Meet our Members: David Bliss

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


David Bliss, AIA and LEED BD+C, is a Senior Project Manager at Simpson Gumpertz and Heger (SGH) where he helps clients solve problems through his work in design and rehabilitation of new and existing buildings.

He has been involved in the Chapter for about 5 years. As a member of the (now retired) Regional and Statewide Outreach Committee (RaSOC), he developed maps and associated lists of our energy sources and environmental organizations and contributed to the establishment of chapters in Western Massachusetts and Worcester. About a year ago he decided to join the Advocacy Committee and soon volunteered to fill the open role of secretary. He proceeded to delve into proposed legislation on revenue neutral carbon fees and net metering.

The USGBC-MA has enriched his understanding of green building issues from the perspectives of the varied professional backgrounds of other members. It is a great forum for networking with other green building professionals where he enjoys both the work and contagious enthusiasm he finds at chapter events.

 

 

 

Day of Service – Trotter Innovation School (School Beautification Day)

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


Every year the Trotter Parent Council, in conjunction with community partners, holds a School Beautification Day because “where children learn matters!” With a very high prevalence of asthma in the Trotter school population, air quality and the cleanliness of the school is extremely important to our students. Having a clean and orderly school sends the right message to children–that they are valued and safe. The Trotter Community sends a warm thank you to Boston Properties for sponsoring the event and supporting the community on this Day of Service. 

The importance of green, clean schools is not a new concept to the Trotter as they were awarded the American Lung Association Award for Asthma Management in 2013 for their education and proactive actions to reduce asthma triggers throughout the school. The Trotter recognizes that the work of asthma prevention is constant work and so every year it is a focus of the annual Green Apple Clutter Cleanout Event. During the 2015 Green Apple Day, parents, students, staff and community partners gathered on aSaturday to help “green up” the school by steam cleaning carpets, cleaning all classroom and hallway surfaces using school district approved green cleaners, and helping teachers clean up their clutter by providing “clutter bins” for storing materials and reducing places for pests to call home.


Not only is the Green Apple Day a day of action, it’s an educational opportunity for all involved. Attendees come to understand the importance of asthma management; they learn why it’s important to reduce chemicals in our schools, keep classrooms clutter free, maintain clean recycling and trash systems and generally clean up after ourselves in every area of the building. And in the end the school building is a greener, healthier and cleaner place for all Trotter students! 

Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Net-Metering: The need for more comprehensive legislation on solar policy

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Now that the state legislature is back in session, the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy (TUE) is eager to address Massachusetts' notoriously high electricity costs. Also on the docket are the issues of modernizing the power grid, using electricity investments to ensure lower carbon intensity, and ensuring fairness to all parties in bearing the costs of the grid. Fortunately, Massachusetts has one of the highest rates of solar panel installation growth, with nearly 900 MW of capacity in place today–enough to power at least 140,000 homes. A spotlight has been cast on this rapidly-growing industry, as lawmakers consider their options for striking a balance in how the grid evolves, and as utilities must follow increasingly strict requirements to buy a portion of their power from renewable sources. 

Net-metering, which enables solar panel owners to sell the excess energy that they generate back to the grid, is one of the biggest incentives for businesses and individuals to use solar power. However, the legislature limits total amount of projects that are eligible for reimbursement that solar panel owners notionally should receive. Once those limits are met, no further solar PV projects in a particular service territory will be able to take advantage of the net-metering process. Hitting the caps means no more projects will be undertaken, as their primary return on investment, through selling power back to the grid, no longer applies. Many clean energy advocates, including the USGBC MA Chapter, are calling for an immediate end to the net metering caps, which limit the ability of solar supporters to develop both community and commercial solar PV projects.  


On Tuesday afternoon at the State House, the Joint Committee on TUE heard dozens of testimonies at a packed public hearing. One of those testimonies was from Governor Baker (seen above, with Sec. of Energy & Environment Matt Beaton), who spoke in favor of Bill H. 3724. This bill would raise private and public net-metering caps–capped at 4% and 5% of the installed production capacity in a given utility service territory, respectively–by a modest 2% each. 

Proposing to raise these caps is a step in the right direction, especially considering that 171 communities in Massachusetts have already reached the existing cap. But the positive provisions in H. 3724 are outweighed by the lack of comprehensive components that would allow the state's solar industry to grow sustainably in the long-term.

Led by the Acadia Center, the USGBC MA Chapter and nearly 50 other local and regional organizations signed a letter to the Joint Committee on TUE. These organizations support a more far-reaching, comprehensive solar policy framework than the currently proposed legislation, which limits net-metering and restricts the growth and sustainability of the solar industry in Massachusetts.

The signatories of the letter agree that solar policy legislation must minimally accomplish the following four objectives:

  1. Set an ambitious solar target to ensure substantial contribution to environmental and public health requirements, as well as regional energy resource needs;
  2. Maintain or expand equitable access to solar on fair terms with the mechanisms of net metering and virtual net metering;
  3. Provide fair compensation to solar where any changes to rate structures must be based on a rigorous and public value of solar study; and
  4. Suspend and then eliminate net metering caps which are no longer relevant with appropriate reforms.

While there are some constructive aspects of H. 3724, on the whole, this bill does not meet these criteria. One of the issues with the existing bill is that despite a proposed 2% increase, these net-metering caps would likely be hit in National Grid territory in 2016. This would require prompt action from the Department of Public Utilities.

Secondly, this bill would drastically limit net-metering credit values for many solar projects. These cuts on credit values ignore the myriad values that solar provides to the energy grid and MA customers in both the short- and long-term. Furthermore, limiting credit values could disproportionately affect community-shared and low-income solar projects, which derive their benefits from this credit value.

The legislature could ensure that the full value of solar projects are taken into account by taking the advice of their own Net-Metering Task Group. In a report issued last spring, the task group recommended a comprehensive study to determine the financial costs and benefits of solar PV, so that prices could be set accordingly.

As an alternative to Bill H. 3724, the USGBC MA Chapter has endorsed the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework, a proposal for more comprehensive and sustainable legislation on solar policy. Our Chapter supports this framework along with 67 other diverse organizations, including clean energy and environmental advocates, clean energy business groups, community groups, and solar businesses. It would effectively function as a legislative roadmap by outlining how to:

  • Fairly compensate solar projects after the solar goal of 1600 MW is met,
  • Cost-effectively incentivize solar development to achieve an ambitious solar electricity target, and
  • Address any legitimate utility concerns about paying for use of the electricity grid.

This progressive proposal, outlined in the Acadia Center's letter to the TUE Committee, strives for aggressive solar goals, provides fair payments for use of the distribution grid, and strongly supports community and low-income solar. (Read more about the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework​ here).

Without raising caps on net-metering beyond what H. 3724 proposes–or eliminating these caps entirely–the sun could set on many of the state's solar energy projects. 

Stay tuned for net-metering updates, as our Advocacy Committee continues to address this issue that is critical to the green building industry. Send us your feedback about Bill H. 3724, or thoughts about net-metering caps, to: advocacy@usgbcma.org.

Day of Service – Jacobs Elementary School – Hull, MA

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

Spinach Planting at the Jacobs

 

The fall season brings many new and exciting changes to many of us here on the south shore. And as we all settle in to our new routines, the students at the Jacobs Elementary School here in Hull have begun a new routine of their own: fall planting. With the help of Holly Hill Farm, the students have eight raised gardens located next to their playground. The children have enjoyed watching their gardens grow! The gardens are a joint effort throughout the school. Each grade participates in a different, but co-dependent way. For example, the entire student body separates their compostable material from their trash at their lunch hour, and the fourth graders are responsible for adding this to the compost bins along with dry leaves. We are also installing a rain barrel to use to water the beds and teach water conservation. This will be one gradesʼ job and the students will all share the chore. During their time at the Jacobʼs, the students will learn the importance of each job. The second grade students have started their fall planting season beginning with spinach. First, the students discussed what these plants will need to grow: soil, sunlight, water, and space. Then each class gathered around the schoolʼs compost bins to collect humus (the composed product) for the gardens. They were eager to see how their apple cores, banana peels, ect. decomposed into nutrient rich soil. They were also eager to see the worms! The students then added the humus to their classʼs garden and turned it with the existing soil. After creating rows in the garden, each student added a few spinach seeds, covered them gently with soil, and wished them all “Good Luck.” With the help of our cafeteria staff, we will pair this seasonʼs spinach with our garlic from last season and create a delicious meal for the students and staff. The students are enthusiastic about their gardens and eager to reap itʼs harvest.

We would like to thank the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter and their support from Triumph Modular for making this day happen. It was a great opportunity to share this lesson with our students. Thank you!

GADOS Hull PTO Green Team 2015

Showcase Spotlight: Harvard University

By Derek Newberry, Advocacy Fellow

The Green Building Showcase is today! We're excited to see everyone this evening at 6:30pm at our beautiful venue: the Calderwood Courtyard of the newly-renovated, LEED Gold-certified Harvard Art Museums (Sign up here if you haven't already).

Harvard University has consistently demonstrated its commitment to sustainability. Their campus currently boasts about 100 LEED certified and registered projects, more than any other higher education institution in the world. Besides hosting this USGBC event, the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Green Building Services will be showcasing their recent green building achievements. 

The project that will be featured by Harvard Business School is Tata Hall, a LEED Platinum building completed in 2014. Home to the HBS Executive Education Program, the project team incorporated environmental strategies in all stages of the design of this 7-story, 153,700 square foot building. 

The Harvard Office for Sustainability will also feature three of their recently LEED-certified projects:

  • Stone Hall: This LEED Platinum renovation of a 59,100 square foot existing home headlines a larger, long-term renovation project to renovate each of the twelve undergraduate houses at Harvard. Formerly known as “Old Quincy,” this project's goals included: minimizing energy demand and loss, eliminating acoustics issues, and improving occupant comfort.

  • Nocera Laboratory: Although laboratories are typically regarded as energy intensive buildings, Nocera achieved LEED Gold status in 2013. Progressive, innovative design strategies were used to meet the high energy targets in a space that optimized its indoor environment and minimized its resource consumption.

 

  • Cronkhite Center: The 2013 renovation of this 75,000 square foot residence hall achieved LEED Gold certification. A remarkably fast-track renovation over 11 weeks helped keep this Graduate Center in alignment with Harvard University's sustainable housing mission.

We're looking forward to learning more about these and dozens of other innovative green buildings at this evening's event. Thank you to Harvard University for hosting our Showcase, and to Harvard Business School and the Harvard Office for Sustainability for their ongoing commitment to green buildings!

Introducing Our New Communications Associate:

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


I'm Allison Maynard, the new Communications Associate here at the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter. It's been exciting to join the dynamic team here and learn about all the great sustainability work that's being done in Massachusetts.

This past spring I graduated from the University of Vermont with a bachelor of science in Environmental Science with a focus on Ecological Design and a Green Building minor. Having an Environmental Science background has given me an interesting perspective on the sustainable building industry and broadened my scope for green design. This summer I was able to work with a Passive House consultant to learn more about that building standard, and now I'm delving more into the LEED standard here at USGBC. I was also able to gain an international perspective on sustainable building when I studied abroad in Sydney, Australia during my spring semester in 2014. I'm working towards a career in sustainable building design but have slowly been realizing just how much that encompasses. My experiences and internships so far have been helping me figure out more specifically what I would like to do, and so far I'm most interested in urban and commercial scale sustainable building.

I've met some of you already, know many of you through outreach and social media, and can't wait to meet more of you during my time here!

 

Supporting Service Projects: HMFH Architects, Inc.

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


Thank you to HMFH for their Grove-Level sponsorship of the Green Apple Day of Service!

Our chapter is comprised of many of the best leaders in the sustainability field and we are always excited to see what new strides they have made in their work. Their ingenuity and tireless commitment to sustainability are what make our chapter such a wonderful community of professionals. HMFH has used High Performance as a guiding design principle from their earliest work with passive solar design in the 1970s to 21st century buildings that meet or exceed LEED or CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) standards. Through a collaborative, integrated design process, they provide their clients with innovative, energy-efficient, high performance buildings and systems.

Energy conservation

  • HMFH’s comprehensive energy modeling allows owners to systematically explore energy-related design alternatives that can result in significant utility rebates and energy cost savings, such as at the Capuano Early Childhood Center, which saves the owner 40% in energy costs.

Optimal indoor environments

  • Because people learn and work more readily in effectively day-lit spaces, they develop optimal daylighting strategies that combine enhancement features like light shelves and borrowed lights with classroom dimming sensors to reduce artificial lighting usage and cost. Their research also sets performance guidelines for other environmental characteristics that are critical to effective learning, such as acoustics, indoor air quality, and thermal comfort.

Materials and resources

  • At HMFH they have long been sensitive to the impacts of building material selection on the overall environment, both in terms of occupant health and well-being, as well as long-term environmental effects. They continually evaluate and incorporate rapidly renewable and recycled materials into the design of our buildings, and have developed detailed specifications and life-cycle analysis to select reliable, economical, and low-maintenance materials and systems.

 

We especially recognize Chapter Member and regular volunteer Stephanie MacNeil – she has been co-chair of our Emerging Professionals Committee for a few years now and is a Chapter All-Star!

 

Here are some projects where HMFH has put their sustainability principles into action:

University of Massachusetts Amherst, Van Meter Hall Renovation, Amherst, MA


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fensgate Cooperative, Boston, MA


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cambridge War Memorial Recreation Center, Cambridge, MA


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's Always a Day of Service at Hingham High School!

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


This past Saturday was the international Green Apple Day of Service, but for the Hingham High School Green Team it was just another normal day of sustainability work, albeit with sponsorship by HMFH Architects.

HHS's Green Team is composed of around 50 dedicated students who do everything from energy saving advocacy projects to maintaining a composting program on site. It was their composting program that they focused on during their service day Saturday. The team cleaned out and rotated their 12 compost piles to keep them working efficiently to process the 50 pounds of food waste from the cafeteria that is added during each school day. They took the finished compost to the garden beds near the greenhouse which will soon house spinach seeds.

 

 


The Team cleans out and refills the compost bins and transfers the finished compost to wheelbarrows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Assistant Principal Rick Swanson does some edging work around the garden beds near the greenhouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Students fill the garden beds with finished compost in preparation for seed planting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Breakfast Re-cap: Designing for Sustainable Transportation

By Derek Newberry, Advocacy Fellow


Thank you to Wednesday's Green Breakfast Club presenters Alyson Fletcher and Carrie Havey, who shared perspectives on sustainable transportation design to a receptive audience mixed with new and familiar faces.


Alyson Fletcher, an Associate at Nelson/Nygaard, discussed best practices for sustainable transportation, and prompted the audience to think of the vested interests of people using each mode of transportation. Alyson detailed the best (and worst) practices in the Boston area and nation-wide. These myriad concepts include complete streets, sustainable parking policies, downtown and regional mobility, transit-oriented development and transportation demand management. 

Carrie Harvey, Project Manager with The Green Engineer, Inc., elaborated on the LEED v4 Location and Transportation (LT) credits. She walked us through these new credit categories, shared helpful tips for documenting credits and gave creative options for developers. The audience followed up the presentations by brainstorming about potential improvements in future LEED versions…and then had a chuckle about not wanting to go through a LEED updating process any time soon!

Next month: Go Green to Save Green!

Our next Green Breakfast will be on 10/22 at 8:30am, featuring Jerome Garciano, a USGBC Board Member and attorney in the Robinson & Cole LLP's Real Estate Group. He will explain tax rebates and incentives for renewable and energy efficiency projects. Register today and join the Club! 

Green Breakfast Club is always a great way to meet fellow professionals in our industry and learn about an important aspect of green building.

 


 


More About the Presenters:

Carrie Havey is a Project Manager with The Green Engineer, Inc. (one our USGBC MA's Sponsoring Partners), and has over fourteen years of experience in the fields of planning, landscape architecture, and sustainable design. As a project manager, she works with development and design teams from the visioning stage through construction completion, managing the LEED certification process and providing sustainable design guidance. Carrie is on the USGBC Massachusetts Board of Directors, is a member of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools Operations and Metrics Subcommittee, and is a member of the USGBC Location and Transportation Technical Advisory Group.

With a background in landscape architecture and architecture, Alyson Fletcher brings an interdisciplinary approach to transportation planning. She has specific expertise in multimodal, parking, and transportation demand projects as well as drafting designs for improved intersections and streetscape facilities. Before joining NelsonNygaard as a transportation planner, Alyson was an intern on the Neighborhood Bikeways Campaign at the Active Transportation Alliance in Chicago and a Public Landscape Design and Management Intern at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in Philadelphia.

Elkus Manfredi's New Balance

By Allison Maynard, Communications Associate


Congratulations to Elkus Manfredi Architects for the grand opening of their New Balance World Headquarters project last week! The 250,000-square-foot facility is positioned within the 15-acre Boston Landing development and features an open, communal-style layout with high ceilings and integrated digital media elements. Its glass-clad, streamlined exterior was designed to resemble a ship.


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the full article showing the interior design here.

At Elkus Manfredi their collective wealth of design and planning experience, built across a rich diversity of project and building types, energizes all of their work. They are well-versed in the ways that connectivity, location, market pressures, sustainability, and other elements play into the unique matrix that each project represents. They have 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.

Check out some of the sustainable projects that they have completed:

Dassault Systèmes, Americas Campus, Waltham, Massachusetts


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CBRE New England Headquarters, Boston, Massachusetts


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvard University, Graduate Commons, Cambridge, Massachusetts