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BE+ Morning Brew: Zero Carbon Zoning – Boston’s Future in Context
Start your day with the Built Environment Plus (BE+) community for a live virtual conversation, hosted by Meredith Elbaum, with leading professionals driving our Zero Carbon Future. This session will be a morning talkshow style discussion with opportunity for audience participation.
As you may have heard, the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) recently launched a Zero Net Carbon Building Zoning Initiative that is assessing and identifying strategies to strengthen green building zoning requirements to a zero net carbon standard for new construction. This is a critical step for advancing practices to meet Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s goal for Boston to be carbon neutral by 2050. Learn more about Boston’s initiative here.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear more about Boston’s efforts, how they fit in context within Massachusetts and cities around the country, and the implications for how this affects future business and development.
Meet the Speakers
John Dalzell, AIA, LEED Fellow
Senior Architect | Boston Planning & Development Agency
John is a Senior Architect for Sustainable Development at the Boston Planning & Development Agency and a champion for Green Building and Community Programs. John has been deeply involved with USGBC and LEED for many years now, as illustrated by his awarded position as LEED Fellow, Accredited Professional in BD+C and Neighborhood Development, and as a founding member of the USGBC Massachusetts chapter (now BE+).
Claire McKenna
Senior Associate | Rocky Mountain Institute
Claire is a member of the Building Electrification team at Rocky Mountain Institute, working with policymakers, NGOs, and other stakeholders to tackle a significant piece of the US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions puzzle: direct emissions from buildings.
Rick Malmstrom
Executive Director, Sustainable Operations | Alexandria Real Estate Equities
Rick Malmstrom is the Executive Director of Sustainable Operations at Alexandria Real Estate Equities. In this role Rick oversees the sustainability efforts in operations and in new developments, at Alexandria’s Greater Boston Region, which currently covers over 7 Million square feet of properties. Focusing on energy usage and carbon reduction efforts, Rick leads efforts to build sustainable and resiliency attributes into new construction projects.
Rick also serves on the City of Cambridge Net Zero Task Force and the City of Cambridge Climate Resilience Zoning Task Force, providing sector input into future plans for net zero efforts being explored by the city. Rick also participates in A Better City’s Efficient and Resilient Buildings Working Group, helping to provide input into Boston’s efforts to reduce carbon, via their Climate Action Plan and their Building Emission Performance Standard.
Jacob Knowles
Director of Sustainable Design | BR+A
Jacob Knowles leads BR+A’s sustainability consulting team. He is the champion for over 2 million square feet of Net Zero projects, winning awards such as AIA COTE Top Ten, I2SL Go Beyond, and grants for high performance and zero net energy buildings. He is currently a consultant to the City of Boston, City of Somerville and the MA DOER on carbon neutral zoning and net zero codes. He is also a board member of the Boston Society for Architecture.
Colin Schless, LEED, CPHC
Vice President | Thornton Tomasetti
Colin Schless is a vice president of Thorton Tomasetti’s Sustainability practice.
Meet the Host
Meredith Elbaum, AIA, LEED AP
Executive Director | Built Environment Plus
As a sustainability advocate and educator, Meredith joined Built Environment Plus as Executive Director, in November 2017, where she drives sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operation of the built environment.
Before becoming ED, she was developing climate action plans, master plans, design guidelines and green buildings as President of the Elbaum Group and she launched the Health Product Declaration, as its Interim Executive Director. For almost a decade, Meredith was Director of Sustainable Design at Sasaki. During that time she helped in USGBC MA Chapter’s creation and served as a founding board member. She earned a BArch from Rice University, a MSArch from MIT, and currently teaches at Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Scholarship Application
Don’t let cost be the reason for not attending this event. Apply for free admission.
PE | Associate, LeMessurier
Vice President, AEW’s Architecture & Engineering group
Interior Designer, Jacobs, Boston
Senior Vice President, Market Transformation and Development U.S. Green Building Council
AIA LEED AP BD+C | Senior Associate, Gensler Boston
LEED Fellow, WELL AP | Founder and Principal, Ecoworks Studio
LEED AP BD+C | Environmental Sustainability Manager, Armstrong World Industries
Sustainability Director, Steven Winter Associates
Assistant Professor of Exposure Science | Director of the Healthy Buildings program
Managing Director, Harvard University Office for Sustainability
Principal & Director of Certifications and Consulting, Epsten Group, Inc.
Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, Jamestown
Founder and Principal, Linnean Solutions | LEED AP, O+M; EcoDistrict AP
Associate Principal, BuroHappold Engineering
Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation
Co-Founder, Facilitator at The Laurentia Project | LEED AP BD+C, LFA
Founder and President, Board of the Healthy Building Network
Building Technology Director, Kingspan North America
LEED® AP ID+C, BD+C, USGBC Faculty, WELL® AP, WELL Faculty and Fitwel Ambassador
Workplace Strategy Expert and Researcher, EYP
Principal, Integrated Ecostrategy
Senior Vice President, International WELL Building Institute
AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP
Principal, Bruner/Cott
Architect, Associate, and Sustainability Design Leader, Stantec Architecture and Engineering
FAIA, LEED Fellow, Long Green Specs
Products & Materials Specialist, BuildingGreen
Director of Acquisitions and Development
Director of Restorative Enterprise, Interface
Vice President of Sustainable Development, Shaw
Sustainability Manager, Consigli Construction Company
Global Head of Sustainability, Superior Essex