This is the week of Green Buildings: ABX in Boston and Greenbuild in DC!

Helping your work make a lasting impact:
Our industry is hot: we're the fastest growing segment of the construction and real estate sector. The USGBC MA Chapter is here to help you make connections, stay on top of your game, and build demand for green buildings through statewide advocacy. Check out our events and opportunities to connect as a community!
See you at Greenbuild!

While many in Massachusetts & New England will be at ABX this week, some are braving the crowds to go to DC for Greenbuild.

If you are there, email me (greylee@usgbcma.org) back, to let me know.  We'll be gathering Bay Staters at the BOLD awards party on Wednesday night.

Chapter Group Photo will be at 11am on Thursday at the big USGBC sign at the Expo Show.
Net Metering Reform Update

Will Speaker DeLeo actually get net metering reform to happen by this Thursday? What will the next solar landscape look like? Join us with an update from policy wonk Tyler Soleau (of the Acadia Center, and former Beacon Hill staffer) to lean the latest from the trenches.

This Advocacy Breakfast will be on Monday morning, 11/23 from 8:30-10am in Boston. 
If you haven't clicked to our blog, our twitter feed and Facebook, take a look. There's content for you. Tips & tricks. Scuttlebutt. Etc.
Quarterly Combined Committees Gathering

Getting everyone together to plan the coming year:


We have so many project teams working on different things from advocacy to education to events to mentoring - and each quarter we get together to re-connect and coordinate our activities for maximum impact.
LEED Green Associate Exam Prep Class

If you or a colleague need to take the exam to build up your resume and get up to speed with LEED, join us for this all-day exam prep course. After this session, you will be ready to jam on the exam!


This is a great course to take and an excellent, condensed way to get on top of the material. Practice questions and test-taking strategies are shared and you'll walk away with confidence!
Advocacy Update:

Thank you as always to our Advocacy Committee, for their efforts to support our Chapter priorities. At November's round-table meeting, we welcomed new volunteers and planned next steps for our main legislative and educational issues.
  • PACE: 
    • Commercial PACE Financing is expected to move through the Senate in the coming months via Bill S. 1774. To move the bill through when it gets to the House, our staff and Advocacy Committee members are meeting with House legislators and building a coalition.
    • Learn more about this energy-efficiency financing tool for commercial buildings.
  • Net-Zero: 
    • After considering the challenges of many small communities to meet Net-Zero building codes, our Advocacy Committee is creating a "guidebook" for these communities to follow, so they can reach their energy efficiency goals. 
    • Learn about one organization that proposes solutions to climate change through changes to the built-environment on our website.
  • Net-Metering: 
    • We continue to push the state to lift the caps on net-metering for the sustainability of the solar industry. Check out the recent updates about this issue on our site. 
    • Look for significant advances on the net-metering issue over this week, as House Speaker DeLeo has promised to get this resolved by 11/18. 
  • Ongoing tracked issues: 
    • Energy Efficiency Education
    • Home Energy Efficiency Assessment Requirements (Home Sellers)
    • Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax
    • Healthy Materials & Toxins
    • Local LEED Ordinances

QUICK WAYS TO GET INVOLVED IN GREEN BUILDING ADVOCACY
  • Come to a breakfast discussion on 50 Milk St. on Monday 11/23 to learn about net-metering caps, the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework, and the Acadia Center's vision for a clean energy future--and get your GBCI credits! Learn more here. 
  • Voice your support for Commercial PACE Financing by sending one of these template letters to the Representative from your district (find your legislators here).
  • Email advocacy@usgbcma.org if you or any of your colleagues will help us advocate for this green building priority by joining the PACE Coalition.
Green Giants of the USGBC MA West Branch

Thanks to PeoplesBank, the Green Giants program has grown this year.

From 33 nominations we have arrived at a series of winners to honor the work of trades people, educators, and owners/program directors who help build, teach about, envision and fund green buildings in Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin, and Berkshire counties. 

You can contact Kylie at wbcommunications@usgbcma.org to learn more about the Green Giants program and the awards dinner, taking place on 12/1/15 in Northampton.
Emerging Professionals Winter Social!

You're invited to the collaborative Emerging & Young Professionals "Winter Social" on December 2nd at the "New" UMASS CLUB at One Beacon! Come network with New England's most nfluential commercial, industrial and residential developers, architects, interior designers, building scientists, engineers, specifiers, distributors, contractors, manufacturers, builders and contractors for an evening of conversation, drinks and fabulous appetizers overlooking the breathtaking Boston Skyline.

Register now for this FREE event - 12/2/15, at One Beacon St. in Boston 
Living Building Challenge Tours in Amherst

Join us on Friday, 12/11/15, for a professional tour of two buildings designed to meet the rigorous standards of the Living Building Challenge (LBC) - of which there are only eight certified projects in the world. Both buildings are under construction on Hampshire College's Campus in Amherst, MA.

Join the general contractor, and Chapter Sponsoring Partner, Wright Builders, for this tour and reception. A question-and-answer session will follow with the Boston-based LBC Collaborative. Register here, now!
Thanks for reading our news!

We hope to see you at an upcoming event. 

-Grey & the team at USGBC MA HQ: Celis, Maria and Allison
USGBC MA Chapter | usgbcma.org
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