Feeling Hungry? Come to our Summer BBQ!

By USGBCMA Communications, More Green Buildings!

Join us for our Summer Networking event! Besides the local food and the networking, there will also be DIY seedling planters and a presentation on Permaculture!

Thursday, June 23 from 5:30pm – 7:30pm
North Point Park (6 Museum Way, Cambridge)

RAIN LOCATION: 50 Milk Street, Boston (exact location TBA)

In the case of rain, we will email the new event location to anyone who has registered.

Register here or below!

Newly-Certified LEED Buildings in MA! (Part 1)

By USGBCMA Communications, More Green Buildings!

We love hearing about all the Green Building that's going on! Here are some of the buildings that were LEED Certified in May. (More to come later this week in Part 2)

Click here to learn more about LEED.
Click the certification levels to get more details.

MA Maritime Academy Library Modernization (LEED Platinum)


image source
101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay
LEED-NC 2.2
Constructed February 2, 2009;  Certified May 16, 2016
53/69 Points (Platinum)
43,500 square feet

Dudley Municipal Office Facility (LEED Gold)


image source
2262 Washington Street, Boston
LEED-NC v2009
Constructed April 30, 2012;  Certified May 9, 2016
66/110 Points (Gold)
210,000 square feet

One Federal Street (LEED Gold)


image source
1 Federal Street, Boston
LEED-EB:OM v2009
Constructed March 3, 2015;  Certified May 24, 2016
62/110 Points (Gold)
1,119,373 square feet

Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (LEED Silver)


image source
415 Summer Street, Boston
LEED-EB:OM v2009
Constructed March 4, 2014;  Certified May 25, 2016
54/110 Points (Silver)
1,779,000 square feet

Calling All Designers, Volunteers, and Sponsors!

By USGBCMA Communications, More Green Buildings!

Join us for a design charrette on June 30th to brainstorm for our newest community service project: the transformation of a Boston classroom from status quo to super green.

Thursday, June 30, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
130 Bishop Allen Drive
Cambridge, MA 02139

To receive updates on specific details,
RSVP here to this free event.

Possible areas for improvement will include maximizing daylight, minimizing energy use, and improving air quality. We will benefit from those with an expertise in design, construction, and products, so please pass the invitation along if you know a prospective volunteer who can be a positive contributor to our team!

You can get involved by signing up as a volunteer or a sponsoring organization! Please join us with your ideas, expertise, material donations, or just a willingness to help out!

To learn more and to RSVP, click here!

Image source: http://sageclassroom.com/

Come to NEBFM '16 for Exhibits, Conferences, and Networking!

By USGBCMA Communications, More Green Buildings!

Wednesday, June 29 – Thursday, June 30

This event will feature over 300 exhibitors displaying products and services necessary for the operation, management, maintenance and renovation of buildings and facilities in the greater New England region. 

Running concurrently with the trade show is an educational conference featuring 40 individual one-hour talks covering a wide range of topics including: LEED, Green, Sustainability, Energy, Building Commissioning, Facility Maintenance, Construction and Renovation Planning.

networking reception is held from 3:00pm – 4:00pm the first day of the show. Attendees & Exhibitors are invited to join IFMA and all the Show Sponsors for drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

Register for FREE here!

****** Remember to mention USGBC MA when you register! ******


TOTO Continues to Lead in Innovation

By USGBCMA Communications, More Green Buildings!

How efficient can your bathroom be? TOTO, a Bronze Chapter Sponsor of ours, aims to challenge this question by setting precedents with their products. With their PeoplePlanetWater mark of excellence, TOTO aims to directly benefit people, the environment, and water-saving efforts.

Examples of “People Innovations” include valve technology that more reliably regulates water temperature and electrolyzed water that keeps the toilet bowl clean without harsh chemicals. A notable “Planet Innovation” is EcoPower, a system that powers the automatic sensors in a faucet by using energy that is generated by water flowing through the faucet itself. TOTO has also pioneered many “Water Innovations”, such as Tornado Flush and Dual-Max, in order to use water as efficiently as possible.

TOTO also has a Global Environmental Vision in which their products help users conserve water, prevent global warming, keep the Earth clean, conserve natural resources and biodiversity, and contribute to local communities.

Recently, they undertook a project in which imperfect porcelain toilets were repurposed to make floor tiles. Now, all of TOTO's imperfect fired porcelain is donated to Crossville Tile for recycling. Read about TOTO's process for finding a solution for their imperfect porcelain.

We are grateful that TOTO is a sponsor of ours and cannot wait to see the innovations they come up with in the future.

Image from http://www.totousa.com/people-first-innovation/peopleplanetwater/ecopower

 

What Exactly is WELL?

By USGBCMA Communications, More Green Buildings!

If you've been following us for a while, you might have come across some of our posts advertising WELL programs. To get back in the loop with your building standards, come to our Introduction to WELL! 

Register here or below.

Tuesday, June 28 from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM
50 Milk Street, “Dali” Room

The WELL Building Standard was recently created to help design buildings that are better for human health. We anticipate that this building standard will greatly impact the building process and the types of buildings that are constructed in the future.

To bring as many people up to speed with this new standard, we have organized an introductory session at our headquarters. This session will be beneficial for professionals from all sectors of the building industry: owners, engineers, builders and occupants interested in the new standard are encouraged to attend!

New Balance Headquarters Achieves LEED Platinum

By Molly Wilder


Massachusetts continues to excel in the green building industry!

Completed in September of last year, the new home of New Balance Headquarters (100 Guest St. in Allston-Brighton) recently achieved the honor of LEED Platinum.  Not only did New Balance obtain the necessary 80 points required for such status, but they also acquired all the additional regional priority and innovation points, as well as attained all possible credits within the Indoor Environmental Quality category, a feat met only by two other buildings in the world, in Italy and Thailand. See the full LEED scorecard here.

Our Sponsoring Partner, Elkus Manfredi Architects, led the design of the building. USGBCMA's Executive Director Grey Lee said, “We are proud of our sponsors as they continue to lead in the green building movement. Thank you for helping us to drive sustainable and regenerative design!”


NB Development Group
 is hoping to create a health and wellness neighborhood in the Boston Landing area, where they will continue these endeavors through constructing a new rink for the Bruins, a boutique hotel, retail and restaurant outlets, and a track and field complex, all following green building practices.  Jim Halliday, managing director of NB Development, drove this message home, in saying, “This designation is in keeping with not only the mission of New Balance, but also as the initial flagship project of Boston Landing, it highlights the spirit and energy we envision for this newly emerging district and ongoing commitment to our neighborhood.”

New Balance’s building secured LEED Platinum certification due to their excellence in the areas of energy efficient design, water use reduction, sustainable site selection and development, responsible materials selection and waste management, and enhanced indoor environmental quality.  Notable accomplishments of the headquarters are:

  • 26% annual energy cost savings when compared to a code-compliant building.
  • 35% reduction in water consumption of plumbing fixtures when compared to a code-compliant building.
  • 76% waste diversion during construction
  • 86% reduction in site runoff post-development when compared to pre-development.
  • 28% of material used in construction derived from recycled content.
  • 74% of material used in construction derived from a regional source.
  • 100% of wood used in construction was Forest Stewardship Council certified.
  • 30% higher ventilation rate when compared to a code-compliant building.


Upon receiving this prestige, the president and CEO Rob DeMartini said, “This certification exemplifies our strong commitment of responsible leadership to our company’s associates and consumers, our local community and the environment”.  With New Balance emerging as more than just a shoe company, becoming an emblem of cool, with famous athletes, musicians and other artists representing and wearing them, projects like their headquarters and the surrounding area will indelibly further LEED's and Green Buildings' importance and reality as a future for businesses, a new status quo.  The USGBC MA Chapter commends New Balance for their achievement. We look forward to seeing what they create next!

Images from BostInno

The Battle for the Stretch Code

By Grey Lee, Executive Director


Since the stretch energy code was initially made available by the Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations & Standards (BBRS) for local adoption in 2009, it has been adopted by 175 municipalities in the Commonwealth, representing more than half the state population. The HERS rating approach of the stretch energy code has also been adopted by the International Energy Concervation Code (IECC) 2015 model code. However, as the stretch code has not been updated, the incoming IECC2015 energy code will be more energy efficient than the current stretch code for almost all buildings.

The current proposed stretch energy code update aligns the residential stretch code with the HERS rating option in the IECC2015 base code, updates the commercial requirement for large buildings, and reduces the scope to just cover new construction.

On May 10, in a surprise twist, the BBRS announced it will be amending the existing building code (8th edition) to include the new version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC 2015), a new stretch code and new requirements for solar rooftop readiness on residential and commercial properties, as well as new requirements for electric vehicles in development projects, among other changes. In other words, they will be taking up only the energy provisions proposed in the 9th edition and inserting them into the 8th edition.

USGBC MA has been following this issue closely and applauds the continued success and leadership that our stretch code has provided our industry. We advocate to continue strengthening the base code and the stretch code for the communities that have taken it up. We support the expanded scope of the proffered stretch code to engage solar siting feasibility and to anticipate future electic car siting at buildings. 


A public hearing was held on June 14, and a vote will be taken on July 19 on the proposal. The changes, if adopted, will trigger a concurrency period where either the existing language in the 8th or the revised language in the 8th could be used until January 1, 2017. These changes will then be considered and voted on once again when the 9th edition has a public hearing later this year. Apparently the 9th edition is delayed for a variety of reasons and the Baker Administration was eager to move the energy changes forward ASAP.

Some components of the real estate industry remain opposed to the stretch energy code and the PV and EV requirements.

Below, we have summarized the shortcomings of the proposed stretch energy code update, in addition to suggested improvements to remedy these shortcomings. We are working with a coalition of partners to strengthen and improve the stretch code, which includes our colleagues at the Environmental League of Massachusetts, the Acadia Center, the Sierra Club and the Conservation Law Foundation, among others. 

If you are interested in reading the full letter we wrote to BBRS, it is linked below.

Shortcomings of the Stretch Code Update:

  1. Zero Requirements for All Existing Buildings. There are zero requirements beyond what is included in the base energy code for renovations, remodels, or any other kind of alterations to existing buildings, which comprise the vast majority of available energy savings opportunities.
  2. Zero Requirements for All New Small and Medium Commercial Buildings. Only buildings 100,000 square feet or larger have to comply with the requirement of modeled efficiency 10% beyond the level set by ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2013.
  3. Zero Requirements for Some New Residential Buildings. There are no additional requirements for homes which are already using the Section R406 pathway option (HERS, Energy Star v3.1, or Passive House) to comply with the base energy code.

Suggested Improvements to Remedy These Shortcomings:

  1. Set simple requirements for Existing Buildings.
  2. Set reduced size thresholds & efficiency targets for New Small and Medium Commercial Buildings.
  3. Set requirements for all New Residential Buildings.
  4. Recapture any Renewable Energy Provisions eliminated from Base Code.

Read the full letter here.

Greenbuild 2016 is in Less Than Four Months!

By USGBCMA Communications, More Green Buildings!

Greenbuild is the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. It provides a forum for the green building community to unite, change lives, revolutionize business, and address our world’s most pressing problems. The three-day event, which will be held in Los Angeles Convention Center from Oct. 5-7, will feature high profile celebrities, activists and political figures working together to promote the ideals and interests of the green building movement.

Learn more about the event here.

Greenbuild offers several conference packages to help you maximize your time onsite at the show.

Tips and Pointers!

  • Register before the Early Bird deadline (August 1) to save money
  • USGBC Members get discounted tickets
  • USGBCMA will be renting a house in LA! Email greylee@usgbcma.org if you would like to join in!
  • USGBC is offering scholarship opportunities!

Register now!

Our Gathering at TROY Boston!

By Rachael Berry, Graphics Associate


USGBCMA
     USGBCMA Chapter members gathered on the rooftop penthouse of one of Boston’s newest eco-friendly apartment complexes Tuesday evening for the Chapter’s Quarterly Gathering. While the rooftop of TROY Boston provided picturesque views of the city and a much-appreciated open bar, attendees convened with the intention learning about the building's sustainability features and USGBCMA’s mission to change the built environment for the better.


     TROY Boston, located in the South End, was developed by Chapter Sponsoring Partner Gerding Edlen, a west coast based developer. Committee members and newcomers were invited to celebrate the green building and learn about its LEED Gold Certified amenities. The complex attained its LEED Gold certification earlier this year, which was partially attributed to its ability to use 28% less energy than typical multi-family buildings of the same caliber.

     Project Team members, such as Mark Pignetelli from ICFI discussed the building’s incentive programs from Mass Save and detailed how the project was able to earn over 100,000 dollars from Eversource.  He was just one of several project members in attendance who highlighted the building’s environmentally friendly features which ultimately allow it to be the vibrant, inspiring and sustainable space that it is.

    With individual introductions involving “What Green Building means to you”, members were able to connect a communal passion for sustainability and kick-start the night’s events. USGBCMA and its respective committees were successful in hosting a picture-perfect event promoting networking opportunities as well as educating current and prospective members on the efforts of TROY Boston in creating a more sustainable future. Check out our event page to get involved in the next meeting and find out more about the organization.

Photos of the event can be found here.


Thank You to Gerding Edlen and TROY Boston for sponsoring the event, and to those who attended.

To find out about USGBCMA’s future events or to see how you can get involved, visit our website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.


USGBCMA