EPMA October 2016 Meeting Recap – Planning For Halloween, Holidays, And 2017!

By Alexander Landa


This month's EPMA meeting was full of energy! Even for a Monday night, everyone arrived with questions, concerns, and plans for moving the USGBC MA forward.

The night began with a presentation by Aminah McNulty on Permaculture & Dryland Strategies. It's awesome to see that even among all of the areas throughout the world that suffer from drought and difficulty with growing green life, that there are researchers working on ways to combat this, bringing life to barren ground.

From there, we worked on planning future events – some coming up soon, some for the holiday seasons quickly approaching. Be on the lookout for more building tours, workshops, and networking sessions.

The next EPMA monthly meeting will be November 19th – come and join to meet some other emerging professionals and to help push our USGBC Chapter into the future!

Upcoming events:

UMass Boston University Hall Building Tour, 10/20

Healthy Materials Summit, 10/26

Emerging Professionals HallOlympics Networking + Games Night, 10/27

Join Women in Design Boston for our Third Event in our Negotiation Series

By Grey Lee, Executive Director


Financial Savvy, Throughout Your Career:

Just getting your first job in the field? Moving into a principal role? Coming back after an extended absence? Throughout our careers we face different opportunities and challenges regarding personal and professional finances. Join us as we hear from a panel of industry experts on their advice and observations of financial planning and negotiation strategy.  

Panelists:
Jane Weinzapfel – Principal at Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Tamara Roy – Principal at Stantec Architecture
Daniel Gaudet – CPA Principal at DiCicco, Gulman and Company, Certified Public Accountants and Business Advisors
Maren Reepmeyer – Senior Associate at CBT Architects
Kyla Astley – Marketing Manager at Perkins+Will
Emily Grandstaff-Rice – Event Moderator, Senior Associate at Arrowstreet

Sponsors:
BSA, Payette, Stantec, Finegold Alexander Architects

Sign up: Here!

Tuesday, November 1st, 2016
6:00PM-8:00PM
BSA Space
Fort Point Room
290 Congress Street
Boston, MA, 02210


New to the Building Industry? Join the Emerging Professionals Committee!

By USGBCMA Communications, More Green Buildings!

The Emerging Professionals Committee of MA (EPMA) meets every month to organize events and programs.

The next meeting is in two weeks:
Monday, July 25 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm
1 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108
(Gensler)

RSVP: Email Kristin Malyak (Kristin_Malyak@gensler.com) to be added to the security list. All are welcome.

Example email:
Subject: EPMA Security
Body: Please add my name to the security list. I am looking forward to attending the next meeting. Thanks!

EPMABBQ

More about the Emerging Professionals of Massachusetts (EPMA):

The EPMA Committee is a great venue for becoming more engaged with green building community and forming meaningful connections with colleagues across the industry. Our monthly meetings are open to anyone interested in becoming more involved. 

The USGBC Massachusetts Emerging Professionals (EPMA) is a group of green building professionals who are relatively new to the industry, inclusive of students fresh out of college, young professionals in the industry, graduate students, and more seasoned professionals simply new to the sustainable field.

EPMA strives to become engaged with the greater Boston green community through educational and career development events, networking nights, volunteer programs and other events which promote the conservation, regeneration and stewardship of natural resources through sustainable building practices.

Some of EPMA's Events:

  • Building Tours
  • Sustainable Bike Tour
  • Sustainable Dinner
  • Networking Nights

Check out our calendar for the latest schedule! 

Meeting agendas typically include:

  • Short presentation from one of our members about their work in the green building industry
  • Brainstorming new initiatives and events
  • Updates on broader Chapter initiatives and events
  • Strategy and planning for upcoming EPMA-hosted events

Please reach out to our committee chairs or attend an upcoming meeting if you have a great idea for an EP event that you would like see come to life, or if you are just interested in becoming more involved!

Chair: Jenna Dancewicz
Vice Chair:  Suzy O'Leary

Getting to Zero: Sustainability from your core

By Grey Lee, Executive Director

Come to this awesome program with sustainability expert Barbra Batshalom:

Register here

When
Tuesday, May 24th, 2016 8:30 AM through 11:00 AM

Where
50 Milk Street, 18th Floor
“Hemingway” Room
Boston, 02109
 

 

The future of our planet and our profession depend on our ability to co-create collaboratively and achieve levels of synergy that transform our impact. Net Zero, LEED and the 2030 Challenge define performance targets. Yet, critical gaps remain between rising performance goals and the organizational capability to consistently achieve them. AIA 2030 data shows that 57% of gsf uses energy modeling, meaning 43% doesn’t. Most teams don’t know what the anticipated energy use is. Firms also report that LEED certified projects, which tend to have more commitment and higher levels of integration, have 24% lower pEUI than non-LEED projects, yet LEED still represents a small percentage of a firm’s portfolio. 

 
The project delivery process is the life-blood of your business yet most firms try to achieve these ever-higher performance targets using the same old delivery process that doesn't achieve performance.This session provides participants with practical frameworks and proven methodologies to transform their practice from “random acts of sustainability” to consistent capability based on cultural change, clearly articulated methodologies, truly integrative design and effective use of metrics to achieve continuous improvement. Come with specific questions and scenarios and we will address them in this session. 

2016 Charles River Cleanup

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager


The EPMA's had an great turn out at the 17th Annual Charles River Clean-Up on Saturday. We were blessed with the elusive Boston spring sun! The Esplanade was packed full of strolling families, runners, cyclists and roller bladers all enjoying the fine weather. We were assigned to the river section between the Boston University and Massachusetts Ave Bridges, along with three other volunteer groups. We gathered at the Exercise Course on the Esplanade to pick up our Charles River Clean Up t-shirts, trash bags, and pick up tools, then headed off to get to work.


It was great to be alongside volunteers from all over Boston. There were retirees, school children and even some toddlers helping out. We split up to gather trash along the Storrow Drive fence line and by the water. The volume of trash was noticeably lower than past years due to our mild winter. We found a lot of broken glass in the rip rap along the shoreline, some car accident detritus along the road, and some old clothing by the water that had become a home for algae and small fresh water mollusks. 


The Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup brought over 3,000 volunteers together, highlighting the impact of community empowerment, teamwork and environmental stewardship. It was really inspiring to see the turnout and help contribute to the health of our city. 


After the clean-up, we gathered at the Hatch Shell for a group picnic. As music played over the loud speaker, people took over the lawn with picnic blankets, frisbee games and dancing. It was a great wrap up to an awesome day of service! 
Thank you to all of our volunteers, and we look forward to seeing you at our Earth Day Clean Up next year! 
 

Observations of a big networking event by an emerging professional

By Grey Lee & Wenbin Wang

This note is from our graphic design intern, Wenbin Wang (in glasses below), who helped us with the marketing materials and especially the event program. She is a freshman at Tufts, studying mathematics. She is great with InDesign, though, too!


“Yesterday's event was so exciting and inspiring for me as someone who hasn't been exposed to abundant building technologies. It is interesting to see how firms from all kinds of industries, like real estate, construction, software engineering, and education, intersect and work together on buildings. I was amazed by the extensive implementation of cutting-edge technologies in every aspects of buildings, from lights to automatic control systems and the astonishing achievement of these technologies in saving energy. Also, I'm glad to see people actively involved in advocating for environmentally friendly and sustainable buildings and real estate firms pay serious attention to the sustainability of buildings.

Panelists' pitches also covered a lot of innovation and transformation happening in the industry and visualized a cheerful graph of our future smart and energy saving buildings. It's exhilarating to see robust development in building industry and people contributing to the progress. I wish people in the industry could have more chances like last night to share thoughts and work together to proceed the future with more green buildings.”

 

You bet, Wenbin! We certainly will be working to help more people connect with building tech. Thanks for all your help this semester!

[here's an image of the flyer she put together:]


Annual Sustainable Dinner Recap

By Stephanie MacNeil, Emerging Professionals Committee


This year’s annual sustainable dinner was a welcome chance for a hearty warm meal on a rare bitterly cold evening this winter.  Moods were warmed through the mingling of members of the USGBC and the IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) who for the evening shared the common cause of learning how the lighting we place in our buildings affects more than just our ability to see where we walk—everything from interference with bird migratory patterns, disruption of our natural circadian rhythms, the loss of our ancestral connection to the starry night sky, and a poetic reminder that light is as much art as it is science.

Thank you to Jane Slade of RAB Lighting for presenting and sponsoring the evening.

Great conversation was had over a dinner of locally raised pork, vegetables and grains as we were informed by Chef Nookie who made a special appearance at the end of the evening.  And just when we thought the night couldn’t get any better – there was make your own brownie sundaes, it was a sweet ending to be sure!

A huge thank you to Commonwealth for hosting and feeding us, and to RAB Lighting for sponsoring and “enlightening” us (no pun intended).

 


 


Special thanks are also due to the organizing group of Kristin Malyak, Stephanie MacNeil and Jenna Dancewicz of the Emerging Professionals Committee. It was a great night out!

 


Thursday Night: Going out Sustainable!

By Grey Lee

It's that time again! Time to get together with colleagues to share a great meal and make new connections. Every year our emerging professionals organize a great evening out on the town.

 

Please join the USGBC on Thursday February 11th @6:30pm for our Annual Sustainable Dinner at the Commonwealth Restaurant; co-hosted with the Illuminating Engineers Society (IES).

 

We will enjoy a delicious & sustainable meal of the freshest locally sourced ingredients created by Chef Nookie; along with an educational presentation on the health effects of artificial lighting by our sponsor Jane Slade, RAB Lighting.

 


A few seats left: Annual Sustainable Dinner

By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager

Please join the USGBC on Thursday February 11th @6:30pm for our Annual Sustainable Dinner hosted by the Commonwealth Restaurant. We have a good group of green building practitioners already signed up, many from USGBC MA and IES. We guarentee table talk will be enlightening!

We will enjoy a delicious & sustainable meal with the freshest locally sourced ingredients created by Chef Nookie along with an educational presentation on artificial lighting by our sponsor Jane Slade, RAB Lighting https://www.rabweb.com/:  

Light & Health – Starving for Darkness

Since the industrial revolution and the invention of the electric lightbulb, we spend more and more time bathed in artificial light. How do the artificial light and lack of darkness impact our bodies, and how does the illumination of our exterior environment impact wildlife? 

 

REGISTER HERE

When:  February 11th, 2016 6:30 PM   through   8:00 PM
Location:  11 Broad Canal Way, Cambridge, MA 02142

Chapter Members $ 40.00
Non-Members $ 55.00

 

Next Week: Annual Sustainable Dinner

By Ryan Duffy, Communications Fellow

Please join the USGBC on Thursday February 11th @6:30pm for our Annual Sustainable Dinner at the Commonwealth Restaurant; co-hosted with the Illuminating Engineers Society (IES).

We will enjoy a delicious & sustainable meal of the freshest locally sourced ingredients created by Chef Nookie; along with an educational presentation on the health effects of artificial lighting by our sponsor Jane Slade, RAB Lighting https://www.rabweb.com/:  

Click here to register

Light & Health – Starving for Darkness

Since the industrial revolution and the invention of the electric lightbulb, we spend more and more time bathed in artificial light. How do the artificial light and lack of darkness impact our bodies, and how does the illumination of our exterior environment impact wildlife?