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This Evening! Thursday, May 29th, 2014 (Hudson, Central MA) - Green School Tour with the Central MA Committee - This will be a great tour and reception at the Quinn Middle School, which has really embraced "going green!" Sponsored by
Bacon Construction, OMR Architects, Bacon Sardina and Chandler Architectural Products. Click here for more details
Tuesday, June 3, 2014 (Boston) - It's time for the Quarterly Combined Committees Gathering - join us to connect with your peers working all angles of green building promotion and advocacy. Together, we can plot out the next steps on our action agenda and coordinate upcoming events. Click here to sign up for the meeting
Tuesday, June 3, 2014 (Eastham, Cape Cod) - LEED Learning & Networking Night with the Cape & Islands Interest Group. Sponsored by Jill Neubauer Associates and Cape Associates. Click here to sign up
Friday, June 6, 2014 (Boston) - "The Regenerative Practitioner Intro Session" with Regenesis Group. Presented by Bill Reed and Jim Newman. Come to learn more about "what's next" in our practice. Click here to register - Also available on June 19th - click here for more info
Monday, June 9, 2014 (Boston) - Residential Green Building Committee meeting & presentation. "LEEDv4 for Homes" - what is changing, what is the same, what you need to know. Come hear from Will D'Arrigo from Conservation Services Group Click here for details
Tuesday, June 10, 2014 (Boston) Networking Night! Come out to hear about the new Transparency Tool from Perkins+Will in Boston. Click here to register
Thursday, June 12, 2014 (East Boston) Green Building Tour of the East Boston Branch Library with the EPMA. Come out for a great networking & educational experience Click here to register
Thursday, June 26, 2014 (Boston) "Envelope Renovation Energy Modeling: How Effective? How Reliable?" Come hear from experts as they compare eQUEST, Revit, and Autodesk software used on a renovation at UMass Amherst. Click here to register
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| Fresh from the BLOG |
We keep writing up stories about things we're doing
by Blake Jackson
by Grey Lee
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| Chapter Committees | | |
Become involved with a Committee!
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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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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| Join Our List |  |
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Northeast Building & Facilities Management Show
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Coming to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center June 18-19
Click here for more information
We'll be at booth #642 and we invite Chapter members to attend - you'll get a free lunch!
events@usgbcma.org for more info
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By some reckonings, it's summer now. I hope things are heating up for you in your work for more green buildings.
The USGBC is hot - the transition to LEEDv4 is moving right along. The LEED AP & Green Associate Exams are about to change.
Big projects are coming up for the Chapter - are you interested in rolling up your sleeves? We are looking for organizers to help with our 2014 LEED Project Showcase, slated for Sept. 18th. Also, the Green Apple Day of Service will be huge this year.
Are you tuning in to our social media discussions and notes? We hit 1850 members on LinkedIn, but we are at 1857 on Twitter. These social media tools are a great way to stay abreast of green building industry activity in MA. Are you tweeting? We'll follow you if you let us know.
But more importantly, live and in person: come out to our Networking Night. We have one June 10th focused on "Materials Transparency" at Perkins + Will.
I look forward to seeing you soon,
Grey Lee
Executive Director
USGBC MA Chapter
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Advocacy Alert: PACE Financing
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Time to move some legislation!
The Chapter has been supporting S.177, to improve Property Assessed Clean Energy financing in Massachusetts.
The initiative has moved to the Ways & Means Committee. You can help by sending a letter to the Chair, Senator Stephen M. Brewer.
We have more information about S.177 and PACE financing on our advocacy resource page. Please take a look and consider sending a letter to your legislator - here's an example you can use as a template.
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Transparency Tool
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Come to learn about this at our Networking Night on 6/12/14 in Boston, at the Perkins+Will offices.
The built environment has a significant impact on human and ecological health and wellness and this impact is currently quite negative. Most buildings pollute and have the potential to make us sick. Many times this is the unintentional consequence of the complexity of buildings and the negative synergies between materials selected for construction, interior fit-out, mechanical systems or operational products. We know it can be done better.
The Perkins+Will transparency tool is a publicly accessible web site that is designed to encourage material health in the built environment. We believe this will help many professionals in the green building industry improve their materials choices and improve the buildings.
Join us on June 10th in Boston, 5:30-7:30 at 225 Franklin St, for an engaging evening presentation & reception.
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The LEED Showcase is coming!
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Get ready for the biggest LEED gathering in New England - that's right, the LEED Project Showcase is coming back. Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 18th.
If you would like to participate in organizing this major gathering of our tribe, please contact Grey Lee or reply to this message. You could have a lot of fun with this, and make a lot of great connections. Thank you!
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Combined Committees Meeting next week, Tues 6/3
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It's time for the Quarterly Combined Committees Gathering - join us to connect with your peers working all angles of green building promotion and advocacy. Together, we can plot out the next steps on our action agenda and coordinate upcoming events. Click here to sign up for the meeting
 | | The People, together, shall plan amazing programs! |
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| The Regenerative Practitioner | |
Boston, 6/6/14 3-5pm
Come to one of our two intro-sessions for this amazing program with the Regenesis Group. Bill Reed and Jim Newman will be presenting.
Regenerative Development is a way of thinking and working through situations where the long-term and large-scale effect of an organization, project or community is optimized. The ultimate goal of regenerative practice is that a project or organization will add value in a social, environmental, cultural and economic sense that goes beyond just remaining sustainable, and that it has a continual ripple effect by design.
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| Green Schools Update | |
The 3rd Annual Green Apple Day of Service (GADOS) is set for September 27, 2014. It's time to get the word out. To provide some incentive, Grey Lee will buy dinner for the individual that shares the GADOS opportunity with the most schools and gets the most projects registered by July 1, 2014. Contact Steve Muzzy for more details about winning dinner with Grey and for GADOS marketing templates and resources.
New this year we are launching a GADOS Mini-Grant Program that will provide a modest amount of funding for qualified GADOS projects. We are in the process of soliciting sponsorship of the grants and will have more information about applying for the grants shortly - stay tuned! If you are interested in being a GADOS Mini-Grant Sponsor, contact Steve Muzzy for details.
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Keeping the Credential
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We've Got Webinars!
We have USGBC official webinars for in-person, group viewings:
Amherst on 6/17 at 12pm
Boston on 6/18 at 4:30pm
Worcester on 6/19 at 6pm
This is one of our ways of helping our community stay on top of our LEED credentials - free for members!
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Beyond Buildings:
A Review of LEED ND
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Our program last week was a major success - over 80 people attended from the planning and community & neighborhood development professions - we are now actively engaging professionals through our Sustainable Neighborhood Development Working Group.
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The USGBC 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. 
