizens, state agencies, foundations, businesses, partner agencies, the Mayor, department heads, and coworkers to convince.
Alisha highlighted that there is not a clear set of guidelines on how to be resilient. Figuring it out and doing it equitably takes time.
May 17, 2018 | Uncategorized
Presented by Joe O’Brien of View Inc.
View Dynamic Glass is a revolutionary building product that enhances the occupant experience of commercial buildings. View manufactures glass technology automatically tints through various shades, depending on the sun’s position and intensity. Tint 1 being the clearest state, Tint 4 being the darkest state. The glass works automatically to optimize natural light, but can also has an override feature that is controlled from a phone app or wall switch.
Occupants that sit and live behind View Dynamic Glass report reductions in headaches, drowsiness, and eyestrain, resulting in increased productivity. The technology is used in Office buildings, Hospitals, Airports, Higher Education, Multifamily, and other commercial buildings.
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Fossil fuel independence is no longer a luxury for builders and homeowners with larger budgets. As Massachusetts continues to incentivize solar energy production, whether via community solar farms or a power plant on your roof, producing your own electricity is becoming more cost-effective each year. ReVision Energy is more than just a solar company, they are a “clean energy transition” company. ReVision can help not only reduce your electricity bill through solar, but also make your heating, cooling, hot water, transportation, and emergency power requirements energy efficient and renewable. In this presentation, the whole-home approach will be examined through the 15 years of experience and 7,000+ systems that ReVision has installed all throughout the Northeast, from projects like Dartmouth College’s 8 solar producing buildings to the many single family homes like the Hasselbeck’s in Rowley.
Presented by Beverly Craig of MassCEC
This presentation provides an overview of MassCEC programs as they relate to net positive buildings. We break down the Deployment and Innovation aspects of our mission to increase accessibility to clean energy and support the clean energy sector in Massachusetts. In this presentation, we will also touch on various rebate programs, including air source heat pumps, solar loan programs, solar hot water, and ground source heat pumps. Another program covered in this presentation will be MassCEC’s funding opportunities for clean energy startup companies.
Apr 24, 2018 | Uncategorized
Our Building Tech Forum is coming soon! In order to gear up, we will be publishing sneak peeks for presentations from our amazing group of sponsoring companies. Stay tuned for more, this week enjoy a peek from The Green Engineer, Zehnder America, and Auburndale Builders. To register for our Building Tech Forum, visit usgbcma.org/btf18. We hope to see you on May 24th!
In our current political climate, businesses struggle to address sustainability. Some advocate for government regulation, while others believe the free market can be counted on to devise solutions. But there is a third way that has the possibility of advancing real change while growing the economy – the Benefit Corporation. A Benefit Corporation is a for-profit company that also has a mission and responsibility to the community beyond profit. In Massachusetts, the Benefit Corporation is a legal structure (like Inc or LLC). These businesses typically also certify as B Corps, a certification that is administered by B Lab, a global nonprofit organization. In this presentation, Chris Schaffner of The Green Engineer, Inc., a certified B Corp and Massachusetts Benefit Corporation, will present how B Corps might be one answer to sustainability goals in Massachusetts. He’ll highlight the B Corps community’s ongoing Inclusive Economy Challenge, which includes a specific response to climate change and its threat to underserved populations.
Net positive energy buildings often feature air tightness and advanced insulation. Because of this, these buildings may need advanced heat recovery and mechanical ventilation systems. The ventilation system within a net positive energy building may be one of the few points of air and heat exchange, making a system efficient enough to capture 80-90% of the heat recovery essential for cooling and heating. During this presentation, John Rockwell of Zehnder America will focus on the concepts and engineering of ultra-efficient mechanical ventilation systems and how they are a necessary part of any net positive energy building project.
In 2017, Auburndale Builders introduced an innovative education space, the Studio for High-Performance Design and Construction. As the green building industry continues to gain market share, there is a significant need for workforce training on the latest and greatest in building technology. To help serve this need, the Studio for High-Performance Design and Construction will be an open community learning space for green companies to host trainings. The space is retrofitted for Passive House, and also hosts an array of solar panels, making it an ideal space for teaching the standards and practices of green building technology. For more information, please visit www.studiohpdc.com.
More presenters are joining every day – become a sponsor
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Apr 3, 2018 | Uncategorized
The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has scheduled six listening sessions to provide the public with an opportunity to offer their comments on the design of energy efficiency programs and to provide input for the 2019-2021 Energy Efficiency Plan.
The times and locations for the meetings are listed below. Please mark your calendars!
Boston
– Great Hall at Codman Square Health Center
– 6 Norfolk Street, Boston (Dorchester), MA 02124
– Wednesday, February 28, 6pm-8pm
South Coast
– Bristol Community College
– 777 Elsbree Street, Room C111, Fall River, MA
– Thursday, March 8, 6-8pm
North Shore
– Marsh Hall, Salem State University, Petrowski Room (2nd Floor)
– 71 Loring Avenue, Salem, MA 01970
– Wednesday, March 14, 6-8pm
Cape Cod
– Mashpee Public Library
– 64 Steeple Street, Mashpee, MA 02649
– Monday, March 19, 6 -8pm
Central Mass
– Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
– 8 New Bond Street, Worcester, MA 01606
– Thursday, March 29, 6-8pm
Western Mass
– University of Massachusetts Center
– 1500 Main Street, Suite 260, Springfield, MA 01103
– Thursday, April 5, 6-8pm
A date for an additional session in Lowell is forthcoming and will most likely take place in April. We will update this page as soon as the information is available.
To learn more about DOER, please visit https://www.mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-department-of-energy-resources.
If you have questions about the listening sessions, please contact Matt Rusteika at matt.rusteika@state.ma.us or by phone at 1-617-626-7340.
Mar 27, 2018 | Uncategorized
Written by Leandro Molina
As we officially roll into Spring, Monday March 19th was yet another collaborative meeting between the Emerging Professionals group of Massachusetts.
Nathan Kingery-Gallagher took the floor and gave us contradicting evidence of the negative impact of health care on the environment; wouldn’t you presume the two industries would somehow be synergistic in achieving human wellbeing? In actual fact, far from it.
Nathan’s background reflects a well rounded professional with ample experience in the life sciences sector and most recently an Environmental Management graduate.
After the presentation, members of the EPMA are aware changes must be made in order for Biomedical research to fit into the sustainability scene. It is now clear the lab culture makes it extremely difficult to shift paradigms with the aim of achieving sustainability within healthcare. It turns out the challenge lies that the industry is highly resource intensive requiring vast amounts of energy and materials paired with a lab culture resistant to changing behaviors needed to contribute to environmental welfare. Cold rooms and freezers are expected to reach
temps below -20Celcius to -240Celcius, and lab equipment has high energy demand. Put this into perspective, office spaces occupy 42% of total square footage in the Boston area, with an approximate 30% of total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) output. Hospitals occupy 11% of total square footage and contribute 25% of total GHG’s.
A shocking statistic revealed that hospitals in MA produce an estimated 82 Million tons of biohazardous waste per year, not including waste from lab, pharma or doctors offices. Research facilities do have environmental protection however rank low on the priority list.
The energy and material waste challenges are further exacerbated due to lab culture with minimal emphasis on sustainable practices. Some specific challenges revolve around the extent of time needed to operate equipment with already high energy intensity, limited space dedicated to recycling & hazardous waste stations and the researchers habit to always leave the equipment on for a more efficient workplace.
It’s quite clear changes must be made in the three pillars of energy, material waste diversion and culture shifts, the question is if these challenges are too much of a ‘challenge’. Since the Building Energy Recording and Disclosure Ordinance started collecting data, lab space in Boston has been able to reduce its GHG contribution by 10% on average; hospitals only 5%. The challenge of materials and energy consumption can be solved through structural and behavioral change.
Nathan has recently launched Wicked Green Research, a sustainability in life sciences group with a mission to empower biomedical research and healthcare communities of Massachusetts to define and achieve their sustainability goals. The consulting service will seek to remove barriers to sustainable improvement with primary focus on energy efficiency, waste management and culture shifting.
Mar 7, 2018 | Uncategorized
EPMA Member Haley gave us an inside look at how implementing LEED looks from the construction management side with her work on Boston College’s new stadium.
The facility is being built above a high-pressure water main which supplies water to Boston. The construction includes 212 pressure injected footings for the foundation, a storm trap system under the turf and 16 steel trusses roughly 200 feet tall. The steel erection lasted about 6 months and had a steep learning curve, the first truss erection taking significantly more time than the final erection. Water control is one of the most important factors because it is in a watershed area and the water main provides water to the city of Boston. There cannot be any heavy equipment running over the main and vibrations of construction must be monitored.
Embodied energy is a concern to Haley. The steel coming from Wisconsin and the precast panels coming from Toronto, the question of “how much energy and gas did we burn getting this stuff here?” is a legitimate one. A building’s embodied energy is typically very high.
A large part of ensuring that LEED standards are met on the construction site include making sure waste and recycling are properly managed and disposed of. This requires the CM to make sure the subs are doing things properly.
QAQC is important to ensure the building is airtight and the mechanical systems are able to create a comfortable environment for the end users. Passive house emphasizes the importance of a tight envelope. It is also important to supervise the construction to make sure the right materials are being installed correctly. EPD memos (that prove that a manufacturer’s goods are coming where they are said to) are a difficult document to obtain.
Feb 23, 2018 | Uncategorized
The Emerging Professionals Committee’s first meeting of 2018 set us up for a great year! We were joined by the new USGBC-MA Executive Director Meredith Elbaum, a representative from the Boston Area Sustainability Group, and decided our new USGBC-MA Board Liaison, EMPA Co-Chair Jenna Dancewicz.
Starting with an empty calendar, our membership and leadership team came together and brainstormed loads of new events to support young professionals and grow our community. Look forward to more building tours, skill shares, and the return of favorite events like the annual bike tour this year!
Coming up in the next few weeks are the USGBC Annual General Meeting on January 31st, and the Invite to Ignite event being put on by the Boston Area Sustainability Group on February 8th. Later in February please join us at the Emerging Professionals Winter Warmer, hosted by the Boston Society of Architects on February 22nd as well as the Mentor Close Out/Green Building Leadership Institute Kick Off on the 27th.
Our presentation this week was given by our Social Media Manager Julie Salvatoriello, founder and CEO of soil remediation company Equiterra. Julie shared her expertise on grassroots soil remediation topics and their application to brownfield sites. Brownfields are properties whose development may be impacted due to hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. In cases where soil is contaminated, the standard procedure is to dig up and truck out several feet of dirt, an expensive and greenhouse-gas intensive procedure. We learned how three types of soil remediation could be applied to brownfields, bioremediation (microbial), phytoremediation (plant), and mycoremediation (fungi). By using natural processes in order to mediate nutrient load and draw pollutants out of the ground, these techniques can provide a non-invasive and attractive alternative to removing and replacing brownfield soil.
Equiterra was started as a resource for grassroots soil remediation products and education with a focus on mycoremediation. Turns out, fungi have some pretty impressive abilities to break down toxic materials. In addition to their usefulness as major decomposers, certain types of mushroom can remove a wide range of environmental and industrial pollutants, even DDT and petroleum! In order to empower individuals and local groups to perform their own soil remediation projects, Equiterra is developing products and educational materials that can be applied to urban brownfield sites.
Join us at the next USGBC EMPA Monthly Meeting on February 26th at 6:00 PM at 50 Milk Street.