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Upcoming Events
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June 19, 2013, 4:30 pm
Webinar - REGREEN 251: Home Performance Audits
June 20, 2013, 5:30 pm
Membership Committee Meeting
June 26, 2013, 5:00 pm
Certified Passive House Tour on Cape Cod
June 26, 2013, 6:15 pm
EPMA Monthly Meeting
June 27, 2013, 12:00 pm
LEED 259: Best of Greenbuild 2012: LED Lamps: Can We Kiss Halogen and Fluorescent Goodbye?
June 27, 2013, 6:00 pm
Communications Committee meeting
July 8, 2013, 6:00 pm
Residential Green Building Committee meeting
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Become a Member
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Help us accelerate change and further our mission to advocate, educate and promote sustainable development in Massachusetts.
Join as a member today!
Organizations that share our goal of a more sustainable built environment should consider becoming a USGBC national member or partner of USGBC MA.
Learn more here
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Looking for Volunteers
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The Chapter is looking for volunteers interested in getting involved. Some of the areas we are looking for help in are:
Chapter Website, Newsletter &
Blogging,
Event production,
Membership growth, and
Graphic Design If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Grey Lee |
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Fun Fact
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For roughly the same carbon footprint a Massachusetts family of four can fly non-stop to Orlando, FL or drive to Anaheim, CA - stopping at least ten times for gas, food, sleep, bathroom breaks and a lifetime of memories.
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| Chapter Committees |
Make a Difference.
Network.
Build Your Resume.
Become involved with a Committee!
Education
Communications
Membership Advocacy
Fundraising
Special Events
Emerging Professionals (EPMA)
Green Schools Residential Green Building
Regional & Statewide Outreach
Central MA Group Cape & Islands Group Western MA Branch To find out more about the committees and how to get connected, go to our website or send an email to info@usgbcma.org
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Sponsoring Partnership
Benefits |
Is your company interested in being a Sponsoring Partner with the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter?
Click here to find out the benefits you'll receive as a Chapter partner.
Sponsoring Partners gain access & exposure to our membership and subscriber base.
You can show your stakeholders that you are directly involved with the heart of green building advocacy and professional development in Massachusetts!
Donations are tax deductible and a great way to support our green building education, advocacy and outreach programming efforts throughout the Commonwealth!
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| Our Chapter Sponsoring Partners |
Platinum:
National Grid
Gold:
Boston Properties
Silver:
Citizens Bank
Nitsch Engineering
AHA Consulting Engineers
Vidaris
P&G Gilette
Bronze:
NStar
Mark Richey Woodworking
Robinson & Cole
The Green Engineer, Inc.
Structure Tone
SMMA
New Buildings Institute
Sterritt Lumber
Re-Stream Inc.
SGH |
| Chapter Newsletter & Website |
Interested in writing an article for the Massachusetts Chapter newsletter?
Interested in contributing educational content or graphics for our website?
Please email Carrie at carrie@greenengineer.com |
| Join Our List |
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Greetings!
How is the arrival of summer treating you? Any travel plans? I was in the mid-west last week for work but last night I was in Boston at our Networking Night! I hope you can come to the next one on July 16th!
Indianapolis hosted the USGBC's Midyear Meeting last week. This was an intense few days of in-house program analysis and training. All the various boards and committees were there, all the winners of various strategic investment grants, and a number of representatives of the internal caucuses like Green Schools and Emerging Professionals. Seven MA Chapter members attended and we brought home a treasure trove of resources and issues to introduce to our Chapter.
1. Integrated Membership Model: in the course of the next few months (though we know how they like to belabor things), USGBC will be introducing an optional model for Chapters to participate in a national membership for individuals. This would connect individual Chapter membership to the national organization the way companies are currently able to be national members. The details are still in the works, but the basic idea is that a person would be a member of the USGBC with a combined package of benefits at both national and local levels.
2. Connecting to Community & Faith-based groups: USGBC is laying the groundwork but will roll out (in 2014) a comprehensive strategy to connect with other non-profits and faith-based groups to promote green buildings in the civil sector.
3. Leveraging LEED credential maintenance for volunteers: this is not new but still unfamiliar to many. You can count up to half of your credential maintenance hours as volunteer work on behalf of the Chapter. This is a great reason to connect with our organization and our committees in a deeper way.
See: www.usgbcma.org/committees
One of the biggest things I took home was a new sense of practicality - connecting the climate emergency and the injustice of energy poverty to our work on the built environment. If we want every building to be a green building within a generation - according to our mission - what does that mean? That's say 25 years or so. We've certified over 50M s.f. of commercial office space in the state. There is over 500M s.f. in the state...and then we get to institutional properties, and then residential. We've only certified a few hundred units of almost 3 million housing units in Massachusetts! Let's map this out to implement statewide policies and market clinching mechanisms that ensure everyone here is spending their days and nights in environmentally beneficial green buildings within a generation. Thank you for being on this journey together.
Thank you for tuning in to us on our social media channels, and coming to our events. See you soon!
Grey Lee
Executive Director
USGBC MA Chapter
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| Green Schools Update | |
by Steve Muzzy
I've just returned from the Mid-Year Meeting and Green
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Photo credit: mygreenapple.org
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Schools Symposium where I got to meet and learn from sixty other Green Schools peers from across the country. The timing could not have been better as we begin to ramp up our own Green Schools program. Collectively, we are all focused on the 2nd Annual Green Apple Day of Service, with the goal of registering 2500 service projects globally, doubling the number from last year. The MA Chapter Green Schools Committee has been doing outreach and we have a number of big projects in the works - stay tuned for updates and please contact me if you have an idea for a project.
Another focus of the Symposium was on expanding the Coalition for Green Schools from its current national formation to multiple statewide coalitions. Later this year, the MA Chapter will pilot a Green Schools Coalition and will work closely with the Center for Green Schools to form and facilitate a diverse group of organizations committed to providing every child in America with a green school.
Read more...
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| Cast Your Ballot for LEED v4 | |
by Jim Newman
Are you a member of the consensus body for LEED Version
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Photo credit: www.usgbc.org
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4? Have you cast your ballot yet? Remember, voting ends June 30th. What am I talking about?
The process of affirming the next version of the LEED rating systems, known as LEED V4 for each of the current rating systems, is coming to its conclusion. There have been 6 public comment periods, where USGBC members who joined the Consensus Body (as the group that was empowered to post comments was called) could comment directly on proposed credits and changes. Interested individuals could also post comments on special forums on LEEDuser.com which were shared with USGBC staff and the volunteer Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) working on the new versions.
Now, the new rating systems are up for a vote; including the specialty systems in each of the following categories:
- Building Design & Construction,
- Interior Design & Construction,
- Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance,
- Neighborhood Development,
- Homes
Read more...
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| Say goodbye to the incandescent lamp - and perhaps the CFL? |
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by Chris Liston
Say goodbye to the incandescent lamp - and perhaps the CFL? As the federal government continues to phase-out A-type incandescent light bulbs, a price war between Cree Lighting and Philips Lighting has pushed the life-cycle cost of A-type LEDs below the life-cycle cost of A-type CFLs.
The A-type light bulb is the most common type of lamp uses in Massachusetts homes. Under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), the 100-watt incandescent was phased-out in 2012, the 75-watt incandescent will be phased out in 2013 and the 40-watt and 60-watt incandescent will be phased out in 2014. Since EISA was announced, LED manufacturers have been scrambling to develop cost-effective alternatives.
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LEED being challenged on the Senate Floor in Washington DC
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by Norm Lamonde
Like many topics that get discussed on the Senate floor in Washington, interest groups are behind them and it is as it should be. We live in a democracy founded on the propositions stated in our founding documents. The main goal of our nation's Constitution was to "Create a more perfect Union" and the method of doing so was to provide a venue where the people's voice could be heard and debated via state representatives. The idea was to create a more perfect union between a Federal Government and its people. Maybe another way to think about creating a more perfect union would be that we work to create a more perfect union with the environment that supports a mutually beneficial relationship where both can thrive and not just survive.
This summer, LEED will be debated in Washington via a bill called the Shaheen-Portman Bill (S. 761) where USGBC sources say they fear the amendment would effectively bar the General Services Administration from continuing to use LEED to measure the efficiency and sustainability of federal buildings.
To find out more about this topic refer to the below links.
http://www.usgbc.org/articles/ee-daily-reports-chemical-backed-amendment
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059981673
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| Brownfield Mill Redevelopment Project at Ludlow Mills |
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Ludlow, MA Westmass Area Development Corp. has
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Photo credit: www.masslive.com
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eagerly taken on the challenge of redeveloping the largest historic brownfield mill redevelopment project in New England - the "Ludlow Mills."
This past fall the Ludlow Mills Preservation and Redevelopment project was recognized by lieutenant governor Murray for its regional significance and was chosen to be one of only five priority projects statewide to be included in the 3rd round of the Massachusetts Brownfield Support Team Initiative (BST).
This historic mill site is 170 acres in area with over 1.45 million s/f of existing historic mill space. The Ludlow Mills project is the new home to HealthSouth's 74,500 s/f LEED Silver Certified rehabilitation hospital which is currently under construction and will incorporate green energy design including the installation of solar arrays. The new hospital is expected to open later this fall. Read NEREJ's full article... |
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New England Energy Efficiency Conference and Expo
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June 20th, InterContinental, Boston
Hear experts from a broad range of industries discuss the future of energy. You will learn how to leverage these innovations to strengthen your business. Register now for the 5th Annual 2013 New England Energy Efficiency Conference & Expo to share ideas and connect with your colleagues, partners and vendors. Andrew W. Hoar - Keynote Speaker
Mr. Hoar serves as President and Co-Managing Partner of CBRE/New England, a joint venture partner with CBRE. He has more than 25 years of commercial real estate experience with over 500 completed lease transactions throughout New England. Mr. Hoar leads a team of more than 480 real estate professionals.
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Twitter- @usgbcma
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SGBC Massachusetts Chapter is a non-profit organization serving the sustainable design community throughout the Commonwealth by providing a wide range of green building education, networking and advocacy services.