2020 Greetings from Barbra Batshalom, Board Chair

This past year we had unprecedented advances in the evolution of our organization. After doing a lot of listening through roundtables and member outreach, we developed a whole new strategic plan, a new brand that reflects our focus on healthy, net positive communities, and expanded partnerships with aligned organizations such as the Living Future Collaborative New England and Passive House Institute.

We also saw the success and growth of multiple programs: Workforce Grants and training programs for small businesses, the Women in Green event series, the Green Building Leadership Program (GBLI) for emerging professionals, and the launch of our first conference, Design for People. While our LEED courses and other trainings continue, we are planning a whole host of new events this coming year that center on community conversations around product health, bringing zero carbon to scale, new zero carbon stretch codes, and other important issues.

Addressing carbon is one of our most urgent challenges for 2020. While this challenge and others can feel overwhelming and impossible to overcome, we make up a powerful community of individuals involved in the design, construction, and operation of our buildings. Each of us came to USGBC MA because we are all driven by the same mission: to advocate for a more sustainable Massachusetts. That’s why community is important. Together, our community has all the know-how and experience to chart a path forward that can help us accelerate our progress. Together, we can achieve what none of us can do individually.

This is why we really want to hear from you: we can’t do all of this without the support and input of our community! What do you want us to focus on this year? Does your company need training or support to achieve its sustainability goals? What do you want to learn this year? How can your voice be joined with other like-minded people to drive the changes we want to see? Come to our roundtables, other events, or just send us a message—we look forward to working with you to make 2020 the best year yet!

Barbra Batshalom, USGBC MA/Build Environment Plus Board Chair 

Annual General Meeting Recap

2019 Membership Award Recipients

Net Zero Hero – Jacob Knowles

Member of the Year – Audrey Ng

 Ascending Professional of the Year – Jasmine Abdollahi

MVP Company – Elkus Manfredi

Living Building Champion – DiAnn Mroszczak

I’ve Got Your Back – Jana Silsby

Thank You to Our Departing USGBC MA Board Members

Returning USGBC MA Board Members

New USGBC MA Board Members

Built Environment Plus: Voting Results

The results are in: changing the organizational name to Built Environment Plus was met with an overwhelming 90% approval rate by USGBC MA voters! We will be going before the Secretary of State to petition for the name change. If the petition succeeds, Built Environment Plus will become our official name! Thank you to everyone who voted–as a community-based organization, your input is vital for the future of the organization!