Thoughts on Building Tech

By Ryan Dings


Speaking at our forum's panel we heard from Ryan Dings. Ryan is connected to a variety of organizations as a counsellor and consultant, including some our bronze event sponsors.

Ryan is has been involved in building tech for a number of years, and is also the Chair of the Social Innovation Forum based in Boston. He wanted to share some of his main points from his commentary during the Building Tech Forum here on the blog.

 

Building technology is an exciting – and relatively new – field. For all the progress we've made making buildings smarter and greener, we are just at the beginning stages of what we can do to transform the built environment.

 

From my perspective, building technology simultaneously presents a huge opportunity and helps us solve a growing challenge.

 

First, the huge opportunity.   The key industries of our economy are rapidly digitizing. In many respects, software runs our lives. Despite being a trillion dollar industry, construction is a laggard. In December 2015, McKinsey released a great report listing the most digitized industries. The usual suspects are on top of the list. And at the bottom, right above agriculture and hunting, is construction.

 

We've made great, incremental steps in improving the quality of building performance, and we need to keep making those steps. But building is still complicated, really complicated. On the residential side, where I've spent most of my time, the process of building a home is downright taxing.

 

And here's where digitization comes in: for us building technologists, there's an opportunity where you can dramatically simplify the construction experience – and I think for  our industry, especially on the residential side, that opportunity is right there. In the next 5-10 years, maybe sooner, you'll see someone grab it by digitizing the industry and simplifying the construction experience in a new and profound way.

 

Now, to the growing challenge. In many parts of the country, there's a shortage of construction labor. As an industry, we may have to adapt – requiring us to think about building in entirely different ways. Building technology can help facilitate that adaption, and overcome the challenges presented by labor constraints.

 

More importantly, celebrating our people will help us overcome this labor challenge. For all of the benefits building technology can provide, it will not erase the fundamental and beautiful notion that buildings are built by people, and those folks should be embraced as heartily and fully as each advancement in building tech. Technology will not displace craftsmanship, and both are equally worthy pillars of this industry. If we celebrate the people and the technology that creates our buildings, there's no doubt that our future will deliver a greener and smarter built environment.  



What's in store for Boston due to Climate Change?

By Grey Lee

Climate Ready Boston is a long-term climate preparedness planning process for the Greater Boston region. Phase One will be completed by the summer of 2016 and includes:

  • Development of a climate projection consensus of future climate change hazards faced by the Boston area in 2030, 2050, 2070, and 2100.
  • An integrated vulnerability assessment that aims to identify critical resiliency focus areas and their climate vulnerabilities.
  • A portfolio of potential solution strategies for the critical resiliency focus areas identified

 

A Better City's Challenge for Sustainability is hosting a meeting to support the City's Climate Ready Boston program.

 

This meeting will bring attendees up to speed on the completed climate projection for Greater Boston and walk through the vulnerability assessment process.

 

Next, some special guests representing a leading nation in climate resiliency will help answer the question “What can I do to adapt?” A group of deployable flood defense equipment providers visiting from the Netherlands will be presenting their technologies and will be available for Q&A after the presentation.

 

Register Now!

 


 

When

Tuesday May 3, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM EDT
 

Where

Atlantic Wharf
280 Congress Street
Fort Point Room, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02210

 

 

New Sponsor Spotlight: Bruner/Cott Architects and Planners

By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow


We are proud to announce a newly formed partnership with Silver-level sponsor Bruner/Cott Architects and Planners!  Bruner/Cott employs a team mentality when tackling its projects. The company works together- -architect and client, architect and contractor — to shape ideas, creating buildings that are a pleasure to experience outside and in. Contractors appreciate Bruner/Cott's technological expertise and team approach. Clients appreciate its informed design, attention to economics and consideration of community. 80% of clients have worked with the company on more than one project. 

Managing and operating buildings — a million square feet — the firm understands the balance between capital investment and operating costs. It has first-hand knowledge of the relationship between development, design, operation and maintenance, and skillfully leverages these variables.

Bruner/Cott has a distinguished 40-year sustainability record and clear commitment to excellent green building. The firm maximizes savings by minimizing the energy profile of each site. It designs with an eye towards total energy consumption, from construction through operation. The total energy consumed by a building is the sum of the energy used in its operation (latent energy) and the energy required to make the building (embodied energy) — including the harvesting and shipping of natural resources, manufacturing, transportation, and disposal of materials. Designing sustainably means finding an efficient balance between embodied and latent energy, understanding that latent energy has a far greater impact over time.

Bruner/Cott was working towards “net-zero energy” before it was widely understood as a sustainable concept. As leaders in design for latent efficiencies, the group built early examples of passive solar in 1973 and geothermal in 1978. Its continuing operation of the Rhode Island hydroelectric plant that the company built in 1981 offsets three times of the office building's annual carbon footprint. With little cost premium, the group's buildings achieve aggressive results: 75% energy reductions, 60% water use reductions, and 99% construction waste recycling — all beyond “business as usual.”  

Bruner/Cott's sustainable portfolio is impressive– the company has worked on projects such as Hampshire College's Kern Center, which has a ribbon-cutting ceremony we will be attending on April 29th.  The Center was built with the goal of becoming only the ninth building certified under the world’s most rigorous green building standard, the Living Building Challenge (LBC): operating net-zero energy, water, and waste; built using materials mainly from local and regional sources; and avoiding toxic “red list” materials, right down to the duct tape allowed on site. 

To read more about Bruner/Cott, check out the company's website, or read about them in our blog!

Photos taken from Bruner/Cott's website

We're Building Our Volunteer Team & Looking for Fresh Faces

By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow

Are you passionate about sustainability, efficiency, and the environment?  Do you have familiarity with green building and understand how the built environment affects all of us and the world? 

If yes, then you should consider joining our volunteers!  We have a variety of open positions with different responsibilities, qualifications, and time commitments, and all positions receive some kind of benefit!

Throughout the year, we also have special posts.  Some examples include Boston's Greenfest and the Northeast Building Facility Managers Show coming up this summer – if any USGBCMA friends or members are planning on attending the exposition, we are looking for volunteers to serve as ambassadors at our booth.

We also hold service project volunteer opportunities – usually in the fall with our Green Apple Day of Service – so stay tuned for those programs.


With any of our short-term or long-term volunteer positions, you will be an integral component of our operations and gain a greater understanding of our organization, its mission and its goals, and how we organize our events, advocate, and conduct outreach.

Volunteer assignments include LEED Study Jam Group Instructor, Webinar Proctor, Green Building Analyst/Reporter, USGBC Ambassador, Green Building Tour Coordinator, Outreach Committee Co-Chair, and Committee Leadership

Each position has its own details and specifics, but with any of these opportunities you will get to know the ins-and-outs of our organization, green building, and more!


If you're interested, you can learn more from our volunteer page or fill out our volunteering questionaire form.  We are very flexible with time commitment, the window of time in which you would want to volunteer, and prior experiences and qualifications.  

Volunteering with the Chapter will qualify for credential maintenance hours for GBCI – up to half of your required hours can be earned through volunteering with us. Usually this is much more engaging than sitting through a webinar late at night!

 

 

Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup

By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow


Join the EPMA's on April 30th, 2016 for our Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup! Over 3,000 volunteers around the Boston Area come together to pick up litter, remove invasive species and assist with park maintenance along the Charles River. This cleanup builds on a national effort as part of American Rivers' National River Cleanup, which to date has removed over 10.7 million pounds of trash from America's waterways! 

We will meet from 9:00AM-12:00PM at the Esplanade in Boston. A volunteer picnic will be held after our cleanup at 12:30 to celebrate our success! Suggested attire includes closed toe shoes or boots, flexible work clothes and weather appropriate layers.


Please RSVP in advance with your preferred T-shirt size for a free Charles River Cleanup Tee!

Read about how last year's service project went here!  Hopefully this year will be sunnier and drier. 

The exact meeting location is TBD but expect to meet at the Esplanade Hatch Shell. RSVP with us  and we will forward the list to the orgainzer. No need to register on the CWRA website.

Read about last year's program at Franklin Park (see more of that dog, Titus!) here.

 

Grey loves cleaning up his trash!


Join Us at Massachusetts' Newest Living Building– The Kern Center

By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow


Join us this Friday, April 29th at Hampshire College for the school's ribbon-cutting ceremony in honor of its flagship newest building: the R.W. Kern Center.  The college’s first new building in three decades, it was built with the goal of becoming only the ninth building certified under the world’s most rigorous green building standard, the Living Building Challenge (LBC): operating net-zero energy, water, and waste; built using materials mainly from local and regional sources; and avoiding toxic “red list” materials, right down to the duct tape allowed on site.

This is a very impressive accomplishment! The Center will house the offices of admissions and financial aid, classrooms, student lounges and social areas, and a coffee bar. It was also built as a living laboratory for ongoing studies of the building and its systems.

The Kern Center is one of the major projects of Hampshire’s broad sustainability initiative. The college has committed to making campus operations carbon neutral by 2020, and is also planning for the campus to go 100 percent solar this year. The building was constructed by Wright Builders – a Chapter Sponsoring Partner – and engaged many members of the Living Building Collaborative which works as part of the Chapter to advance buliding performance throughout the Commonwealth.

Read more about the Kern Center on Hampshire's website, and learn about their commitment to sustainability

This event will be on April 29th at Hampshire College (893 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002).

Photos taken from Hampshire's website. 


Building Tech Forum 2016: Recap

By Grey Lee


What a great evening – what a gathering of luminaries!

It was epic, massive and hearty. When our people come out of the woodwork, they really come out. It was over 250 people from all aspects of the industry, design to construction to operation of buildings.

 

Connecting the innovation economy to the real estate world.

Greentown Labs was the perfect place to catch the vibe of good old New England innovation and Yankee ingeneuity.

 

Championing the building tech part of clean tech.

Clean tech gets a lot of attention. And yet I'll bet 90% of all cleantech is on, in, or attached to a building.

 

Acknowledging the inherent connection between green buildings and the dynamics of innovation.

Green buildings and our practitioners are and have always been at the forefront of innovation in the construction and real estate industry. It's a long-term legacy.

 

Celebrating the growing strength of our industry in moving toward sustainability in the built environment.

It was great to celebrate and make connections.

 

All this and more – happened and the Building Tech Forum last night.

 

Thank you to all who came out to create a thriving critical mass of interaction.

 

Thank you for supporting our mission for MORE GREEN BUILDINGS!

 

You can take a look at some pics on Flickr here.



 


 



 


 

A Special Thanks to all our Sponsors who helped us put on the event: 


 


We also want to thank all of our displaying sponsors, who demonstrated innovative and sustainable new technologies, products, and services: 





A huge win for a low-carbon future: Kinder Morgan suspends Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline!

By Anthony Lucivero, Advocacy Fellow

On Wednesday, April 20th 2016, Kinder Morgan announced the cancellation of the planned natural gas pipeline to Massachusetts.  Kinder Morgan was working as part of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company for the past two years to extend a pipeline through Massachusetts and lower New Hampshire.  The pipeline would have brought natural gas up from Pennsylvania to meet the anticipated demand for more natural gas for home & building heating and for electricity generation. Approximately half of the state's electricity generation is from natural gas.  

However, due to massive political and community opposition, the project is no longer moving forward.  This is a landmark victory in the effort to de-carbonize Massachusetts's energy supply, as well as protecting the environment from the impacts of constructing the pipeline itself.  The Mass Pipeline Awareness Network has led a coalition of groups in opposition to this pipeline. 

Kinder Morgan said the reason for cancellation was that the market for the natural gas is not ready, with gas distributors, power companies, and other market players not biting on contract commitments for the supply of natural gas.  “Unfortunately, despite working for more than two years and expending substantial shareholder resources, TGP did not receive the additional commitments it expected…As a result, there are currently neither sufficient volumes, nor a reasonable expectation of securing them, to proceed with the project as it is currently configured.  In addition, innovations in production have resulted in a low-price environment that, while good for consumers, has made it difficult for producers to make new long-term commitments. Further, current market conditions and counter-party financial instability have called into question TGP's ability to secure incremental supply for the project. Given these market conditions, continuing to develop the project is not an acceptable use of shareholder funds.”

 


Source: Boston Globe, Kinder Morgan, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company

The Environmental League of Massachusetts has stated that “Kinder Morgan is stopping the pipeline simply because it is both expensive to ratepayers and simply not needed…Massachusetts has the capacity to develop its own energy in solar, wind and hydro and create new industries and jobs here, rather than importing energy and exporting our dollars and jobs.”

The study “Power System Reliability in New England” performed by Attorney General Maura Healey's office in November 2015 found that gas pipelines are not needed, as the power grid will not meet a substantial shortfall until 2030.  The report concluded that the best method to approach investments in future power supply are incentives for homeowners and businesses to reduce electricity use and voluntary demand-response programs. The report said that the $101 million investment into such programs would result in $247 million in savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.86 million tons.  On the other hand, the report has found that expansion of the Northeast’s natural gas pipeline capacity to meet the future potential energy shortfall would cost $66 million and provide savings of $127 million, while resulting in an increase of greenhouse gas emissions by 80,000 tons.

There are still other pipelines…well…in the pipeline.  Spectra Energy is planning a pipeline project which will likely face similar market and grass-roots political challenges.

For Resi Real Estate Pros: Understanding LEED for Homes

By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow

AP Homes

Don't miss out on this great workshop taking place April 26th! 

This international based residential green building system helps residential professionals make their projects better. Learn how to ensure your next project is healthy, efficient, built to last and affordable through using the LEED rating system and 3rd party performance testing during the construction process. Click here to register.

 

Project types include 

Affordable Housing, single family, duplex, multifamily, midrise and mixed-use buildings up to 12 stories tall.

 

By the end of this online education series, you will be able to:

* Identify the types of projects which are eligible for certification
* Recognize the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders in the LEED certification process.
* Recognize goals, intents, and requirements of prerequisites and key credits, and strategies to meet them
* Identify synergies between LEED credits
* Understand how to navigate the LEED checklist and online Submittals Portal
* Meet Requirements for LEED AP Homes Credential
* Know Steps to take your Exam

 

Who should attend?

  • Green Raters in Training
  • Builders
  • Developers
  • Architects / Designers
  • Remodeler
  • Policy Makers
  • Homeowners – DIY
  • HERS / BPI Raters
  • Appraisers
  • Home Inspectors

Learn how to apply the LEED for Homes rating system to a real project by walking through the phases of a typical project and the key decisions that project teams must make, including key stakeholder considerations. Engage in interactive, case-based activities that enable you to work hands-on with LEED implementation strategies and rating system tools.

Bonus – Learn more about Boston’s commitment to LEED certifiable requirements in residential buildings as a building code

InstructorJason: Jason La Fleur, Principal at Eco Achievers – LEED AP+Homes, BD+C, PHIUS Rater, HERS and LEED Green Rater

Jason LaFleur is a long time champion, advocate and educator for better residential building in the Chicagoland area and beyond. Jason formerly from the appraisal institute trainings home construction and valuation professionals on how and why green buildings are important. Jason’s company provides consulting, plan review, energy & LEED inspections/test and overall marketing for project teams. Jason currently is the chair of the USGBC-IL residential committee.

This event will be on Tuesday, April 26th, from 8 AM to 5 PM.  Click here to learn more and register!

The Living Building Challenge: Learn More About Green Building's Most Rigorous Performance Standard

By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow

The Living Building Challenge is a revolutionary new green building certification program. It calls for the creation of building projects that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature's architecture.  There are seven sets of criteria that the Challenge uses, referred to as Petals: Place, Water, Energy, Health & Happiness, Materials, Equity, and Beauty.   Each Petal is divided into a total of twenty Imperatives, which have their own specific spheres of influence. 

This compilation of Imperatives can be applied to almost every conceivable building project, of any scale and any location—be it a new building or an existing structure. For more info, download the Living Building Challenge 3.0 Standard document.

On May 11-13, The Living Future Conference will be held in Seattle.  Come for a conversation about what inspired us, and what we learned while we were there, and an introduction to the Living Building Challenge. The Living Building Challenge is the built environment's most rigorous performance standard. It calls for the creation of building projects that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature's architecture.  

Participants will gain a basic understanding of the Living Building Challenge – a philosophy, advocacy tool and certification program that addresses development at all scales. To be certified under the Challenge, projects must meet a series of ambitious performance requirements, including Net Zero Energy, Waste and Water, over a minimum of 12 months of continuous occupancy. Participants will learn to describe the key components of the program and discuss the rationale for restorative design principles.

On May 17th from 8:30 to 10 AM, USGBC MA will be hosting an Introduction to the Living Building Challenge and Conference Update.  The goals of this event are to:

1. Understand the basic philosophy of the Living Building Challenge
2. Describe the key components of the program
3. Discuss the rationale for restorative design principles
4. Identify and locate the resources provided by the International Living Future Institute for deeper engagement

Register for the event here