The leaves across New England are changing colors, but Boston's buildings are as green as ever. Come learn about the advancements in energy efficiency and celebrate the industry's accomplishments at our USGBC Chapter's Annual Halloween Costume Party! This year, the festivities will follow the Northeastern University Energy Conference.
Please come dressed in a costume. We encourage all party-goers to combine their industry expertise and creative spirits by following the optional costume theme of TRENDS IN GREEN DESIGN.
Join the next generation of building energy engineers and accomplished panel speakers for Halloween festivities after the event.
An article from the USGBC National site recently highlighted Arlington County, VA, for their commitment to improving their constructed environment. Arlington got a head start by updating their Green Building Incentive Program and adopting LEEDv4 a year before the “sunset date” for LEED 2009 project registration.
Starting on October 1, developers had to begin seeking certification under “v4,” the latest version of the LEED green building rating system. Arlington implemented these higher environmental standards because they align with the County's Community Energy Plan. Their framework has set a specific milestone for the energy performance of new buildings, which notably ensures that energy efficiency is an ongoing priority.
A business-friendly option
Arlington County moved to LEEDv4's baseline with the aim to incentivize higher levels of energy efficiency. Officials pointed to the importance of incentives in overcoming barriers, such as split incentives between developers and future tenants or owners.
“Arlington's voluntary green building incentive program is a business-friendly option designed to speed the transformation to green and energy efficient construction,” said Arlington’s Green Building Program Manager, Joan Kelsch. “Arlington’s move to LEED v4, with a specific focus on energy efficient design and performance, is the newest tool available to guide that transformation.”
These laudable green building benchmarks established by Arlington County raise the bar for energy efficiency expectations across the nation. Towns & cities in Massachusetts should follow Arlington's lead, and lead the charge of raising the green building standard for the US and the world.
Another day brings another incentive that's available for green buildings!
Do you have a DCAMM project that was completed since 2011, or is scheduled to be completed? Massachusetts' Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance (DCAMM) has announced that it will sign off on allocation applications for deductions under IRS Code §179D.
Contrary to their previous announcements, now the DCAMM will not seek any compensation, fees, sharing, deduction from design fee, etc. for granting this to the designer. Although the deduction is intended for the primary designer of the property (or the general contracter, for projects procured for c. 25A), if the primary designer doesn't seek the benefit and it is sought by another party, such as the subconsultant, the DCAMM will still consider these situations on a case-by-case basis.
A letter of intent is also available at the link. Designers should submit this if they want a commitment from DCAMM to allocate their deduction, before getting the required third-party certification that their property qualifies under §179D.
The application clarifies that for this form's purpose, “property” refers to an “energy efficient commercial building property satisfying the requirements of 26 U.S. Code §179D, which has been installed in a Commonwealth building as part of a DCAMM project.”
DCAMM will prioritize the applications submitted for buildings put into service in 2011, considering that the final filing amendment deadline is quickly approaching. However, if your firm is facing another deadline, please let the agency know so that they can try to process your paperwork more quickly. In general, these applications will be considered in due course.
Please note that these specific forms are not required. If designers submit an application for allocation in any other form, it will still be considered—as long as it includes all the necessary information for §179D. Although DCAMM is now helping designers who are seeking this tax deduction, the agency will not be able process forms with extra paperwork, which includes more information than they need to allocate benefits to the designer (such asadditional waivers, rights' reservations, indemnity provisions, etc.).
The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) was created in 2009 by a team of economists and statisticians from the Netherlands. Co-founded by Nils Kok at the University of Maastricht, GRESB was developed as a way for asset managers to more complexly assess real estate assets to uncover greater territories of value for owners.
GRESB is a process – not a certification, not an analysis, but a process of assessment which enables the multi-faceted aspects of property to be tracked over time in greater detail than has ever been done before. Through the GRESB process, an asset is rated in a new way, and the management entity is evaluated in a new way, which creates new data about the underlying asset. With this data, and with the identification of component processes, asset managers can see into real estate and how non-financial aspects affect their financial performance.
Yesterday evening, EnerNOC hosted a discussion and networking event with Boston commercial real estate developers and investors, featuring a presentation and conversation centering around GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) data. GRESB is committed to assessing the sustainability performance of real-estate portfolios around the globe. This useful tool encourages better management, more action and improving outcomes.
COO Chris Pyke presented recent survey data, highlighting global trends and explaining their impact on investors, GRESB survey participants, and the green building market. The 707 Participants–whose institutional capital represents $2.3 trillion of property value–have made many great strides in sustainability since 2014. The in-depth survey focuses on 7 thematic targets. This survey impressively revealed an average improvement from GRESB participants in each category:
Management: 96% have a specific person with responsibility for implementing sustainability objectives Disclosure & Assurance: 92% report having specific sustainability objectives Tenant & Community Engagement: 60% now have best-practice lease clauses Health and Well-Being: 84% increase in new construction measures to support health and well-being Climate Risk & Resilience: -3.04% reduction in GHG emissions Water & Waste: -1.65% decrease in water use Energy: -2.87% reduction in energy consumption
Of the 155 North American participants in this globally diversified survey, the highest-ranking REIT on the East Coast was Boston Properties, which was represented in the event Q&A by Amy Gindel, SVP of Finance & Planning, and Ben Myers, Sustainability Manager and USGBC Board member. Dan Winters, Head of N. America for GRESB, asked panelists to elaborate on the value of GRESB data for Boston Properties' sustainability goals. They emphasized the importance of a comprehensive plan initiated from the top-level management. Jon Hartnett, EnerNOC's Commercial Real Estate Team Lead, detailed how the EnerNOC – Boston Properties' partnership helped developers and engineers immediately realize the impact of their efforts.
In summary: GRESB data provides participants and investors with evidence-based, actionable targets to increase real estate asset values. Check out www.gresb.com for more information, and to download the full 2015 report.
Thank you to Dan Winters and Chris Pyke for coming up from Washington DC to present, and to Lisa Park and the team at EnerNOC for hosting this great event!
The past two months have been a hot period for advocacy efforts in our Chapter and State, both with regards to our warm summer weather and the green bills on Beacon Hill! Hosting a Green Building Policy Forum at the State House in mid June, our Chapter provided legislators, staff members, constituents, and many others in the green community with important information on our top priorities to create awareness and promote green education. Our priorities included Net Metering improvements, Net Zero Energy Building codes, and Property Assessed Clean Energy financing. Secondary priorities included Healthy Materials and Toxics, Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax, and local-levelincentives for LEED certifications.
Our advocacy efforts did not stop there! We continued the momentum by attending and presenting our support at the Energy Efficiency Hearing at the State House at the end of June, showing support for Bills S.1761, S.1771, S.1774, and H.2857. Not only were we able to take action on our current priorities, but we also highlighted many of our secondary priorities. With the help of members of our Advocacy Committee, Residential Green Building Committee, CABA, MA PACE Coalition and headquarters’ staff, our Chapter was well represented at the hearing and we strengthened our advocacy efforts for the weeks ahead.
In addition to our presence on Beacon Hill, our Chapter made time to have a little “fun in the sun” at the Emerging Professionals (EPMA) Summer BBQ event, co-hosted by the Advocacy Committee. This could not have been planned at a more appropriate time to celebrate the sun, as the net metering issues were once again taking up attention at the State House. Having reached many caps in the State, the net metering bills would have to be addressed if the State wanted to continue to support renewable energy, particularly solar. The Advocacy Committee, along with Zapotec the event sponsor, presented background information and strategies to steer the net metering issues in a positive direction. Senator Downing’s amendment to Bill S.1973 was proposed and passed in the Senate just one day later! We were even fortunate to be able host at the BBQ a 5th year civil engineering student from the Federal Technological University of Paraná, Brazil, who is writing his dissertation on sustainable development, certifications and technologies!
Finally, our Chapter ended a high-energy month with a Green Breakfast Forum dedicated to highlighting our Advocacy Priorities and the bills related to them. With six astounding presenters and more than 15 participants, the forum engaged all in a discussion around complicating energy issues and how we can support these bills from hereon in. After such a successful Green Breakfast Forum, we look forward to keeping our advocacy issues alive and relevant with more upcoming green events for our members to take advantage of!
