We want 100% Green Buildings!
USGBC MA Chapter Newsletter
  
In This Issue
Green Building Showcase
LEED Exam Prep
Day of Service
Green Breakfast
Volunteering Corner
Bike Tour
Quarterly Gathering
GRESB Night
Net Zero Convo
Fraunhofer Solar and Lab Tour
Chapter Event Recap
Committee Recap
Quick Links
Upcoming Webinars
Committee Meetings
Join Our List

September 2015
Greetings,

As we begin to experience the sunset of Summer, let's make the most of the good weather. 

This month, we will have our bike tour, a building tour, and of course our Day of Service. Each a great opportunity to connect with your colleagues on this big mission we are on.

I hope you will come out to our Showcase on October 1st. Better yet, get your firm to sponsor a display board or even a package deal. You could even enter the contest for "Green Building of the Year!" See below.

Please take a minute to catch up with our many program offerings. We are here to serve you so that this community of practitioners can make more green buildings!

Thank you for participating in our essential work to transform the real estate market and our communities toward sustainability!

Grey


Green Building Showcase: Oct. 1, 2015 6:30 - 8:30pm
Calderwood Courtyard, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge MA


 
 


 DISPLAY  |  SPONSOR  |  ATTEND

Join us at the 2015 Green Building Showcase, the Chapter's premier event to showcase and celebrate exceptional green buildings conceived, designed, built & operated by our community of practitioners in recent months. 

Over 75 projects will be on display. Join Harvard's Green Building Services, Suffolk Construction, and more than 250 leaders in our industry who will be in attendance for this open bar reception and entertaining collection of green buildings. Come celebrate with us!

Project teams are given the opportunity to display information about their buildings, highlighting the project team members and their successes. You may also enter your project into our Green Building Awards for Exemplary Performance and/or Innovation in Green Design

Attendees are invited to critically browse the projects and review the displays while networking over cocktails and appetizers.

The hall will be full of awesome design & real estate professionals and display boards of fabulous green buildings!

Register here to attend, display, or sponsor.
 
Thursday, October 1st 
6:30-8:30pm Calderwood Couryard, Harvard Art Museums
23 Quincy St, Cambridge 
 
LEED Green Associate Exam Preparation


 
This is a fast-paced class for green building and emerging professionals who have little previous knowledge of the LEED rating system, green building operations and green building construction.  Upon completion of the class employees will be eligible to sit for the LEED Green Associate exam at a local testing center.  By passing the exam, employees will earn the LEED Green Associate credential. If interested in attending a LEED Green Associate Exam Prep class, more information available here.


Wednesday, October 14th
8:30am - 5:30pm Edison conf. room
50 Milk Street, Boston, 16th Floor


 
Green Apple Day of Service!


 

Green Apple Day of Service

 

We are looking forward to the largest Green Apple Day of Service in Chapter history. We have mini-grant sponsorship support from Eversource, National Grid, ICFI, HMFH Architecture, ReStream Recycling, TOTO, Triumph Modular, & NORESCO. 

 

We have hundreds of students who are registered with us for the big day. 

 

We still have a few energy efficiency mini-grants that are going to be matching with qualifying projects. If you, or an educator that you know, is interested, please email Celis Brisbin, [email protected].

 

Thank you to Phoebe Beierle and Debbie Shepard for organizing the program this year!

 

Saturday, September 26th

Actual projects may happen in the weeks preceding and following the 26th

Various locations throughout the Commonwealth!

 

 

Green Breakfast Club: Designing for Sustainable Transportation


This live presentation will discuss the elements that make up a comprehensive multimodal transit system and how to integrate sustainable transit into a LEED project. Join presenters Carrie Havey of The Green Engineer and Alyson Fletcher of Nelson/Nygaard for a thorough exploration of the topic.

Discussion will include: LEED credit options, cost implications, and tips for documenting credits. Also, how to design communities that balance the needs of those who walk, bike, take transit and drive. If you are concerned about how green buildings connect together in communities, come on out to this important conversation!

 
Wednesday, September 23rd
8:30 - 9:30am in Hercules conf. room
50 Milk Street, Boston, 17th floor


Chapter New Board Members
If you would like to be more involved with our mission and impact,
 look no further! We have created a space to harbor our organizational needs by listing them as volunteer opportunities on this page. 

We have fun roles for everyone:

To learn more, email Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager.
 

Join your colleagues on Saturday, Sept. 12 for a multi-phase bike tour of green buildings through Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.

Bring a friend or a colleague to connect with other green building proponents and advocates. This is a great free event which is always a lot of fun!




Saturday, September 12th
10:00 - 2:00pm
Muster at Inman Square, Cambridge

Thank you to Steven Burke for organizing this event with the crew from the Emerging Professionals (EPMA)!
 
Quarterly Combined Committees Gathering


 
Come join us for our quarterly meeting where we discuss how our committees and programming will support the Chapter and its mission. 

How do we continue to grow our capacity to make a difference? How do we align our events and activities with our strategic goals? Essential refreshments will be provided.

Register now to join us for this very interactive and inter-disciplinary exercise!

Tuesday, September 8th
5:30 - 8:00pm Aristotle conf. room
50 Milk Street, Boston, 15th Floor 

GRESB Networking Night at EnerNOC:
Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark


 

Join your fellow commercial real estate peers on September 22 for an evening of networking at EnerNOC's headquarters on the Boston waterfront. Hear how top REIT's are utilizing GRESB data to make smarter energy decisions across their portfolios.

Register here to connect with other leaders to dive deep into GRESB.

Tuesday, September 22nd
5:15 - 8:00pm 5th Floor Cafe
EnerNOC Headquarters
One Marina Park Drive, Boston 

Featured Technical Discussion: Net Zero & District 3 Police Headquarters Case Study


 
The story of how a 24/7, technology rich, publicly funded, fixed-price design-build project will be the first to achieve Net Zero Energy and LEED Platinum in Cincinnati (on budget). Shawn Hesse and Chad Edwards of emersionDESIGN present this opportunity for you to geek out on net zero construction calculations and design approaches.


Tuesday, September 15th
8:30 - 10:00am Aristotle conf. room
50 Milk Street, Boston, 15th Floor 


Come join the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter for this building tour, coordinated by the Residential Green Building Committee. 

Located in the heart of Boston's Innovation District, the Living Laboratory is home to Fraunhofer CSE's Massachusetts R&D center for the advancement of sustainable energy systems. Born out of a 2013 energy-retrofit of a 100-year-old building, the Lab leverages cutting-edge design concepts and historic architecture alongside in-house research facilities, including a pilot solar module fabrication line, dedicated thermal testing laboratory, and extensive characterization/environmental testing resources. 
Monday, September 14th
6:00 - 7:00pm, 
5 Channel Center Street, Boston

Chapter Event Recap
Connecting people through events is one of our major strategies. Here's some of our recent activities recapped on our blog:
  • Our  Boston GreenFest was a big hit in Boston. Thousands of people came out to connect with the Chapter and learn about our impact!

 
Together with our allies and members, USGBC MA has successfully advocated on behalf of PACE (S.1774), energy efficiency education (H.2857) and home energy assessment (S.1761) and net-zero energy bills (S.1771). As always, bookmark the blog for more information about any of our events.

 
Committee Recap

It is really an amazing community here at USGBC MA - your affiliation and continuing dedication to our mission is our "secret sauce!"

 

Big thanks go to our Emerging Professionals who continue to jam on many important events including our upcoming bike tour. They are a great group to connect to if you are new to the industry.

 

And more accolades to the Advocacy Committee for their collective work.

 

The Events Committee are getting to the details of the Green Building Showcase: the awards process is moving forward - we will see you Oct. 1st!

 

Our Outreach Committee has a broad portfolio. They're also working to connect people to USGBC MA as members. We know you want to help out - so get in touch with us, here!

 

Finally, our Residential Green Building Committee continues to convene a large monthly group. 

 

Our organization is thriving because our volunteers are focused and energized to make a difference. Thank you to all! You can learn more here.

 

Share a green building feature in the Newsletter:

 

 

...perhaps you have found an all-wood 3D art installation "creativity zone" in a building you have recently visited?

 

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.  

For more information visit: usgbcma.org