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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Are you looking to get more involved? The Chapter needs help in the following areas:
- Updating Chapter Website
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Newsletter &
Blogging
- Event production
- Membership growth
- Graphic Design
If you are interested, please contact Grey Lee
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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 [email protected]
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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: CenterPoint
Citizens Bank
Nitsch Engineering
AHA Consulting Engineers
Vidaris
P&G Gilette
NStar
Bronze: LDa Architects
Robinson & Cole
The Green Engineer, Inc.
Structure Tone
SMMA
New Buildings Institute
Sterritt Lumber
Re-Stream Inc.
SGH
Blu Homes |
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 [email protected] |
Join Our List |
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Thank you, USGBC Massachusetts: you are making a difference. Let us give thanks to all the mission-oriented contributors to the growing green building movement. In the words of Paul Hawken, "No organization has had a bigger impact on [improving] the environment" than the USGBC. Green Buildings are on the March! I have just returned from Greenbuild 2013 in Philadelphia and I am truly re-inspired. It was amazing to be with the eco-evangelical community who are at the same time crunching numbers to be sure these projects pencil out. I was impressed at the balance between optimism and hard-nosed realism. We heard from the movement's founders, USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi and David Gottfried. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shared their hard-earned wisdom. We heard from host Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and their ambition to be the "greenest city in America..." We also heard from Bon Jovi, just to make sure we covered all the bases. The best part for me was connecting with other folks in the USGBC Chapters world. It was great to see and hear about all the other programs going on in cities across the country. I will be introducing many of these good ideas in the coming year. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to offer my sincere gratitude to the many Chapter volunteers, committee leaders and Board members who continue, week after week, to take the time to make our programs function. Especially noteworthy are the folks who came to instruct at our LEED Study Group in Boston this fall.
Please find us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter - it's a great way to hear about our events and programs, and to learn more and more about Green Buildings!
Grey Lee
Executive Director
USGBC MA Chapter
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2030 Palette - A Sustainable Design Tool | |
The 2030 Palette, introduced by
founder and CEO of Architecture 2030, Edward Mazria, at Greenbuild 2013, is a free interactive online platform that puts the principles and actions behind low-carbon and resilient built environments at the fingertips of architects, planners and designers worldwide.
Architecture 2030 has developed this free online tool as a powerful catalyst for driving broad implementation of the 2030 Challenge and more - ensuring that our building and communities consume fewer fossil fuels, complement and preserve sensitive ecosystems, access site renewable energy, and successfully adapt to complete changes. Since planning and designing the built environment is primarily a visual activity, the 2030 Palette is structured as a visual network of interrelated elements called swatches. Swatches present highly complex and multi-dimensional information in a readily accessible format organized by category - Region, City/Town, District, Site and Building. Each swatch contains a written recommendation, rule-of-thumb, images and graphics representing the physical application of the recommendation, as well as more detailed information for its successful implementation. Registration is easy, and always free. To get started simply sign up at 2030palette.org. Source: 2030palette.org
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Greenbuild 2013 Recap | |
Close to 25,000 people attended the 10th Annual Greenbuild this year in Philadelphia.
In Hillary Clinton's keynote address she states: "This movement is also about the health and wellbeing of our citizens, especially our children. Removing toxic building materials, improving air quality, encouraging creative lifestyles and walkable neighborhoods is a much healthier way to live...the movement is truly all about building the kind of future we want to leave to the next generation."
Master Speakers this year included Ron Finley, who discussed how he has set out to change South Los Angeles by creating a vegetable garden movement within the city and educate people of all ages on healthy eating. Learn more here. Building Green came out with their Top-10 Products for 2013. Their list includes Cyber Rain smart irrigation controllers, XS-P Series streetlight from Cree Lighting, and Atlas CMU block with CarbonCure. Learn more here.
We also got our first look at the LEED v4 reference guides, which can now be purchased on USGBC's website (note, the LEED-ND v4 reference guide comes out in 2014).
Next year Greenbuild will be in New Orleans.
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LEED Study Group | |
by Steve Muzzy
The Boston LEED Green Associate Study Group wrapped up on November 14th. Twenty-five people from diverse backgrounds, including students, city employees, professors, landscape design architects, and many more participated. Special thanks and recognition go to Chapter member AP's Sandy Brock, Tiffany King, Conor McGuire, and Erik Ruoff for facilitating sessions and providing their expertise and encouragement. Good luck to all the participants - you're ready - now go pass that exam!
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Green Schools Opportunities |
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Check out the following Green Schools opportunities:
Nominations Due: November 29, 2013
Applications Due: January 5, 2014
Applications Due: February 14, 2014
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Congratulations to the New LEED Fellows! |
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We are proud to announce that two heroes of the USGBC MA Chapter have been honored as LEED Fellows in 2013.
Congratulations to Leo Roy of VHB and John Dalzell of the BRA.
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USGBC MA Chapter Co-hosts Meet Massachusetts Networking Event @ ABX |
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On November 20, 2013, the USGBC MA Chapter, in partnership with the Massachusetts Chapter ofthe American Planning Association, Boston Society of Architects, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, and the Massachusetts Association of Consulting Planners hosted the 5th annual "Meet Massachusetts" networking event. Neil Angus, Vice Chairman of the USGBC MA Chapter Board of Directors welcomed attendees and spoke briefly about the purpose of the event: to bring together planning, design and construction professionals. Green building is all about integrated design and no other event really brings together the multitude of disciplines that this event does.
Over 50 planners, engineers, architects, landscape architects, interior designers, energy planners and contractors came together to talk about sustainable design and development, to share ideas and meet new people. This years' event was made possible through the generous support of the New England Chapter of the International Furnishings and Design Association and Keith LeBlanc Landscape Architecture. This was the second time the event was held in conjunction with the ABX Conference.
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EnerNOC hosts Informative Networking Event |
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Networking Night in November was a great success. Over 75 people came out to EnerNOC's headquarters in the Seaport to hear from Brian Swett, Chief of Energy & Environment for the City of Boston, as he reviewed the new Building Energy Reporting & Disclosure (BERDO) ordinance.
Thank you to Brian and the team at EnerNOC for hosting us!
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Greenbuild Round-up from the Web
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There were more than a few good notes about Greenbuild put together in the past few days:
USGBC CEO "The Ricker" Fedrizzi waxes poetic at his blog. Are we ready to step up to the challenge? Do we even have "within a generation" to change the built environment?
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USGBC MA Participates in ASHRAE Tech Session
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Below you will find the presentation slides: |
Upcoming Events and Meetings
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December 2, 2013, 4:30 pm
Envelope Renovation and Energy Modeling: How Effective and How Reliable?
UMass Amherst
December 4, 6:15 pm
Boston
December 9, 6:00 pm
Residential Green Building Committee meeting
Boston
December 12, 8:00 am
Green Schools Committee Conference Call
December 13, 12:00 pm
December 17, 12:00 pm
In-person webinar in Boston
December 18, 2013, 4:30 pm
In-person webinar in Boston
See our website for a full list of upcoming events.
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Follow Us | |
We have hundreds of followers keeping track of the latest in the green building industry in the state - join us on the following networks:
Facebook- USGBC Massachusetts Chapter LinkedIn- USGBC Massachusetts Chapter Twitter- @usgbcma
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